International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia

17 May 2022

On 17 May each year, International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) marks the anniversary of the World Health Organization removing homosexuality from the Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.

IDAHOBIT is now a day of action, awareness and celebration for the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic and more) and queer community, and allies are urged to celebrate, enact change and raise awareness.

The UQ Ally Network is hosting their annual Great Rainbow Bake Off to raise funds for the LGBTQIA+ Bursary, which is offered yearly for any UQ student who is a part of the LGBTQIA+ and queer community and is experiencing financial hardship. If you’re keen to participate, be sure to register your cake entry for a chance to win a prize.

The Great Rainbow Bake Off

Date: Tuesday 17 May 2022

Location: The Great Court, UQ St Lucia

What and when:

10am: Bake Off entries brought to the Great Court
10.30am: Judging commences, followed by awards
11am – 1pm: The winning submission will be photographed with the winning baker and then it will be divided up amongst participants. All other cakes will be sold to benefit the LGBTQIA+ Bursary.

Who: The goal is for every school, institute and work area to make at least one submission to the Bake Off. Groups or individuals are welcome to make submissions. Everyone is then invited to attend the event and buy one of the cakes!

Why: This competitive annual event shows visible support for LGBTQIA+ communities and raises money from the sale of the bake-off submissions for the LGBTQIA+ Bursary. There are also multiple ways to donate to the bursary at the event. Cake sales will commence after judging.

Can't attend but still want to donate?

If you can’t make it to the Great Rainbow Bake Off, you can still donate to the LGBTQIA+ Bursary. You will then receive a tax-deductible receipt automatically via email.

Donate to UQ's LGBTQIA+ Bursary

How you can support LGBTQIA+ and queer individuals

Be visible

LGBTQIA+ and queer individuals face discrimination constantly. It’s hard to know who is safe. We all make assessments about how we feel about a person based on the information that’s available to us and a lack of positive cues is usually interpreted as negative.

So, show positive messaging! Put supportive posters up in your workplace, introduce yourself with your pronouns, add pronouns into your email signature, speak out against queer specific discrimination you see and become a UQ Ally.

Stay informed

You don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to have a good understanding of barriers, challenges and opportunities to be a good ally.

Transhub
Transhub is a digital information and resource platform for all trans and gender diverse people in NSW, our loved ones, allies and health providers, created by ACON.

Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organisation for LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning) young people.

Minus18
Minus18 is a charity that offers downloadable resources and articles from queer Australian youth speaking about their experiences. The Pronoun Game is recommended to practise using pronouns you aren’t used to.

AUREA (Aromantic-Spectrum Union For Recognition, Education and Advocacy)
AUREA is an aromantic organisation that provides resources and advocacy for the aromantic community. AUREA has also recently partnered with a UQ researcher to study aromantic identities.

AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network)
AVEN is an asexual organisation, providing resources and advocacy for the asexual community.

Listen

It’s important to know when to listen and when to speak as an ally. Don’t speak over LGBTQIA+ and queer folks – but speak for them when they can’t.

Recognise that all LGBTQIA+ people have their own lived experience. Even if it doesn’t match your lived experience, listen to them and don’t discredit them.

Compassionately listen to those that come to you for support, and remember that confidentiality is important when someone shares personal information with you. Listen for those that are disrupting the inclusive environment.

Use inclusive language

You won’t always get it right, and that’s okay. Practise and try your best to use inclusive language.

Here’s some tips:

Give UQ’s Inclusive Language Guide a read.
Use person gender neutral terms. For example, instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen’, use ‘everyone’.
Instead of ‘boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’, ‘husband’, or ‘wife', use ‘partner’, ‘significant other’, ‘spouse’, ‘relationship’ or ‘in a relationship’ for other people.
Know that some words or terms used by LGBTQIA+ and queer individuals are embraced, and others are not. It’s a personal decision that you need to respect. For example, not everyone is comfortable with ‘queer’, hence the use of both ‘LGBTQIA+’ and ‘queer’ when referring to the community.
‘Diverse sexual orientations, sexes and genders’ is a more inclusive way to refer to the LGBTQIA+ and queer community.
When you don’t know someone’s pronouns, use gender-neutral pronouns like ‘they, them, theirs’. It’s best not assume someone's pronouns based on how they look – instead, ask what their pronouns are. Take into consideration what setting you are asking someone, as not everyone will feel comfortable telling you their pronouns – and that's okay too.

Take action

When it’s safe to do so, use your voice and your privilege as an ally to call out harassment or discrimination when you see it.

You can do this by:

Gently correcting someone if they use the wrong pronouns when referring to another person, or
Using a joke to diffuse the situation and gently call out the behaviour, or
Questioning their behaviour, asking them to explain what they said by saying that you don’t understand it, or
Educating others by using the opportunity to share facts about the situation.