American Psychological Association

In a collaboration that models this year’s IDAHOT theme of Alliances for Solidarity, the American Psychological Association is partnering with the Center for American Progress and the Fenway Institute to conduct a public Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill titled Rolling Back Progress: How Shifts in Federal Policy are Hurting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Americans. which will be led by Clinton W. Anderson, Interim Executive Director for the Public Interest Directorate and Director of the APA Office on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.  If you would like to attend, please RSVP.

Speakers will focus on three main areas by first reviewing the current political landscape, including supportive and discriminatory bills and actions emanating from Executive Branch Agencies,with a focus on civil rights and data collection. They will then explain psychological and public health evidence on the harmful physical and mental health effects of discriminatory policies and the protective effects of supportive policies. And finally, they will suggest specific policy recommendations to limit stigma and benefit the health of sexual and gender minorities.

The briefing open to the public is Thursday, May 17, 3:00 – 4:30 PM, Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2103.

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NEW YORK – LGBT|MODA SHOWCASE

is a showcase of fashion, identity and expression In honor of the
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

Join us Sunday April 29th 10:00PM
For the LGBT Moda Preview Party!
Meet & Greet all of our Models and Participating Designers & Live shows!
Location:
El Morocco Ballroom
1060 Home Street Bronx, NY 10459

The SHOW

​The LGBT Moda Showcase will take place on
Thursday May 17th, 2018 | 8:00PM in NYC.

Info & Tickets
LGBTModa@Gmail.com

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Spokane, Washington

Out Spokane’s IDAHOTB event :https://www.facebook.com/events/438455683248764/

The second installment of New York City’s FUERZAfest – NYC’s first Latinx LGBTQI festival – has just started and it couldn’t be timelier. Bringing together the worlds of fine arts, activism, theater and film, FUERZAfest is a collective initiative born around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Its goals are to shine light on the erasure and violence suffered by Latinx LGBTQI people and to provide creatives and attendees with a space to safely gather and share their stories.

“The last year has seen an alarming rise in homophobia and xenophobia as a direct result of the hateful narrative in our national political debate,” said FUERZAfest director Mario Colón in a statement. “Being a Latinx LGBTQI person these days in the United States can be scary, especially following the Pulse tragedy in Orlando. That’s why now more than ever we need to revisit how our communities respond to and resist these threats.”

This year’s theme is “Breaking Down Walls,” and along with the festival’s opening panel of the same name, the goal is to help unite segmented struggles into a coordinated fight for equality. The panel kick off, which took place Wednesday, May 10, featured conversations with Director of Proyecto Somos Orlando and Pulse survivor Ricardo Negrón, trans Latina activist Cecilia Gentili, and Gabby Rivera, the queer writer behind the America Chavez title over at Marvel comics. Another prime example of the festival’s intersectional message came with the screening of Forbidden, a documentary film by Tiffany Rhynard that follows gay undocumented activist Moises Serrano as he grapples with life in rural America during the rise of xenophobic populist politics.

FUERZAfest will be showcasing works from all over Latin America as well as the diaspora May 10th – 21st at the Julia de Burgos Performance and Arts Center, in the heart of El Barrio, in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This year, the festival will also honor and remember the 49 victims of the Pulse shooting tragedy, with a memorial installation that highlights each victim’s story.

Though you can pop in and enjoy the shows at any time, we’ve selected a few festival highlights deserving of your attention:

San Francisco LGBT activists will gather on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia Wednesday, May 17 to celebrate the past year’s wins and protest ongoing atrocities.

A custom-made 10-foot pink triangle will serve as the backdrop at Harvey Milk Plaza as LGBT activists continue to pressure Russia to act against Chechnya, according to a May 8 news release from Gays Without Borders.

Patrick Carney, who co-created the giant pink triangle installed on Twin Peaks over Pride weekend, will speak about the significance of remembering the LGBT Holocaust victims.

Carney is one of several speakers who will be at the rally, Gary Virginia, with Gays Without Borders, wrote in an email.

The activists will hold a moment of silence in honor of the victims in Chechnya.

In turn the protesters will also demonstrate against the ongoing murders of transgender individuals and urge resistance against President Donald Trump’s threats to the LGBT community in the U.S.

The rally will also celebrate the release from prison that day of Chelsea Manning, the transgender former Army intelligence analyst.

Manning, 29, was convicted of leaking secret information to WikiLeaks. She had the bulk of her 35-year prison sentence commuted by President Barack Obama days before he left office in January.

She began her transition during her seven years in prison.

IDAHOT was created in 2004 to bring attention to the violence LGBT individuals face around the world.

Code Pink San Francisco is also a co-sponsor of the event.

The IDAHOT rally in San Francisco will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza, Market and Castro streets. Participants of IDAHOT events globally will post actions on social media using the hashtags #IDAHOT and #IFED2017 to inspire and encourage others to raise their voices.

For more information, contact Virginia at (415) 867-5004.

Online giant Google helped mark IDAHOT 2016 with a message of support on their homepage, which was available across America. On social media IDAHOT was a leading topic in all parts of the country, with thousands of tweets and comments being shared. On Facebook the day was featured as a ‘trending topic’, which brought many comments from the mainstream public to our Facebook page. Many good, and many negative.

The US media was probably the biggest in their coverage of IDAHOT 2016, with articles and features being seen across a number of websites, including Huffington Post, Washington Blade, Yahoo News and many others.

The day was also celebrated from within the establishment, with President Barrack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and a number of other officials releasing public statements.

Special U.S. Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons Randy Berry is scheduled spoke at a Human Rights First reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 17. The group also honored two LGBT activists — Quality of Citizenship Jamaica Executive Director Angeline Jackson and Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, a Ukrainian advocacy group — during the event.

Following the introduction of over two dozen bills to curb LGBT rights at the state and federal level, and in observation of ‪#‎IDAHOT2016‬, Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) released this video as the kickoff of the ‪#‎WeAreWithYou‬ campaign to show support for the LGBT community.

OutRight Action International honored Berry and Yuli Rustinawati, chair of Arus Pelangi, an Indonesian LGBT advocacy group, during an awards ceremony at the U.N. on May 16. Charles Radcliffe, a senior human rights advisor for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner, and Dan Bross of Microsoft  also received awards.

Berry also delivered the keynote address at an LGBT rights conference that took place at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on May 20.

The Institute of Current World Affairs, a Washington-based organization, has organized the event that advocates from Zimbabwe and other countries attended. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) co-hosted the conference that the Center for Transatlantic Relations and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting have co-sponsored.

– See more at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/05/12/advocates-to-mark-global-day-against-homophobia-transphobia/#sthash.eqWiEakT.WmgSk2eT.dpuf

But outside of the mainstream, events were held across the country by campaigners and the LGBT community to mark the day. In Gainesville, Florida, churchgoers and LGBT campaigners came together for an event celebrating diversity of all forms. Similar events were also seen across the country.

In San Francisco SF Pride will kick off the local pride season on May 17th with a fundraising event. All money made will go towards upcoming pride events for the San Francisco area.

If you are an American campaigner and would like your action to be included here please get in touch with us directly.