International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

Today is the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

The day was first marked in 2004. It aims to raise awareness of the alarming situation faced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people and all those who do not conform to majority sexual and gender norms.

IDAHOBIT targets policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media. It highlights the violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI people all over the world, and calls for change to be made.

Our new strategic vision is a nation swimming. We want to help every person in England to take to the pool regularly, regardless of how they identify themselves.

We support a number of different LGBT swimming clubs across the country. These include Out to Swim in London, Out to Swim South in Brighton, Northern Wave in Manchester, and Moseley Shoals in Birmingham.

We will soon be releasing a trans toolkit including advice and guidance to support pools and clubs to be more inclusive to the trans community.

• Click here to view our blogs from February during LGBT History Month, profiling staff, athletes and board members.

Presenters at the Rainbow Laces Summit

On Monday, Swim England Health and Wellbeing Manager Jamie Hooper presented at the first Rainbow Laces Summit. Manchester United Football Club hosted the event at Old Trafford. Jamie spoke about best practice on engaging the LGBT community in swimming.

Swim England vice-chair Lisa Wainwright was part of a panel that discussed their experiences of being out in a sporting world.

Absolutely amazing to share @Swim_England best practice on #LGBT inclusion at the inaugural @stonewalluk#RainbowLacesSummit today! ?️‍?❤️?? pic.twitter.com/21yc4TNqcj

— Jamie Hooper (@just_jamie1990) May 15, 2017

Jamie commented: “It was a pleasure to be a part of the first Rainbow Laces Summit. It was even more special to be able to present our best practice to all the different organisations who were there.

“Swim England has an absolute commitment to creating safe and inclusive environments across the country. We want to help everyone to be able to swim. IDAHOBIT day is such an important reminder about the need to keep on educating people about the LGBT community. This will to continue to drive out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic opinions and behaviours.”

If you would like any more support in this area, please contact Swim England at: equality@swimming.org

• Click here for more information on IDAHOBIT day.
• Click here for further LGBT help and advice from Stonewall.