International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia: “At the heart of democracy”

IDAHOBIT is celebrated every 17 May to mark the 1990 decision by the World Health Organisation to remove homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases. This landmark affirmed that who you love is not an illness. Still, more than three decades later, the global picture is deeply uneven.

The 2026 theme, “At the heart of democracy”, serves as a quiet but urgent reminder: no society is truly free while some of its people are still criminalised for who they are. Right now, 65 UN member states still punish consensual same-sex acts. At least 62 restrict free expression on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics. Only 18 countries offer legal gender recognition based on self-determination at the national level, and just nine have national protections against unnecessary medical interventions on intersex minors.

At SALO, we believe democracy has a heartbeat. That’s why our work focuses on these pillars:

• Regional Advocacy: We conduct workshops and dialogues, such as “LGBTQIA+ Rights in Africa: Realising LGBTQIA+ Rights as Human Rights”, to combat the rise of anti-gay laws and homophobia across the continent.
• Strategic Partnerships: We collaborate with local and regional LGBTQIA+ organisations to strengthen advocacy where it matters most.
• Community Dialogue: We facilitate community-level engagement on gender-based violence (GBV), Xenophobia, and Hate Speech, working to foster safer environments for LGBTQIA+ individuals in every corner of Southern Africa.

This IDAHOBIT, join us. Whether you share this blurb, start a conversation, or stand beside someone who needs it, you are part of the change. Together, we grow.