What is IDAHOBIT? International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia is an annual day of global mobilization to combat violations of LGBTQI+ rights. Protests and other events are recorded each year in over 130 countries worldwide, according to may17.

The importance of IDAHOBIT becomes evident when considering how recent the institutional shift towards LGBTQI+ acceptance is. It was only 34 years ago, in 1990, that the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Despite this progress, violence against LGBTQI+ individuals continues and has even surged in recent years.

The rise of new right-wing movements in the West and escalating global crises have had devastating consequences for the LGBTQI+ community.

Here are some quotes from LGBTQI+ icons who have recognized the connections between the capitalist system, patriarchy, and gender oppression.

Happy birthday to the Vietnamese national liberation leader and communist revolutionary, Ho Chi Minh! Under his leadership, the Vietnamese Liberation Front was formed, which kicked out the French colonialists and US imperialists from Vietnam.

At the age of 21, Ho Chi Minh left his country to find an answer to the question of Vietnamese liberation in the international revolutionary movement. He lived in New York, London, and Paris and became involved in the global socialist movement. In France, he even became a founding member of the French Communist Party.

Later, he studied and worked in different governmental institutions in the Soviet Union and China, serving as a senior Comintern agent around Southeast Asia. In the late 1930s, he went to China to serve as an advisor to the Communist armed forces.

Upon returning to Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh played a significant role in uniting the left factions and forming the party that led the liberation movement against French and American imperialism.