RAINBOW Human Rights Community
January
January 17th: Holocaust Remembrance Day. A day to remember all of the victims of the Nazi era; see persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
February
February is LGBT History Month (USA)
February 6th: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female and Intersex Genital Mutilation
Last Friday in February: International Stand Up to Bullying Day
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is observed each year on February 7, to increase HIV education, testing, treatment, and involvement in African-American communities.
Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week takes place the week following Valentine’s Day. Aromantics are people who do not experience romantic attraction. During the week, LGBTQ groups worldwide hold events to raise awareness of aromanticism and show support for people on the aromantic spectrum.
March
March 1st: Zero Discrimination Day
March 21st: International Day of Happiness (For LGBTQIA+ People too)
March 31st: International Transgender Day of Visibility Held each year on March 31, is dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide. Transgender activist Rachel Crandall founded the event in 2009.
National GLBT Health Awareness Week is a nationwide event, sponsored by the National Coalition for LGBT Health, during the last week of March that promotes the health and wellness needs of the LGBTQ community.
April
April 6th: International Asexuality Day.
April 22nd: Earth Day
April 26th: Lesbian Visibility Day The National Coalition for LGBT Health first organized it.
Day of Silence: April 17; Day varies from year to year. GLSEN’s Day of Silence is an organizing tool to end the silencing effect of anti-LGBTQ bias. The day-long vow of silence represents the silencing of LGBT students and their allies.
May
May is Klinefelter Syndrome Awareness Month
May 7th: WORLDWIDE DAY OF GENITAL AUTONOMY
May 17th: International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The main purpose of the 17 May mobilizations is to raise awareness of violence, discrimination, and repression of LGBT communities worldwide.
May 22nd: Harvey Milk Day. began in 2010. It honors the assassinated politician and LGBT rights activist on his birthday, May 22. It’s officially celebrated in Milk’s home state, California.
May 22nd: Irish Marriage Referendum
May 24th: Pansexual/Panromantic Awareness Day
June
June is LGBT+ Pride MonthWhile Pride celebrations occur year-round, June is celebrated as LGBT Pride Month in honor of the Stonewall riots, which started on June 28, 1969. June is also the month that same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Awareness Month: A variation of intersex.
June 12th: Pulse Night of Remembrance: commemorates the loss of 49 people in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016.
June 28th: Stonewall Riots Anniversary
July
July 14th: International Nonbinary Visibility Day
July 16th: International Drag Day. To give drag artists a chance to showcase their creativity and contributions to the gay culture. Created by Adam Steward in 2009.
August
August 19th: Transgender Pride Flag Day | Smithsonian August 19th, 2014.
The Transgender Pride Flag was created by American trans woman Monica Helms in 1999, and was first shown at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona, United States in 2000. The flag represents the transgender community and consists of five horizontal stripes: two light blue, two pinks, and one white in the center.
September
September 23rd: Bisexual PRIDE Day/Celebrate Bisexuality Day.
Bisexual Awareness Week: The week surrounding September 23rd.
October
October is LGBT History Month (USA)Was first celebrated in October 1994. President Barack Obama declared it a national history month in 2009. The month is intended to encourage openness and education about LGBT history and rights.
October 11th: National Coming Out DayIs an LGBTQ awareness day observed on October 11 and encourages LGBTQ people to come out to the people in their lives as a form of personal political activism.
On October 12, 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard died after being beaten, tortured, and left today near Laramie, Wyoming four days earlier. Shepard’s attackers targeted him for robbery as a gay man and pretended to be gay to lure him. Shepard’s death set off a wave of protests across the country and ultimately led to the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Shepard was interred at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC in October 2018.
International Pronouns Day is held on October 17. The day “seeks to make asking, sharing, and respecting personal pronouns commonplace.” This was the inaugural year for this “holiday.”
October 19th: National LGBT Center Awareness Day and Spirit Day
Asexual Awareness Week: Last week of October.varies from year to year and occurs between October 20 and 26. The international campaign seeks to educate about asexual, aromantic, demisexual, and grey-asexual experiences.
October 26th: Intersex Awareness Day Commemorates the first intersex protest on held on October 26, 1996, outside the American Academy of Pediatrics national conference in Boston, Massachusetts. It’s an international day of grass-roots action to end shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital cosmetic surgeries on intersex children.
Spirit Day occurs on the third Thursday in October. Started in 2010 by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, and promoted by GLAAD, it was created in response to a series of bullying-related suicides of gay students like Tyler Clementi. Observers wear purple as a sign of support for LGBTQ youth.
November
November 8th: Intersex Day of Remembrance (Intersex Solidarity Day) Marks the birthday of French intersex memoirist Herculine Barbin. The internationally observed awareness day is intended to draw attention to issues faced by intersex people.
First Sunday in November: Trans Parent Day
Second Week in November: Transgender Awareness Week Typically occurs in the second week in November and celebrates and educates about transgender and gender non-conforming people.
November 20th: Transgender Day of Remembrance Ooccurs on November 20, memorializes those murdered as a result of transphobia, and brings attention to continued violence against transgender people. Memorials typically include a reading of the names of those killed in the past year.
Third Friday in November: International Stand Up to Bullying Day
December
December 1st: World AIDS Day Takes place on December 1. Recognized by the United Nations in 1988, the day is observed to raise awareness of the HIV-AIDS pandemic, and memorialize those lost to the disease.
December 10th: Human Rights Day.
Sources used:
List of LGBT Awareness Days – Wikipedia
More about MOGAI: I will now use MOGAI instead of LGBTQIA+
If you know of an Awareness Day I have missed please contact me:
~.V.~
Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez 