WHAT IS IDAHO?
1) What are the practical objectives of this Day?
In practice, our first objective is to provoke action. Actions could take on a number of different forms: debates,
exhibitions, radio programs, screenings, short story competitions, awareness campaigns, etc.
The second goal of this Day
is to coordinate and increase the visibility of our efforts. If all our efforts happen the same day, they will be
all the more visible and efficient. And as the day will become an annual meeting, the media and public opinion will be all
the more attentive to the questions brought up, as well as to ground gained or lost. Moreover, those who coordinate this
Day could report back the results of the efforts, informing journalists and favouring exchanges of successful actions among
the local organizers.
This project has a third objective: to place this Day on the national calendar in a maximum number of countries, and
then, why not, to have it adopted on an international level. Obviously, this is a long term objective, if not an ideal. But
official recognition is not just a symbol, since even symbols have real power, as we all know. Recognition will contribute
to the persistence of the fight. It will also make it possible to show that the fight against homophobia is not only the
business of gay, bi or trans people, but that it is the full responsibility of public authorities and the will of the whole
of society. And the Day has already been officially recognised by the European ParliamentÂ…
2) Who are the partners of this IDAHO project?
IDAHO was launched in August 2004 by the French intellectual Louis-Georges Tin. The first partner of IDAHO is the International
Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA). Also, IDAHO is supported by the European Parliament, by the International lgbtq Young and
Student Organisation (IGLYO), the Coalition of African Lesbians, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGHLRC), the World Congress of LGBT Jews, etc
Moreover, IDAHO is supported by many people and national organisations in all the countries where the Day will be celebrated.
3) When does this Day take place?
The Day takes place on May 17th because on 17 May 1990, the General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) removed
homosexuality from their list of mental disorders. This action served to end more than a century of medical homophobia.
From now on, following this historic decision, we wish that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
United Nations Commission for Human Rights will also condemn homophobia in its political, social and cultural dimension by
recognizing this International Day Against Homophobia. The decision of the WHO constitutes a historic date and powerful
symbol for members of the LGBT community. It is important for 3 reasons:
- -it is an international symbol, so every country may refer to it. A national symbol would have been less interesting, obviously;
- -as we refer to a symbol of the WHO, we will ask them to do for trans people what has been done for gays and lesbians, which would prove very important;
- -when we will ask the United Nations for an international recognition, it will be less difficult if we are under the umbrella of a WHO symbol. Can the UN ignore a project the symbol of which is a decision of the WHO?
source: Louis-Georges Tin - Founder of the International Day Against Homophobia