The SOGIESC Clinic at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria cordially invites you to International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

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Event Details

Date: May 16, 2025
Time: 09:00 (SAST)
Location: Alliance Française Pretoria, South Africa
RSVP - In Person Attendance \ Register on Zoom  before 14 May 2025

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) is observed annually on May 17th to commemorate the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) historic decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. This day serves as a global reminder to raise awareness about the discrimination, violence, and stigma faced by LGBTIQ+ individuals worldwide. In 2025, the theme ‘The Power of Communities’ emphasises the critical role that communities play in supporting and empowering LGBTIQ+ individuals, fostering inclusivity, and advocating for equal rights.

Background

The SOGIESC Clinic at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, has been at the forefront of celebrating and advocating for LGBTIQ+ rights in South Africa and beyond. Over the years, the Clinic has actively marked IDAHOBIT by organising events that promote inclusivity, challenge harmful stereotypes, and celebrate the resilience of the LGBTIQ+ community. Building on the Centre for Human Rights' comprehensive efforts to realise the Resolution of the African Commission 275, the event will highlight the role of communities in building resilience and working towards the tenets of protection and equality for all articulated in the resolution, and within South Africa and beyond. In 2025, the Clinic, through the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa LLM students, will lead the charge in commemorating this important day, bringing together diverse voices to celebrate progress, reflect on the strides made toward equality, dignity, and legal protection, and advocate for continued change.

Objectives

1. Highlight the ongoing challenges faced by the LGBTIQ+ community in Africa and globally, while celebrating the progress made since the WHO’s landmark decision.
2. To actively promote the tenets of Resolution 275 by highlighting the ongoing challenges of violence and discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ community, while showcasing community-led strategies for support, inclusivity, and the advancement of legal and social protections aligned with the resolution's call for state action.
3. Build a sense of community and allyship among LGBTIQ+ individuals, activists, academics, policymakers, and students.
4. Provide a platform for LGBTIQ+ individuals to share their stories, experiences, and aspirations.
5. Showcase the creativity, contributions, and strength of the LGBTIQ+ community through art,  performances, and dialogue.
6. To disseminate evidence-based policy recommendations and actions supporting LGBTIQ+ rights and inclusivity through information sharing, research dissemination, and advocacy strategies that advance equality and protection. 
7. To use the space as a platform to disseminate advocacy materials and literature produced by the Centre 

Outputs

1. Acknowledgement of the strides made toward achieving equality, dignity, and legal protection.
2. Enhanced awareness and understanding among attendees regarding the significance of Resolution 275 for the LGBTIQ+ community in South Africa, leading to strengthened community solidarity and advocating for concrete steps towards the resolution's full implementation.
3. Increased awareness among attendees about the challenges and contributions of the LGBTIQ+ community in South Africa, African region and globally through dissemination of information through panel discussions, performances, and creative expressions that highlight the importance of inclusivity and equality.
4. Create a strengthened sense of community and solidarity among LGBTIQ+ individuals, allies, activists, academics, and policymakers.
5. Increased visibility of LGBTIQ+ entrepreneurs, artists, academics, and activists through the marketplace, performances, and art exhibitions. Further, it will be an opportunity to provide a platform for LGBTIQ+ individuals to share their stories, experiences, and creative works.
6. Development and promotion of evidence-based policy recommendations to support LGBTIQ+ rights and inclusivity, while advocating for actionable steps to address systemic inequalities and promote legal and policy reforms.
7. Increased social media traction with posts, live updates, and recaps before, during, and after the event.
8. Strengthened partnerships with LGBTIQ+ organizations, sponsors, academics, and stakeholders for ongoing collaboration.
9. Provide a detailed post-event report summarizing attendance numbers, budget breakdown, feedback analysis, and key outcomes.

Speakers

Crystal Hendricks: Programme officer – Sex characteristics ILGA World (she/her) is a queer intersex feminist woman. She is a human rights defender who has been at the forefront of advocating for policy change for intersex people.

Crystal was the Intersex Programme Officer at Iranti, a regional organisation based in South Africa, and the acting administrator for Intersex South Africa. Crystal is also a former Rainbow Advocacy fellowship scholar. She served as the Chair of the ILGA World Intersex Steering Committee and is a current Advisory Board member of the Intersex Human Rights Fund.  Crystal has over 7 years of experience working within the intersex movement. Her desire to see intersex people freely exercising their rights and freedoms drives her to work tirelessly to ensure that intersex issues are the leading edge of policy discussions, and that intersex people are at the helm of driving such conversations. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and enjoys watching the occasional musical.

Jamilla Jade Madingwane (she/her) - is an activisit in the LGBTQ+ community in South Africa. She is currently employed and recently appointed the executive director at Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), a black, feminist, lesbian, organisation that seeks to advance and protect the rights of black lesbian, bisexual and queer women. Jamilla has led sexual orientation, gender identity and expression training sessions with key stakeholders that interface with members of the LGBTQI+ community such as the SAPS, the Department of Social Development, health workers at hospitals, the South African Democratic Teacher Union (SADTU) and the Department of Basic Education. Jamilla is one of the people that organises the annual Soweto pride which aims to raise awareness and celebrate queer identities, the queer book fair which provides a platform for queer authors, writers, and readers to engage and facilitate intimate partner violence dialogues and broader community dialogues. Jamilla envisions a world where queer people are truly free and the work I do contributes to making this a reality for myself and other queer people in the country and the SADC region.

Pierre Brouard is a clinical psychologist with over 40 years’ experience working in health, gender and sexualities. He is on the executive of the Sexuality and Gender Division of the Psychological Society of SA, a board member of the Professional Association for Transgender Health SA, and has affiliations with the Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender, both at the University of Pretoria

**This event is organised by the students of the Human Rights and Democratiation in Africa SOGIESC Clinic.