International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, annually on 17 May, is a day on which LGBT organizations draw international attention to the phenomenon of homophobia and its social undesirability. The day is also known by the English abbreviation IDAHOT (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia).

The date of May 17 is prompted by the fact that on that day in 1990 the World Health Organization (WHO) officially removed homosexuality from the internationally used list of diseases, the International Classification of Diseases. Until then, homosexuality had been classified as a mental illness on that list.

IDAHOT grew out of a National Day Against Homophobia organized by the Canadian organization Fondation Émergence in 2003, then on June 1. Since 2005, International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia has also been celebrated in other countries, always on May 17. In the Netherlands, every two years on 2009 May, the Jos Brink Prize will be awarded to a person who has worked for gay emancipation.[17]

The difference between IDAHOT and events such as the Amsterdam Gay Pride and The Belgian Pride is that on these occasions gay organizations and LGBs want to show that they are proud of their sexual orientation and do not want to be ashamed of it, whereas IDAHOT to draw attention to the phenomenon of homosexual and transgender hatred and its social undesirability. The slogan of the international campaign in 2008, Homosexuality is NOT a sickness!, illustrates this.

Somewhat comparable is Purple Friday, which takes place in the Netherlands on the second Friday of December and on which purple clothing is worn in schools, among other things, as a statement against homophobia.

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