Homosexuality Knows No Borders

That's the theme of this Sunday's (May 17) International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), the annual event marked each year to combat worldwide homophobia and violence toward LGBT people.  The May 17 date reflects the anniversary in 1992 of the World Health Organization striking homosexuality from its list of diseaes.  (Bizarre to think that took until 1992!  But whatever.)

As the world prepares to mark this date, be sure to lend your support to a statement being sent to United Nations Organizations, States, Governments and Parliaments, calling for international recognition of LGBT people.  Here's an excerpt:

According to an opinion widely held, homosexuality is said to be freer today than ever before. It is present and visible everywhere: in the street, in the newspapers, on television, at the movies. It is even supposedly completely accepted, judging by the recent legislative advances made in many countries for the recognition of same sex couples. Certainly, some work remains necessary in order to eradicate the last vestiges of discrimination. But with changing public opinion, it will only be, according to some people, a matter of time, the time needed for a movement begun many decades earlier to achieve its goals.

For the slightly more attentive observer, the situation is globally very different. To tell the truth, the 20th century has undoubtedly been the most violently homophobic period of history: deportation to concentration camps under the Nazi regime, Soviet gulags, blackmail and persecution in the United States in the McCarthy era... Obviously, all of that can seem very distant to us now. But quite often living conditions in the world today remain very unfavorable. Homosexuality is discriminated against everywhere: in at least 80 countries, homosexual acts are forbidden by law (Algeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Bosnia...); in many countries, the punishment can exceed ten years in prison (Nigeria, Libya, Syria, India, Malaysia, Jamaica...); sometimes, the law prescribes life imprisonment (Guyana, Uganda). And in a dozen countries, capital punishment may be actually carried out (Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia...). In Africa, recently, several presidents have brutally acted on their will to combat personally this "scourge" which they consider "anti-African". Even in other countries where homosexuality is not considered a crime, persecutions have multiplied. In Brazil, for example, death squads and skin heads spread terror: 1,960 homophobic murders have been officially reported between 1980 and 2000. In these conditions, it is difficult to think that "tolerance" is gaining ground. On the contrary, in the majority of these nations, homophobia appears more violent today than ever before. The tendency is not, therefore, towards a general improvement, far from it.

That's what May 17 is all about - speaking out against violence, promoting tolerance and shepherding equality across the globe.  The world marks World AIDS Day, and International Women's Day.  Now it's time to mark an International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.