British High Commission marks Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, popularly known as IDAHO, falls on 17 May.

The date was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organisation’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. IDAHO draws the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to this issue.

The British High Commission Colombo marked IDAHO with a presentation of a cheque by the British Deputy High Commissioner Robbie Bulloch to Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, Director of Equal Ground, a non-profit organisation seeking human and political rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning (LGBTIQ) community of Sri Lanka. Speaking at the occasion, the Deputy High Commissioner said, “Many countries still deny their citizens the right to live according to their preferred gender identity. The UK views this as an injustice in the 21st century context. The British Government has been campaigning worldwide for the rights of these communities and people.”

In almost 80 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is still considered illegal – at times involving lifetime imprisonment – and in nine countries, it is even punishable by death. The United Kingdom decriminalised homosexuality in 1967. Last year, the UK topped a ‘Rainbow Map’ of Europe, which found that the UK offered the best legal human rights to LGBT people of any country on the continent.  The United Kingdom has emerged as a major hub for commemorations around the IDAHO.