IDAHoBIT 2022: Our bodies, our lives, our rights
LGBTQI+ people and allies will gather at the Winter Gardens this evening for this year's International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia event.
On 17 May 1990, the World Health Organisation declassified homosexuality as a mental illness and, to mark this, since 2004, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia has been held annually on this date.
And while LGBTQI+ people may have more legal rights than we did in 1990, there is still a long way to go before homophobia, transphobia and biphobia are phenomena of the past. As Now Then has revealed, reports of queerphobic hate crimes have risen dramatically and we are still having to campaign to ban anti-trans conversion therapy, while one in eight LGBT+ people has experienced unequal treatment from healthcare staff because of being LGBT. Beyond the UK, there are countries where we can be imprisoned and put to death for being queer and many trans communities in particular are losing rather than gaining rights.
The theme of this year's IDAHoBIT is Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Rights, a reminder that many queer people across the world do not have sufficient rights over our bodies and lives. The United Nations Development Programme explains its take on this theme:
This theme of this year’s International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), ‘Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Rights’, is a reminder that everyone must have the right to make decisions about their bodies and their lives. Indeed, all of us must play a role in standing up and speaking out against hate, discrimination, and violence -- wherever and whenever it occurs. Within UNDP, we are leveraging resources such as the UN-GLOBE Recommendations for Inclusive Workplaces for Trans and Gender Non-conforming Staff to help ensure greater inclusion of all gender identities. UNDP, the entire UN family, and our many partners are committed to supporting countries and communities across the world to make inclusion, non-discrimination, and equal opportunities a reality for all. Our collective commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and our efforts to reach those furthest behind first simply cannot be met until LGBTIQ+ people are treated as equals under the law -- and in their everyday lives.
In Sheffield this year, IDAHoBIT will be marked in the Peace Gardens from 5.30pm - 6.30pm and will feature speakers and a minute's noise, so bring whistles, vuvuzelas or anything else that can contribute to a communal noisy call-out for LGBTQI+ rights in Sheffield, in the UK and around the world.
