INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA

17th May is the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia. The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization's decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.

In almost 80 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is still considered illegal, at times involving lifetime imprisonment and, in nine countries, it is even punishable by death!

And in many more countries still, citizens are denied their right to live according to their preferred gender identity.

As well as legal discriminations, social homophobia and transphobia serve to daily deny millions of people across the world their basic human dignity.

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to this issue.

It is not one centralised campaign; rather it is a moment that everyone can take advantage of to take action.

Watch the UN Human Rights Committee Message for IDAHO