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Events and Important Dates

Dates to Remember

January 
  • January 27th - Holocaust Remembrance Day
    • Established in 1953, a day to remember all of the victims of the Nazi era, including homosexuals
February
  • February 7th - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD)
    • ​An HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative for Blacks in the United States and across the Diaspora. There are four specific focal points: Get Educated, Get Tested, Get Involved, and Get Treated.
  • ​Last Friday of February - International Stand Up to Bullying Day
    • ​A semi-annual event in which participants sign and wear a pink shirt to take a visible, public stance against bullying.
March 
  • March 1st - Zero Discrimination Day
    • Observed to bring awareness that you can't get sick from interacting with people who have AIDS, that everybody should have the ability to "access health care safely and live life fully with dignity." as per Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. The day is also used to bring attention to acceptance of non-straight fellow humans and not marginalize, discriminate or act cruelly against them, yet to instruct oneself on, for example, the gender continuum and sexuality spectrum.
  • Last Week of March - National GLBT Health Awareness Week
    • An event that promotes the unique health and wellness needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Sponsored by the National Coalition for LGBT Health.
  • March 31st - International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV)
    • ​A day to celebrating the trans community, showing your support, and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide. It brings attention to the accomplishments of trans people around the globe while fighting cissexism and transphobia by spreading knowledge of the trans community. The holiday was founded by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall in 2009 as a reaction to the lack of LGBT holidays celebrating transgender people, citing the frustration that the only well-known transgender-centered holiday was the Transgender Day of Remembrance which mourned the loss of transgender people to hate crimes, but did not acknowledge and celebrate living members of the transgender community.
April
  • April 11th (2020) - Day of Silence
    • ​What day it falls on varies from year to year. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) annual day of action to protest the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their supporters. It is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of ant-LGBTQ behavior by illustrating silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT.
  • April 26th - Lesbian Visibility Day
    • Annual day to celebrate, recognize, and bring visibility to lesbians. Celebrates lesbian role models and lesbian life, culture, and diversity.
May
  • First Sunday of May - International Family Equality Day
    • Celebrates the diversity and equality of LGBT families.
  • May 17th - International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
    • ​An annual landmark to draw the attention of decision-makers, the media, the public, opinion leaders, and local authorities to the situation faced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, and transgender, and intersex people and those who do not conform to sexual and gender norms. In the 9th edition, in 2013, commemorations took place in almost 120 countries, in all world regions. The day aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide. The date was chosen to commemorate the decision to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1990.
  • May 19th - Agender Pride Day
    • Annual day to celebrate, recognize, and bring visibility to agender individuals.
  • ​May 22nd - Harvey Milk Day
    • ​Harvey Milk Day is organized by the Harvey Milk Foundation and celebrated each year held on May 22 in memory of Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and politician assassinated in 1978. It is celebrated officially in California, Milk's home state.
  • May 24th - Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day
    • ​A day to celebrate the pansexual and panromantic community and educate others on the community.
June
  • LGBTQA+ Pride Month (U.S.) is celebrated for the entire month of June in honor of the Stonewall Riots, though pride events occur throughout the year. It also marks the month that same-sex marriage was made legal in the United States in 2015.
  • June 12th - Pulse Night of Remembrance
    • Annual day of US remembrance for the loss of 49 people in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida on 12 June 2016.
  • June 28th - Stonewall Riots Anniversary
    • ​To remember the Stonewall Riots that are described as the start of the Trans and Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States. It's a day for people to remember the biracial lesbian and drag king Stormé DeLarverie whose scuffle with the police started the rebellion, and the trans woman of color Marsha P. Johnson who threw the first brick.
July
  • July 14th - International Non-binary People's Day
    • Annual day celebrating the contributions of non-binary people and focusing on the issues affecting them. Date chosen due to being between International Men's Day and International Women's Day.
  • July 16th - International Drag Day
    • International Drag Day is to celebrate the greatness and wonder that is Drag Artists from every corner of the planet. Created by Adam Stewart in 2009, International Drag Day was set up to give Drag Artists a well-deserved chance to shine and be celebrated for everything they give to gay life and culture.
September
  • September 16th - 23rd - Bisexual Awareness Week
    • Promotes visibility of bisexuality and culminates on Celebrate Bisexuality Day.
  • September 23rd - Celebrate Bisexuality Day and Bisexual Awareness Week
    • ​This day is a call for the bisexual community, their friends and supporters to recognize and celebrate bisexuality, bisexual history, bisexual community and culture, and all the bisexual people in their lives. First observed in 1999, Celebrate Bisexuality Day is the brainchild of three United States bisexual rights activists: Wendy Curry of Maine, Michael Page of Florida, and Gigi Raven Wilbur of Texas.
October
  • LGBT History Month (U.S.) was first celebrated in 1994 was declared a national history month by President Barack Obama in 2009 to encourage openness and education about LGBT history and rights. 
  • October 8th - International Lesbian Day
    • Created to celebrate lesbians and lesbian culture around the world.
  • October 11th - National Coming Out Day
    • ​Celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people's coming out experiences and journeys, and pushes for environments in which people can safely come out
  • October 17th - International Pronouns Day
    • Seeks to make asking, sharing, and respecting personal pronouns commonplace.
  • Third Thursday in October - Spirit Day
    • ​A day millions wear purple in a stand against bullying and to show their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. Purple symbolizes 'spirit' on the rainbow flag.
  • October 26th - Intersex Awareness Day
    • ​Celebrated to commemorate the first public demonstration and protest by intersex people in North America, which took place in Boston, MA.
  • Last Week of October - Asexual Awareness Week
    • ​An international campaign that seeks to educate about asexual, aromantic, demisexual, and grey-asexual experiences and to create materials that are accessible to the asexual community and allies around the world.
November 
  • November 8th - Intersex Solidarity Day
    • Also known as Intersex Day of Remembrance and marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a now-famous French intersex person. The event appears to have first been held on November 8th, 2005, as Intersex Solidarity Day. Joëlle-Circé Laramée, the then Canadian Spokeswoman for Organisation Intersex International, issued a call for all persons interested in intersex human rights to commemorate the day.
  • Second Week of November - Transgender Awareness Week
    • The purpose is to educate about transgender and gender non-conforming people and the issues. It leads up to Transgender Day of Remembrance.
  • November 20th - International Transgender Day of Remembrance
    • ​Memorializes those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice and honors Rita Hester, who was murdered on November 28, 1998. Visit GLAAD Transgender Day of Remembrance for more information.
  • ​Third Friday of November - International Stand Up to Bullying Day
    • ​A semi-annual event in which participants sign and wear a pink shirt to take a visible, public stance against bullying.
December 
  • December 1st - World AIDS Day
    • ​An opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988. 
  • December 8th - Pansexual Pride Day
    • A day to celebrate, recognize, and bring visibility to pansexual individuals.
  • ​December 10th - Human Rights Day
    • ​Commemorates the day in 1984 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sources:
  • https://www.wright.edu/diversity-and-inclusion/culture-and-identity-centers/lgbtqa-affairs/international-lgbtqa-dates-to-know
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_awareness_periods
  • https://therustintimes.com/2018/05/18/heres-a-full-list-of-international-lgbt-awareness-dates-and-what-they-represent/
  • http://www.lgbtlifewestchester.org/important_lgbt_dates

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  • Home
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