Why is IDAHOT important?

In almost 80 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is still considered illegal, at times involving lifetime imprisonment In seven countries, it is even punishable by death ! And in many more countries still, citizens are denied their right to live according to their true gender identity or expression ! Beyond issues of legal discrimination, homophobia and transphobia serve to daily deny millions of people across the world their basic human dignity. The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to these issues.In almost 80 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is still considered illegal, at times involving lifetime imprisonment In seven countries, it is even punishable by death ! And in many more countries still, citizens are denied their right to live according to their true gender identity or expression ! Beyond issues of legal discrimination, homophobia and transphobia serve to daily deny millions of people across the world their basic human dignity. The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to these issues.