IDAHOBIT and 'Defence Against the Dark Arts'

one of the Equal Voices life-giving butterflies created by a beautiful Brisbane defender against the dark arts

Some days I am staggered at how demented (I use the word advisedly) and upside-down our world is!  Three of the greatest mental illnesses of our day, for example, are homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.  How strange it is therefore that it the victims and survivors of them who are often tarred with the mental illness brush.  Indeed it is not so long since being trans was listed worldwide as a mental ill-health condition and today there are still requirements of seeing psychologists and/or psychiatrists and/or other doctors for some treatments.   Rarely however do we see calls for treatment for those who perpetrate such outrageous transphobic, biphobic and homophobic comments and actions.  To some of them we even give status and attention, as leading politicians, religious and other cultural leaders.  Increasingly therefore we need to continue to work on what, borrowing from Harry Potter imagery, we may call 'Defence Against the Dark Arts'.  This, for me, is part of what is represented by IDAHOBIT (the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia), marked each year on 17 May.  Our task together, on this and every day, is to call out the Dementors of our world and nurture the 'divine magic' of compassion and creativity in us all..

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