United States In the United States, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice-President Joe Biden released statements and tweets of support for the worldwide May 17 mobilisations this year. A nationwide initiative to demand full and equal non-discrimination protections as a human rights imperative co-ordinated a ‘Day of Organising’, with some activity taken around May 17 in …

Brazil According to final figures released by ABGLT – the Brazilian national umbrella group for LGBT associations – a total of 183 events were held in Brazil around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in 2014. Actions were held in at least 20 states, and in at least 55 towns and cities. Once again, this makes Brazil (along with …

Uzbekistan In Uzbekistan, a small underground group of LGBTI and human rights activists commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia for the fourth time, in 2014. They advised that, due to the dangerous situation for sexual and gender minorities in the country, it was not possible to mark the Day openly. We have removed all identifiers for security reasons. …

Canada In Canada, 85 organisations co-signed a special May 17 open letter, calling on the government to affirm its support for LGBTI rights internationally, which included a 10 point plan for dealing with human rights abuses of LGBTI people around the world. Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, responded with an official statement underscoring the strong commitment of the Canadian government …

Activists in Tbilisi, Georgia made the invisible, visible on Sunday, May 18, 2014, when they left more than 100 shoes in Pushkini Square, Tbilisi – where a planned march to commemorate the IDAHOT on May 17 had had to be called off, for security reasons. Called a “Protest on Behalf of the Invisible & Against Invisibility”, the act symbolised both …