Diversity and Equality Philippines (diversityandequality.ph)

Everyone’s invited to support May 17 International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Homophobia is a negative attitude or feeling, a discomfort or an aversion towards gays and lesbians or towards homosexuality in general. It is also the rejection of gay and lesbian people or people considered as such, and of all things associated with them, such as gender nonconformity. Both on a conscious or sub-conscious level, homophobia surfaces in various ways and can even be internalised.

Variants of homophobia include:
• Bi-phobia: aversion towards bisexual people or bisexuality;
• Gay-phobia: aversion towards gay men or male homosexuality;
• Lesbophobia: aversion towards lesbian women or female homosexuality.

Transphobia is a negative attitude or feeling, a discomfort or an aversion towards transgender people, transsexuals, people who are transitioning, and people who are intersexed.

For 2009 two equally important campaigns are launched to highlight homophobia and transphobia.

Homosexuality Knows No Borders

“Homosexuality Knows No Borders” emphasizes that homosexuality is a universal fact and that borders cannot be forced on it. The Campaign is aimed towards helping people integrate within their host society and to make ethno-cultural communities aware of sexual diversity issues. In addition, LGBT people and their communities will benefit from their own community’s improved openness toward their issues.

International Appeal to Reject Transphobia and Respect Gender Identity

Every day, people who live at variance to expected gender norms (transgender, transsexual, transvestites,…) face violence, abuse, rape, torture and hate crime all over the world, in their home as well as in the public arena. Though most cases of violence never get documented, we know that in the first weeks of 2009 alone, Trans women have been murdered in Honduras, Serbia and in the USA. Trans men are equally victims of hate crimes, prejudice and discrimination despite their frequent social and cultural invisibility.

Therefore, organisations of Trans People and Human Rights defense organisations have come together to launch an International appeal to respect gender identity and reject transphobia.

International Appeal to reject transphobia and respect gender identity

If you are an organisation, entity, local authority, celebrity or personality, and want to support this Appeal, please inform IDAHOMOPHOBIA.org by sending an email at contact@idahomophobia.org. Your name will be added in the list of « first signatories » that will be presented to the press and to the wider public at the launch of this campaign on the 2009 edition of the IDAHO, around May 17th.

It may seem that these days sexual orientation and gender identity is getting less and less of an issue and people who live their gender identity and their sexuality differently from the majority enjoy comfortable and secure social and political spaces to do so.

When you have a closer look though, you will witness that there is increased homophobia and transphobia in a majority of places ; and the XXth century was actually one of the most homophobic periods ever in History.

Everywhere homosexuality and gender variance is being discriminated against ; in more that 80 countries in the world, same sex relationships are criminalised and in 7 of them, death penalty can be enforced.

Intolerance, prejudice, hate, ignorance and fear still largely prevail in individuals, groups, States, international institutions, etc…

This is why this international day to fight against homophobia and transphobia and for sexual freedom was created.

Philippine Forum on Sports, Culture, Sexuality and Human Rights (TEAM PILIPINAS), a registered non-stock, non-profit organization, working to promote and strengthen human rights, sexual and gender diversity and equality, and peace in the Philippines joins the world in celebrating May 17 – International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Email: teampilipinas.org@gmail.com; Website: http://diversityandequality.ph .