Southend Borough Council staff, representatives from the third sector and members of the public today gathered at the Civic Centre to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).
IDAHO is celebrated in over 50 countries worldwide every year on 17th May. It was created and coordinated by the Paris-based IDAHO Committee, headed by French academic Louis-Georges Tin.
IDAHO is separate to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride. Whilst Pride events are meant to emphasise pride in one’s sexuality, IDAHO events aim to demonstrate “that homophobia is shameful and must be deconstructed in its social logic and fought against openly.”
The day commemorates the date in 1990 when homosexuality was removed from the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases.
At the Civic Centre today, council staff, representatives from LGBT and other organisations and members of the public took part in a photo-shoot, in which people held hands with someone on the same gender as them.
There are stalls in the Civic Centre offering advice and support on LGBT issues, such as Lesbian group Women 4 Women Essex. Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS) and South East Essex Homes also have stalls, as does the Council’s own Community Cohesion team.
The gay equality organisation Stonewall published The Gay British Hate Crime Survey in 2008.
This survey showed that 20% of lesbian and gay people experienced a hate crime in the previous three years, and overall, 60% of lesbian and gay people had experienced homophobic harassment of some kind.
75% of those who experienced a crime did not report it to the police.
One in six gay and lesbian people were the victims of physical assault motivated by homophobia, and one in eight experienced unwanted sexual contact as a part of the incident.
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Surprisingly, our Tory council did not invite the new Equality Minister.