IDAHOTB website. (Some groups observing the day style the acronym as IDAHOBIT or someting else.) It is now celebrated in 130 countries, including 37 where same-sex acts are illegal.May 17 was chosen because that was the date in 1990 when the World Health Organization declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder.This year’s theme is “Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Rights.” This is “a great theme under which many forms of advocacy are possible: claiming our rights to live our sexualities and to express our gender(s) freely, but also demanding to be from physical violence, from conversion so-called ‘therapies’ to forced sterilisation of Trans and Intersex people,” the site states. “A theme that reminds us that many of us across the world live LGBTQI-phobias in their very flesh every day and that our bodies are being abused, ruining our lives.
Our bodies are our lives. And we have a right to live free and in dignity!”However, IDAHOTB is a decentralized observance, with organizations and individuals everywhere free to hold whatever kind of event they choose.
It is managed by a coalition of activist groups, some regional and some organized around a certain issue.Numerous governments and other institutions have recognized the day, including the European Parliament and most United Nations agencies.In the U.S., President Joe Biden issued a statement supporting the LGBTQ+ community in observance of the day.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also issued one:“International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is an opportunity to join together in condemning the vile hate that still threatens the safety, well-being and fulfillment of our LGBTQ friends, neighbors and loved ones.