May 17: International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) celebrates progress while calling for more inclusion
Summary
Numerous initiatives are taking place worldwide in May to celebrate sexual and genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More diversities as part of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT). Events registered on may17.org currently span over at least 60 countries and territories, with more being added in the coming days.
Celebrated annually on May 17, the day marks the anniversary of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
This year’s theme, “No one left behind: equality, freedom, and justice for all,” is a call for unity and solidarity at a time of global anti-democracy and anti-rights pushback, when many LGBTQIA+ individuals continue to face violence, stigma, and discriminationunequal or unfair treatment which can be based on a range of grounds - such as age, ethnic background, disability, and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions or sex characteristics, amongst others. More.
Since its inception in 2004, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia has served as a vital platform to raise awareness about the discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals worldwide.
Despite significant progress, data from the ILGA World Database indicates that LGBTQIA+ people continue to face challenges in accessing their basic rights.
62 UN member States criminalise consensual same-sex relations, either by law or in practice. At least 59 countries have restrictions on freedom of expression related to sexual and gender diversity issues, and the past two years have seen an alarming acceleration of States enacting and debating such provisions. While laws protecting individuals from hate crimes based on sexual orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More exist in 59 UN member States, only 38 do so based on gender identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More, 9 on gender expressionrefers to how a person presents their gender through physical appearance – including dress, hairstyles, accessories, cosmetics – and mannerisms, speech, behavioural patterns, names and personal references. More, and 5 on sex characteristicsa term that refers to physical features relating to sex - including genitalia and other sexual and reproductive anatomy, chromosomes, hormones, and secondary physical features emerging from puberty. More.
Nevertheless, progress is being made. To date, 16 UN member States have implemented bans on so-called ‘conversion therapies’ at the national level. Nine have introduced nationwide restrictions on unnecessary interventions for intersexan umbrella term for the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics (such as genitals, reproductive organs, hormonal and chromosomal patterns) that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions of male or female bodies. Up to 1.7% of the global population are born with such traits; yet, because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatised and subject to harmful practices – including in medical settings - and discriminated against. More youth. Additionally, 17 UN member States allow for legal gender recognitionlaws, administrative procedures or processes by which a person can change their sex/gender marker and names on official identity documents. More based on self-determination at the national level, and 35 have legalised marriage equalitywhere national marriage legislation also includes same-sex couples or gender-neutral reference to the spouses. References to “gay marriage” that are sometimes made by media outlets and decision-makers incorrectly are incorrect, as no country has created a marriage law specifically for same-sex couples. More.
Amidst progress and pushback, the theme of this year’s IDAHOBIT is a call for solidarity, and for everybody to unite in creating a world with social justice, where no one is left behind. Equality, freedom, and justice form the foundation of a democratic society where everyone is valued, respected, and celebrated, and where “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” represents a fully-fulfilled promise for everyone – including for people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sexrefers to the classification of a person as male, female, or other - usually made at birth, written on a birth certificate, and usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. A person’s sex, however, is actually a combination of bodily characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics. More characteristics.
For more information and to find out how you can get involved, please visit may17.org.
To facilitate participation at all levels in such a relevant day for our communities worldwide, as of January 2023 ILGA World has taken a more active role around the IDAHOBIT, by coordinating the Working Group and hosting its Secretariat.
