How IDAHOT Celebrates Heterosexuality And Cis-Sexuality Too

Firstly let’s start with what IDAHOT stands for. International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Do we need a special day for homophobia and transphobia? Well, largely around the globe homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism are not only socially or culturally accepted but are de facto persecuted and punishable with sentences up to life imprisonment (e.g. Uganda) or even with the death penalty (e.g. Iran). In other parts of the world, same-sex marriage is legalised (recently in two of the most Western countries France (2013) and the UK (2014), adoption by same-sex couples is legal (such as in the Netherlands since 2001) and third gender or ‘other’ is officially recognised by the State (for example in Nepal which issues citizenship cards with the category third gender/other). Of course, these affirmations do not signify that a ‘critical mass’ has been achieved worldwide, neither that a shift in social mentality has been achieved nor that institutional discrimination has been vanished.