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The logo of the Equal Opportunities Office at TU Dortmund University
Lettering: Up to Date, queer and feminist calendar of the Equal Opportunities Office of TU Dortmund University © Borgschulze​/​TU Dortmund
May 17

IDAHOBIT

The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) has been celebrated in more than 130 nations worldwide since 2005, including nations where homosexuality is still a criminal offense (IDAHO Committee 2021).

On May 17, 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the diagnostic code for diseases. To commemorate this milestone, May 17 was chosen as the date for the annual day of action (IDAHO Committee 2021). In Germany, there is also a parallel to § 175, a law that criminalized sexual acts between men until 1994.

In 2005, after a year-long campaign, the day was first launched as the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) by Frenchman Luis-Georges Tin. In addition to his activism for the queer community, he also campaigns internationally against racism. Many of the largest LGBTTIAQ+ organizations, such as the International Lesbian Gay Association (ILGA), joined the initiative as early as 2004 (IDAHO Committee 2009). Since 2014, the IDAHOBIT Committee has been headed by Tamara Adrian, a Venezuelan lawyer, politician and trans* activist (IDAHO Committee 2014).

Transphobia was included in the acronym IDAHOBIT in 2009. That year, the organizers placed a special focus on the discrimination and representation of trans* people. Biphobia followed in 2015, as bisexual people are subject to discrimination within and outside the LGBTTIAQ+ community. Most recently, interphobia was added to the acronym to draw attention to the often overlooked struggles of intersex people.

Signs and actions against queer hostility - worldwide and in Dortmund

Actions on IDAHOBIT range from large demonstrations to speeches by heads of state and online events. The day offers a low-barrier opportunity to organize diverse actions for all sexual and gender minorities (IDAHO Committee 2021). IDAHOBIT has created space for actions in countries where queer activism was previously unthinkable. Over the years, IDAHOBIT has become one of the most important days for the queer community alongside Christopher Street Day.

Since then, various laws in favor of the LGBTTIAQ+ community have been passed on IDAHOBIT. For example, France was the first country in the world to remove transgender from the catalog of mental illnesses at IDAHOIBIT in 2009 (IDAHO Committee 2009), and in 2013, marriage was also opened up to same-sex couples at IDAHOBIT. In 2019, Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage at the IDAHOBIT (IDAHO Committee 2019). In 2024, the conference ‘Pride Alliances and Policy: Towards a Union of Equality’ took place in Brussels. The participating states, including the Federal Republic of Germany, signed a joint declaration in which they called for ‘combating discrimination and hate violence against LGBTIQ* [...], preventing disinformation campaigns and continuing the consistent implementation of national LGBTIQ* action plans’ (BMFSFJ 2024) in the European Union.

In Dortmund, rainbow flags are hoisted in front of the town hall and on the university campus every year at IDAHOBIT to show solidarity with the LGBTTIAQ+ community.

IDAHOBIT 2025 will take place under the theme ‘The Power of Communities’.

 

Last updated: May 2025

Sources (in German)

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