🏳️🌈 Hey, I’m Guigo and in March two thousand nineteen I was reborn after being beaten by 5 police officers until I lost my conscious but still came out alive. The reason: homophobia.
And among the dozens of marks found all over my body, the one that will never go away is the one inside of me.
But my case is only one among so many cases around the world day after day, and on this May seventeenth, International Day Against Homophobia, we need to talk more about this.
We also need to remember that fight against homophobia is not just about the most extreme cases, but also about the small everyday acts. It manifests from insults and offensive jokes to physical assaults and social exclusion.
So, how can we fight homophobia in our daily lives?
1 - We need to remember that it doesn’t only happen on the streets; often it happens within our own homes, with parents turning their children’s minds into a tangle of insecurities, fears, and distress.
2 - It’s in the “funny jokes” in the classroom that are usually ignored by educators.
3 - It’s present in the imposition of personal beliefs of those who are not forced to follow any dogma or religion.
If you are being targeted by any kind of discrimination or know someone who is, know that, there are ways to fight back. In the United States, there’s The National Domestic Violence Hotline, which provides support in cases of violence and discrimination.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-(SAFE)7233
www.thehotline.org
You can also contact The Trevor Project, which provides resources and guidance on how to find international support.
The Trevor Project - www.thetrevorproject.org
Help fight homophobia, don’t stay silent, we’re together in this world today, where resisting is the first step so that every one of our comunity can exist tomorrow without fear of being who they are! Report, resist, exist!