International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) is annually observed across the globe on May 17 to raise awareness about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) issues.
IDAHOTB 2023 was observed on 17th May 2023 under the theme “Together Always: United in Diversity”.
Note:
The IDAHOTB is currently celebrated in more than 130 countries, including 37 countries where same-sex acts are illegal.
Background:
i. The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia was established in 2004 to highlight the difficulties faced by the people of the LGBT community.
ii. The day was officially founded by Louis-Georges Tin, a French academic and activist against homophobia and racism, in 2004.
Why May 17?
17th May commemorated the day in 1990 when the World Health Assembly (WHA) removed homosexuality per se from the 10th revision International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)
Note: ICD-6 published in 1948 classified homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Events 2023:
i. The United Nations (UN)’s LGBTI Core Group hosted an event at UN headquarters to commemorate the 2023 International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT), cosponsored by UN Women.
- This is the 5th year that the Core Group holds an IDAHOTB event.
ii. This event is being held to raise awareness of the discrimination, violence, and marginalisation that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people face across the globe, emphasising the importance of creating an inclusive society that respects and protects the human rights of all people, including trans people.
Highlights:
i. The Netherlands became the 1st country to legalise same-sex marriage on 1st April 2001. The law received royal assent from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on 21 December 2000 and took effect on 1 April 2001.
ii. In 2019, Gender Identity Disorder (as applied to trans individuals) was removed from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) list of mental health disorders by the World Health Organization (WHO).
