Happy IDAHOBIT!
In long, Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia!
Today, is a day to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and to also acknowledge there is still some way to go be rid of discrimination against the LGBTQIA community.
By the way, if you aren’t familiar with what LGBTQIA+ means, here it is below:
L- lesbian
G- gay
B- bisexual
T- transgender
Q- queer and/or questioning
I- intersex
A- asexual
+- and more…
Why is IDAHOBIT important?
Having an international day where focus on on decreasing homophobia, biphobia, intersexism and transphobia is extremely important because while these form of negative bias, prejudice, and discrimination exist in our society, it means members of the LGBTQIA+ community are not treated fairly and are often unsafe. While these phobias (yes, phobias – meaning the fear of) exists, in our society and they are acted on, the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community are being violated. Their human rights are being violated. [If you want to find out what human rights you and every member of our global community have, check out this website].
Every day the LQBTQIA+ community face unfair and unkind discrimination, exclusion, and violence, which is a billion percent- not OK!
Why is IDAHOBIT held on 17th May?
IDAHOBIT is held on this day each year because on the 17th May 1990, the World Health Organisation (WHO) made the decision to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases. Yes, you read that right …1990! So, this day is a commemoration that decision.
What you can do to support IDAHOBIAT and the LGBTQIA+ community?
The best way to share what you can do is by listing it for you. Here is a non-exhaustive list of what you can do to support the international day against homophobia, biphobia, intersexism, and transphobia.
- Listen to the LGBTQIA+ community. Listen to their stories. Listen to what their life experience is a like and listen to what what they believe the solutions are to this social problem. If they ask you to take specific action, (firstly) check in with yourself to make sure it feels in alignment with you and if it is… TAKE ACTION!
- Share about IDAHOBIT and that you stand with the LGBTQIA+ community against homophobia, biphobia, intersexism, and transphobia. There are social media images, email headers/footers, posters and more free resources you can use right away from the IDAHOBIT website here.
- Call out homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, and intersexist behaviour (shut it down!)
- Commit to learning more about the LGBTQIA+ community and in particular, how you can adjust your language to be inclusive of the community. I’ll be covering inclusive language in the Inclusion Creators Collective very soon, you are welcome to join us here.
An important note about support the LGBTQIA+ community:
You don’t have to wait for a certain date to be an ally. Showing and sharing your support of the LGBQIA+ community is something you can do every day. Calling people out when they are expressing bias, prejudice or discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community can be done every day.
The LGBTQIA+ community is one of many communities that are marginalised and harshly discriminated against. If we are to create an inclusive world where everyone is free express and embody their identity without the fear of discrimination, we all need to play and active role in its creation.
How you can become and inclusion creator:
I mentioned it earlier, did you catch it? You can learn how to become an effective and impactful inclusion creator in the Inclusion Creators Collective. It’s a membership I host where I teach and mentor people how to show up more inclusively in their lives, and in their businesses. You get access to all my learning materials, you get access to LIVE Q&A calls with me as well as a suite of other goodies. There’s 3 membership tiers to choose from which range from $33 AU (approx $26 US) – $99 AU (approx $77 US) per month. And you can leave the membership at any time. If you’re interested in joining the Inclusion Creators Collective, you can here.
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Much love to you,
Inclusion & Diversity Coach, Mentor, and Course Creator.