Six Months After IDAHO 2005, Six Months Before IDAHO 2006 ...
PARIS, 17 NOVEMBER 2005 — Six months after IDAHO 2005, it is possible to take stock of the World Day of the fight against homophobia. It was celebrated on 17 May last year in nearly 40 countries throughout the world, from Mexico to Sri Lanka, including Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal and Lebanon. There were many images from across the world. Images like the balloon in the sky over Kiev, Amsterdam’s “Kiss-In”, and the very first public gay and lesbian rally in China.
IDAHO was very important in many countries – it was possible to draw the attention of public opinion to the issues of LGBT communities, and the cherry on the cake was that the Day has been officially recognised in Belgium following a unanimous vote (apart from the extreme right) in the country’s Parliament.
However, these successes cannot hide the daily reality of LGBT people throughout the world: homophobic discrimination remains the rule everywhere. Persecutions continue, as in Nepal. Executions continue, as in Iran. In 80 countries, homosexuality continues to be illegal, with penalties ranging from imprisonment to execution.
The fact remains that more enlightened governments are doing little to improve matters for LGBT people in less enlightened countries. In the name of realpolitik, democratic governments maintain a cordial relationship with dictatorships and will often expel gay people or transsexuals back to the countries from which they escaped, where prison, torture or even death awaits them. It is this international scandal that is to be the theme of our World Day 2006 – the decriminalising of homosexuality worldwide.
Six months before IDAHO 2006, we invite associations and groups worldwide to express their solidarity with us and register their programme of action in the campaign for the universal abolition of all homophobic laws. In addition, we invite political parties, trade unions, municipalities and even individual citizens to consider what actions, built on their own needs and objectives, they can take around 17 May 2006.
Although it is still too early to outline an international programme of the events to come, it is possible to present some strong axes for World Day 2006. For instance, there could be a campaign to put international pressure on those often forgotten countries where homophobia is rife.
Next year will also see the first IDAHO international conference, which takes place in Moscow from 24 to 27 May. Launched by Nikolai Alekseyev, IDAHO representative in Russia, this conference will assemble many world personalities, like Michael Cashman, chair of the gay and lesbian inter-group committee of the European Parliament, and Merlin Holland, grandson of Oscar Wilde.
In parallel with the IDAHO conference, a Scandinavian cultural festival will be held, partly organised by the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network, and the whole few days will end with the first Gay Pride march in Russia.
We invite all those who wish to take part in these events to support our aims and to support the conference – and the emancipation of the Russian LGBT community. Full details and a registration form can be found on the Gay Russia website.
IDAHO 2006 is already on track!
Louis-Georges Tin
President of the IDAHO Committee
Nikolai Alekseyev
Secretary of the IDAHO Committee
IDAHO website: www.idahomophobia.org.