International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

VidaLaFierce

On Sunday, 17th May, people across the world will celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, often abbreviated to IDAHO, IDAHOT or IDAHOTB. It’s a day to celebrate the great strides that have been made in many parts of the world to stamp out discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity but also to reflect and realise that not everyone in the world is lucky enough to enjoy the same benefits, rights and protections as some of us are and that, across the world, there’s still an enormous amount of progress to be made and a long journey to go on to reach a truly equal world.

The date of May 17th is very significant as it commemorates the day in 1990 that the World Health Organization finally decided to remove homosexuality from their International Classification of Diseases. When you think about it, 1990 is not really that long ago and it may come as a surprise to many that it was considered a ‘disease’ until so recently.

Since the inception of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, with IDAHO first being conceived in 2004 and actually being observed ion 2005, it has grown across the world to be observed in over 130 countries across the world, with events public and private.

One of the things that was suggested to me was to make a video or write a letter to my younger self containing things I would tell him if I could. Indeed, that can be for anyone who needs to hear that advice and, although I worried if I could fill a short video with enough to say, it was a lot more cathartic and emotional than I had expected. Hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is, I realised there was a lot I could tell my younger self, a lot of which I ended up thinking about after the recording of the video (Which I encourage you to watch and maybe do your own).

The fact that many of the ideas of what to say comes later is actually fine, because that means the video serves its purpose of making the viewer think and reflect. It raises the questions in us that are great for both learning and teaching. Mine came from an angle of “it gets better” and not needing to keep negativity around yourself and only keeping hold of the people and things that give you positivity – lessons which I’ve now (mostly) learned and wish I’d opened my eyes to much sooner. I talked about how life is not a straight line, but full of twists and turns of good and bad and that it may take a little longer to get where you want to go, but as long as you’re good to yourself and take care, you’ll make it and things will work out.

I think back to that teenage me who thought he knew everything and was indestructible, but had also not really found who he was yet, so was just loud and annoying because he thought that was cool. If I could meet him now, I think I’d roll my eyes at him and rather like to give him a good slap! But seriously, if I really think about it, discovering who you really are isn’t ever easy for anyone. We’ve all been awkward teenagers at some point! Add onto that the fact that I’d come out of the closet at the age of fourteen, quite loudly. In school in a small, quite insular place, no less. That was never going to be easy. Over the years, my home has become fantastically accepting, which is great to see, but back then it was a challenge to make it down a corridor at school without being spat at or punched. I’ve heard from others who’ve come out at the same school in more recent years that they actually became more popular! We now live in a world where many people won’t dare persecute their classmates as there are actually more protections there for them these days. That, and those who would torture a fellow student for having the audacity to exist or get an education would quickly be seen for the monsters they are. It’s great to see how times have changed.

But the sad thing is, not everywhere offers such protections or enlightened views. Around the world, it’s still acceptable (to many, not all) to persecute other human beings on the basis of sexuality or gender identity. You may think that there’s nothing you can do, especially while we’re many of us are in some state of isolation and the world’s attention is elsewhere, but I’m going to take this moment to tell you that kindness is contagious. Positivity is contagious. And love and compassion will always win out over hate and ignorance in the end. Representation and positive examples are one of the best weapons to make someone feel included and seen. And if it makes just one person feel better, I’d certainly say it’s worth it!

So, I issue a challenge to you this weekend: Put up a video or a blog post with a message to your younger self if you could give them some advice. Let them, and anyone else, know that it things get better. And if you can’t think of any advice to your younger self. How about a mad dance or a lipsync to a song that’s empowered you? There’s quite enough negativity around at the moment, let’s spread a little goodness!

Love and best wishes,

Vida
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