For a full panorama of UK events for May 17 please access the IDAHO UK website, or email volunteer UK co-ordinator, Derek Lennard: dmlennard@idahouk.org

Some highlights for IDAHOT 2014 in the UK include:

Nationwide

A cross-party coalition of 13 UK Members of Parliament have tabled an Early Day Motion (on April 8, 2014) formally welcoming the IDAHOT 2014, and calling on the government to move forward debate on the international classification of trans identities in terms of mental health conditions.

The Pansy Project, will be in Brussels, Belgium, for May 17, with ‘guerilla gardening’ sessions planned in Brighton, Bristol, London, as well as internationally for IDAHOT. Major nationwide announcements are also expected in the coming days! (More Info)

Once again this year, local authorities up and down the country will be answering the Lesbian and Gay Foundation’s campaign call in ‘Flying the Flag’ for May 17, with commitments already announced in Gloucestershire, Merseyside, and Greater Manchester. (More Info)

London

GALHA will be joining for a special meeting to mark IDAHOT and its theme in 2014, of Freedom of Expression. Organisers advise, ‘We are pleased to support Article 19 who have organised a special event at the Free Word Centre with activists from around the world talking about their own experience of these issues, and an address by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly. Further details to follow.’ (Event Link)

Kaleidoscope Trust will be hosting it’s annual IDAHOT lecture, on Thursday May 15, with guest speaker Maurice Tomlinson: ‘Maurice is the Legal Advisor, Marginalized Groups for AIDS Free World and has been involved in HIV/AIDS and LGBT activism in the Caribbean for over 14 years. He is at the forefront of the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality, leading legal challenges across the region to have disciminatory laws repealed… In 2012 he was awarded the inaugural David Kato Vision and Voice Award, which celebrates the life and work of murdered Ugandan LGBT activist, David Kato…’ (Event Link)
Trans*tastic Film Festival
Trans*tastic is a mini film festival with over 20 movies from Trans* filmmakers and on Trans* issues. It includes shorts, features, documentaries and music videos on activism, community, love, trauma, dis_ability, friendships, family, coming-out, immigration and much more. All the money raised from this festival will go towards Trans* health care.
To support this project you can make a donation at the door or when you reserve tickets via Eventbrite.
Programme, Sat. May 17th:3pm: Trauma, Resistance+Healing
Nine short films talking about past and present Trans*discrimination, resistance and films as one way of coping and healing.
5pm: Fiction, Arts+Animation
Nine short films by and about Trans* filmmakers, musicians and spoken word poets.
7pm: Austin Unbound
A programme in American and British Sign Language around the topics of coming out, deafness, self-discovery and much more. (with engl. subtitles)
See more details on the website or on Facebook.

A coalition of LGBTI Christian groups will be coming together in London on May 17 for ‘Prophetic Hope‘ a day of prayer, reflection, film and discussion about how to challenge hatred against LGBT people worldwide.

Prophetic Hope – London, May 17 2014

Scotland

Scotland will see its first ever Dyke March on May 17, 2014, in Edinburgh city centre!

Northern Ireland

A week of events for May 17 are scheduled in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Anti Homophobia and Transphobia Week 2014 launches at Belfast City Hall on Monday 12th May at 10.30am. There will be a series of events for the following days of this week, and a calendar is currently being finalised culminating in the IDAHOT services on Sunday 18th May. (Event Link)

Manchester

Manchester Pride are hosting various events for the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia 2014, as part of an ‘IDAHOT weekend’, including ‘Run with Pride’, ‘Discuss with Pride’, and ‘Drink with Pride’ (Event Details)

Manchester Pride for IDAHOT 2014

The Lesbian & Gay Foundation (The LGF) are launching a variety of initiatives for IDAHOBIT as part of their new campaign ‘The Rainbow Connection’ – to raise awareness of hate crime against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGB&T) people and to encourage reporting of hate crime.
DUST OFF YOUR RAINBOW FLAGS: Rainbow Flag Flying from businesses, organisations and individuals, May 16-19
IDAHOBIT 2014 HATE CRIME VIGIL: Special vigil in Sackville Gardens with guest speakers from the local community, May 17, 5pm-6:30pm
BAKE THE RAINBOW, SHARE THE RAINBOW: Encouraging people to bake their own ‘rainbow creation’ and collect donations for victims of Anti-LGBT hate crime
LGF HATE CRIME REPORTING ‘WEB-APP’: The app will be launched on May 17
FILM SCREENING OF CALL ME KUCHU: May 16 at 6pm at the LGF
More details on the website, Twitter or Facebook.

Brighton & Hove
In Brighton & Hove, community groups will join for a day of events for IDAHOBIT, including music performances – together with The Brighton & Hove Rainbow Chorus – as well as community discussions, and a One Minute Noise against Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic hate crimes. (Full Details)

The University of Brighton’s Equality & Diversity Unit will also be commemorating IDAHOBIT with a screening of the film, ‘Bette Bourne: It Goes with the Shoes’, on May 22, which will also form part of the Brighton Fringe Festival. (More Info)

IDAHOBIT 2014 Poster from the LGBT Safety Forum, Brighton (download here)

Norwich

Sing with Pride in Norwich will be having an international singing workshop, ending with a flashmob song in the city centre! (Event Details)

Sheffield

Community groups will gather on Saturday, May 17, to hear speeches and do a One Minute Noise action, to raise awareness of how LGBT-phobias impact on community health and well-being. Later there will also be an ‘IDAHOT Live Late event’. ‘A chance to celebrate and will include music, talks, promenade theatre and arts activities from the Sheena Amos Youth Trust and a Big Bingo show with Timberlina and DJ Hey Baylen. The Big Bingo show is a riotous, hilarious rock-n-roll bingo adventure featuring spontaneous dance routines, sing-alongs, topical rants and terrific prizes…’ (Event Link)

Swansea

The Swansea Bay LGBT Unity Project Wales will be hosting an event on May 17th 2014 at Castle Square Swansea 11am – 3pm
For more details visit their Facebook page.

The event will be held on Saturday May 17, 2014, 10:30am – 4:00pm. At St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, WC2B 4JJ (map).

Organisers explain:

‘This workshop prays through and with the stories of individuals who have tapped into prophetic hope in the midst of homophobic oppression. It focuses on the story of the martyred Ugandan organizer David Kato, who, with his religious and secular friends, resisted the anti-gay witch-hunts in his own country; and it focusses on the stories of local panelists from Africa and Britain, who have fought for LGBTI and immigrant justice here in London. Through discussion, reflection, and prayer, we hope to discover the ways that God is stirring up prophetic hope in our own lives. How is God calling us to love one another more deeply, in action, in word, and in prayer?

The workshop will include a screening of the award-wining documentary ‘Call Me Kuchu’ (2012), which chronicles the life and murder of David Kato, and the continuing inspiration he has had on LGBTI Ugandans and their straight allies; it features the story of Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, who supported David’s work at the cost of his own exile and persecution by Church authorities. Joining us to discuss their own journey from injustice into prophetic hope are Revd. Ijeoma Ajibade of the Diocese of London and the international Kaleidoscope Trust for LGBTI human rights; Godwyns Onwuchekwa, founder of Justice for Gay Africans Society; Revd. Sharon Ferguson of MCC North London and the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement; Edwin Sesange, Director of the African LGBTI Out & Proud Diamond Group; and Revd. Jide Macaulay, founder of the House of Rainbow Fellowship.

Lunch and coffee are provided. Tickets are free to asylum seekers and people of limited income; £10 for other participants. Please consider donating £5 or £10 to make it possible for others to attend!

It is our own Christian churches that play a crucial role in supporting homophobic rhetoric and policies of hatred in countries like Uganda, Nigeria, and Russia. Homophobia is also still very much present in the UK, as recent statements from the Anglican House of Bishops sadly attest. It is woven tightly into racism and classism; it feeds people’s irrational fears about immigrants, and ongoing repression within immigrant communities. As LGBTI Christians and friends, we believe we can find prophetic hope in the midst of this brokenness, homophobia, and sin. This day long workshop in the heart of London, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, on IDAHO (the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia) offers fellowship, input, and space. Please join us, or pray for our meeting, as we seek deeper reflection and spirit-led action.

Order tickets via TicketSource (free tickets for asylum seekers): LivingInPropheticHopeIDAHO2014.ticketsource.co.uk

If you would prefer a different method of payment/ RSVP, please send us a message to LivingInPropheticHopeIDAHO2014@gmail.com.

Scholarships are available. Please email LivingInPropheticHopeIDAHO2014@gmail.com.

Organised by Changing Attitude Greater London, a network of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual members of the Church of England. It works for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the life of the Anglican Communion.’

More information on the event can also be found at the official facebook page.

Event poster:

The staff behind top international LGBT news site, Gay Star News, together with the London Gay Men´s Chorus and the London Gay Big Band, made the very best of a rainy Saturday afternoon on London´s Southbank:

Meanwhile, the folks at London Pride, joined the action with a Dance Flashmob in Trafalgar Square ! :

Photo : Photo by Chris Jepson (chrisjepson.com).