Take Action on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia

Hate crimes continue to rise across the United States, the FBI reports, with upticks specifically in anti-LGBTQ+ attacks. Hate crimes stem from the offender’s bias against a particular group. These biases include racism, sexism, ageism, antisemitism, islamophobia, xenophobia, and, specific to the LGBTQ+ community, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, lesbophobia, intersexphobia, and heterosexism. While anti-gay hate crimes have actually fallen slightly, there has been a significant increase in anti-trans attacks over the past few years.

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) was established in 2004 to draw awareness to the continued discrimination and violence faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community. The date, May 17, was chosen to commemorate May 17, 1990, when the World Health Organization declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. Because IDAHOTB is a decentralized international holiday, you may see varying acronyms that represent different biases, including IDAHO, IDHOT, and IDAHOBIT. IDAHOTB is celebrated across the world in over 130 countries, some of which still have laws criminalizing same-sex acts.