Many humanists around the world today are marking the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).
While extending marriage rights so same-sex couples is a very current debate in numerous countries around the world, humanists in Belgium released a new video to celebrate ten years of equal marriage. DeMens.nu, the union of Dutch-speaking Humanist associations, released the short video on Youtube, celebrating a decade of equal marriage including the Humanist ceremonies they have offered in Flanders and Brussels for more than 30 years.
DeMens.nu will be marching tomorrow as part of the Belgian Lesbian and Gay Pride in Brussels.
The campaigning organisation Transgender Europe has issued a “Trans Rights Europe Map” as its contribution to this international campaign. The findings of the research demonstrate that European countries are not taking sufficient action to protect transgendered people efficiently against violence and discrimination. In the UK the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association have called for more vigilance and proactive measures to protect against trans hate crime.
Meanwhile in the United States, the American Humanist Association’s LGBT Humanist Awardee for 2012, Star Trek actor George Takei, has countered proponents of “traditional marriage” in his own inimitable way.