IDAHOBIT Statement

This International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), we call on those in powerful positions to stop using the LGBTQIA+ community as political pawns and end the polarised debate.

IDAHOBIT on May 17th 2025, raises awareness of violence and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people and drives positive change.

As a collective group of LGBTQIA+ Pride Organisations across Scotland, we issue this statement against the current geopolitical climate. We are deeply alarmed by the escalation in the demonisation of LGBTQIA+ people, particularly trans individuals, both at home and abroad.

The current US administration’s actions to reverse LGBTQIA+ rights and deny the existence of trans people have global implications, encouraging harm to LGBTQIA+ people worldwide, including in Scotland.

The recent Supreme Court ruling and the subsequent guidance by the Equality and Human Rights Commission are a serious threat to the rights of trans people.

Additionally, continued delays to the ban on conversion therapy, the banning of puberty blockers, and the obstruction of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill indicate the influence of the anti-LGBTQIA+ lobby in both the UK and Scottish Governments.
Meanwhile supportive voices are continually sidelined, ignored and vilified.

Hate crimes against LGBTQIA+ people are at alarmingly high levels in Scotland. Sexual orientation aggravated crime is the second most commonly reported type of hate crime with 1,818 charges reported in 2023-24. In the same year there were 84 charges with an aggravation of transgender identity.

As LGBTQIA+ Pride Organisers across Scotland, we play a part in bringing our communities together, amplifying their voices and creating safe spaces where people can just be themselves.

Current levels of anxiety, fear and anger within the LGBTQIA+ community across Scotland must not be understated.

The demonisation of our communities must end. We need to be brought in from the cold, listened to and action taken.

Signatories to the Statement
Angus Pride, Bute Pride, Pride Cumbernauld, Dumfries and Galloway LGBT Plus, Pride Edinburgh, Fife Pride, Grampian Pride, Glasgow’s Pride, Highland Pride, Pride South Lanarkshire, Pride Lochaber, Pride in Moray, Oban Pride, Orkney Pride, Pride in Orkney, Perthshire Pride, Porty Pride, Shetland Pride, Somewhere For Us, Stepping Out, Stirling Pride, Trans Pride Scotland and West Lothian Pride.