This guide is for people and organisations who are considering how to mark IDAHOBIT in ways that are meaningful and as safe as possible. It is designed to support reflection and planning, not to replace local knowledge, legal advice, or the judgement of people directly affected by the risks in their context.
Before deciding what to do, take time to think about who may be exposed, what kind of attention your action could attract, and what support would be available if something went wrong. Where possible, make these decisions collectively with trusted people who understand the local environment.
Why this year may carry additional risks
The global focus for IDAHOBIT 2026 is “At the heart of democracy” – a reminder that truly democratic societies must be grounded in justice, freedom, and equal participation for all.
For many communities, this theme will feel natural and necessary. LGBTQIA+ people have long been part of movements for justice, dignity, care, and freedom. Around the world, communities continue to organise, resist exclusion, and build safer futures, often in difficult conditions.
At the same time, the connection between LGBTQIA+ people’s rights and democracy may attract additional scrutiny in some contexts. In places where governments or other authorities restrict civic space, monitor public discussion of democracy, or target LGBTQIA+ people and organisations, this year’s theme may be read as politically sensitive. Public events, social media posts, statements, images, hashtags, partnerships, or even event registrations could draw attention from authorities, hostile media, anti-rights actors, family members, employers, or organised online groups.
This does not mean people should not take part. It means that participation should be adapted to the local reality. In some contexts, a public event, statement, or campaign may be possible. In others, a private gathering, anonymous message, closed online discussion, delayed post, or small act of solidarity may be safer.
There is no wrong way to mark IDAHOBIT. The most important question is not how visible your action is, but whether it reflects your community’s priorities, capacities, and safety needs.
Levels of visibility
Not every IDAHOBIT action needs to be public. Before deciding what to do, think about how visible your action will be, who may be identified through it, and what kind of attention it could attract.
Visibility can create power, solidarity and momentum. It can also create exposure. The safest choice will depend on your legal context, political environment, community relationships, digital security, and the people involved. You are best placed to assess your safety and risk, and what is feasible and appropriate to do in your context. Risk here is understood as ‘the possibility of events that result in harm’.1
1 See Front Line Defenders Workbook on Security: Practical Steps for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
Public IDAHOBIT action may be possible with basic safety planning. This may include contexts where LGBTQIA+ organising is legal, civic space is relatively open, and democracy-related messaging is unlikely to trigger serious retaliation.
Forms of participation to consider
- Public events, panels, marches, vigils or cultural activities.
- Public statements, press releases or media interviews.
- Visible use of IDAHOBIT materials, rainbow symbols or campaign hashtags.
- Open registration for events.
- Public partnerships with civil society, democracy, human rights or community organisations.
- Sharing photos, videos or quotes, where everyone involved has given informed consent.
Even in lower-risk contexts, organisers should still think about consent, accessibility, online harassment, hostile comments, and what to do if someone is targeted afterwards.
Participation may be possible, but public visibility could increase risks. This may include places where LGBTQIA+ issues are socially sensitive, democracy-related language is politically charged, hostile media or anti-rights groups are active, or authorities monitor civil society activity.
Forms of participation to consider
- Invite-only events with trusted participants.
- Closed online discussions rather than public livestreams.
- Registration forms that collect only essential information.
- Sharing the venue or meeting link only shortly before the event.
- Using more general language around dignity, inclusion, care, freedom, or community.
- Posting after an event has ended rather than in real time.
- Sharing photos without faces, names, locations or other identifying details.
- Allowing participants to choose whether they are photographed, named, or quoted.
- Registering an action using only a city, country or broad description rather than naming individuals or organisations.
Decide in advance who may post publicly, who will monitor online comments or messages, and what should happen if hostile attention increases.
Public participation may expose people to serious harm. This may include places where LGBTQIA+ people are criminalised or heavily stigmatised, civic space is restricted, democracy-related speech is monitored, or activists face threats, arrest, surveillance, outing, violence or loss of livelihood.
Forms of participation to consider
- Small private gatherings with trusted people.
- Closed conversations in secure channels.
- Private sharing of IDAHOBIT materials within trusted networks.
- Anonymous messages of solidarity.
- Using non-identifying images, symbols or language.
- Avoiding public event pages, public guest lists, livestreams or real-time posting.
- Avoiding tags, names, faces, organisational logos or precise locations.
- Delaying public posts until people have left the venue safely.
- Asking trusted partners in safer contexts to amplify messages on your behalf.
- Choosing not to organise a visible action this year.
In higher-risk contexts, a less visible action may be the most responsible way to protect people while still being part of the global IDAHOBIT moment.
Any visible association with LGBTQIA+ rights, democracy-related messaging or international campaigns may create unacceptable risks. This may be especially true where people face immediate threats, police attention, family or community violence, detention, blackmail, forced outing or digital surveillance.
Forms of participation to consider
- Reflecting privately or within a very small trusted circle.
- Supporting someone else quietly.
- Sharing resources only where it is safe to do so.
- Documenting needs or concerns for future advocacy without publishing them.
- Contributing anonymously through trusted channels.
- Waiting for a safer moment.
- Avoiding public action altogether.
There is no obligation to be visible. Safety, care, and survival are part of the work for justice and freedom.
Planning safer online action
Online action can be a powerful way to mark IDAHOBIT, especially when people cannot gather in person. It can also create risks. Posts, comments, tags, photos, registration forms, livestreams and private messages can all reveal information about people, organisations, locations and networks.
Before posting or organising online, take time to decide what level of visibility is safe for you and the people around you. Here are some actions to consider taking, depending on your context.
Think about what information your online action could reveal. This includes names, faces, usernames, profile photos, locations, workplaces, schools, organisational links, funders, networks, and personal relationships.
Where possible:
- review the privacy settings on your social media accounts before posting;
- check who can see your profile, posts, friends, followers, groups, tagged photos and contact details;
- use strong passwords and two-factor authentication for accounts linked to your event, campaign or organisation;
- limit access to shared folders, registration forms, social media accounts and mailing lists;
- collect only the information you really need from participants;
- avoid public guest lists where participation may expose people to risk;
- agree who is allowed to post publicly on behalf of the group or event;
- decide in advance whether you will use names, faces, organisational logos, hashtags, event links or exact locations;
- use encrypted messaging apps, such as Signal, for sensitive coordination;
- consider using a virtual private network (VPN) when accessing LGBTQIA+ or democracy-related resources, if internet monitoring is a concern in your context;
- prepare a simple plan for hostile comments, online harassment, doxxing, threats, impersonation or account compromise.
Be intentional about tagging. Tag individuals, organisations, venues or partner groups only when you have their explicit consent. In some contexts, being publicly associated with LGBTQIA+ or democracy-related content can have legal, professional, family, or personal consequences.
During online events or campaigns, keep checking whether visibility is still safe. Risk can change quickly if a post attracts hostile attention, is shared outside its intended audience, or is picked up by media, authorities or organised anti-rights actors.
Where possible:
- avoid sharing the exact location of in-person gatherings in real time;
- turn off location tagging on photos and posts;
- avoid posting photos or videos that show faces, names, badges, documents, venue signs, streets or other identifying details, unless everyone visible has given informed consent;
- do not livestream from private or semi-private spaces unless participants understand and consent to the risks;
- use moderators for online discussions, webinars or livestream chats;
- remove or hide comments that expose people’s identities, locations or private information;
- take screenshots of serious threats or harassment before deleting or blocking, if safe;
- have a private back-channel for organisers, moderators and speakers;
- give speakers or participants a way to join anonymously, with cameras off or using pseudonyms, where needed.
Consent should be active and informed. Someone agreeing to attend an event does not automatically mean they agree to be photographed, tagged, quoted, recorded or publicly associated with the action.
Online risks may continue after an event or post. People may be contacted, harassed, outed or targeted later.
Where possible:
- check whether anyone has received threats, hostile messages or unwanted attention;
- ask participants whether any photos, tags or identifying details should be removed;
- delete unnecessary registration data, attendance lists or contact details once they are no longer needed;
- save evidence of serious threats, doxxing or harassment in a secure place;
- change passwords if there are signs of account compromise;
- review who still has access to shared accounts, folders or documents;
- avoid engaging publicly with hostile actors if it increases risk;
- consider whether future posts should be delayed, anonymised, limited to trusted audiences or avoided altogether.
If someone is targeted online, encourage them to preserve evidence where safe, reduce exposure, seek trusted support, and consider contacting digital security specialists or local organisations that understand their context.
Planning safer in-person action
In-person IDAHOBIT activities can create connection, care and visibility. They can also expose people to risks, especially where LGBTQIA+ organising, public assembly, democracy-related messaging, or international campaigning is restricted or monitored.
A safer event is about security as much as it is about accessibility, consent, emotional safety, clear roles, and care before, during, and after the gathering.
Start by deciding whether an in-person action is safe enough, and what level of visibility is appropriate. A public event is not always safer or more meaningful than a private one.
Where possible:
- choose a venue that fits your risk level: public, semi-private, invite-only or undisclosed until shortly before the event;
- think about who controls access to the venue and whether unwanted people could enter;
- check entrances, exits, toilets, quiet spaces, transport options and nearby safe places;
- consider whether the venue is accessible for disabled people and safe for participants of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics;
- decide whether the venue name or address should be shared publicly, privately, or only with confirmed participants;
- avoid public registration or guest lists if they could expose people;
- brief volunteers, speakers, staff and security people before the event;
- agree who will welcome participants, monitor the entrance, speak to the venue, respond to media, manage photos
- have focal point to support distressed participants if needed, and lead if something goes wrong;
- prepare a contact list for trusted local legal, medical, psychosocial, digital security or community support, where available;
- decide what you will do if hostile media, counter-protesters, or other unwanted or disruptive actors appear (always have a “plan B” or “C”, or “D”);
- agree a simple exit plan, including how people can leave discreetly;
- make a clear photography and recording policy before the event begins.
If youth or adults at risk may attend, think through safeguarding needs in advance. Make sure there is at least one trusted person who knows what to do if someone discloses abuse, violence, self-harm risk, family rejection, homelessness, blackmail, outing or other urgent harm.
At the event, keep safety visible but calm. People should know who they can go to if they feel unsafe, without the space feeling controlled or intimidating. When underaged people are attending events, please be sure to have the adult legal representative present or express consent in writing. Never take pictures of underage participants.
Where possible:
- remind participants of the photo, video, and tagging rules at the start;
- make clear whether the event is public, private, off the record, or not for social media;
- do not allow photography, livestreaming, or media interviews unless people have given informed consent;
- use stickers, badges, or another simple system if some people consent to photos and others do not;
- avoid displaying participant lists, sign-in sheets, or personal details;
- monitor entrances and exits without escalating tension;
- keep a private communication channel open between organisers;
- avoid confrontation with hostile actors where this could increase risk;
- assign one person, where safe, to speak with venue staff, police, media, or unexpected visitors;
- document serious incidents carefully, without exposing participants;
- be ready to pause, move, end, or adapt the event if the risk changes.
People may have different safety needs in the same space. Plan for those facing the highest risk.
The end of the event is not always the end of the risk. People may be followed, contacted, identified in photos, targeted online, or questioned later.
Where possible:
- check that participants, speakers and volunteers have left safely, especially in higher-risk contexts;
- avoid posting photos, videos, or details immediately if delayed posting would be safer;
- review all images before sharing them publicly;
- remove faces, names, signs, metadata, venue details, or other identifying information where needed;
- ask again before tagging, quoting, or naming anyone;
- follow up with anyone who experienced harassment, threats, distress, or unwanted attention;
- securely store or delete attendance lists and contact details;
- debrief with organisers about what worked, what felt unsafe, and what should change next time;
- update your safety plan for future actions.
If something went wrong, focus first on people’s immediate safety and consent. Public statements, media responses, or social media amplification should only happen after considering whether they could help or increase harm. In some cases, visibility can generate protection. In others, it can make people easier to target.
Safeguarding and duty of care
If you are organising an IDAHOBIT activity, think about safeguarding before the event begins. This guide does not replace your own safeguarding policy, local legal obligations, or specialist support. Each organisation or group should follow its own safeguarding procedures and make sure organisers know what to do if someone discloses harm, asks for urgent help, or appears to be at immediate risk.
Key safeguarding considerations
Before your activity, consider:
- who is responsible for safeguarding during the event;
- how participants can safely raise a concern;
- what you will do if someone discloses abuse, violence, extortion, threats, forced outing, self-harm risk, homelessness, detention, or another urgent concern;
- which local services, organisations or trusted people you can refer someone to;
- how you will protect confidentiality and avoid sharing personal information without consent;
- what limits to confidentiality apply, especially where children or immediate risks to life or safety are involved.
If someone raises a safeguarding concern, listen calmly, take them seriously, and avoid pressuring them to share more than they want to. Do not make promises you cannot keep, including promises of total secrecy. Explain what support may be available, ask what they need now, and follow your organisation’s safeguarding procedures.
Where possible, decisions should be guided by the wishes, safety and dignity of the person affected. At the same time, organisers should be clear about when they may need to seek urgent help, especially if someone is in immediate danger or if children or adults at risk are involved.