A Sheffield based football LGBTQ+ support group has announced they will be taking part in an ‘International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia & Transphobia’ event.
Rainbow Blades, an LGBTQ+ support group of Sheffield United FC fans have partnered alongside the charity ‘SAYiT’ to hold the annual public rally.
SAYiT is a registered charity independent charity with a history of over 20 years of working with young queer people in Sheffield. Their main motivation is supporting the lives of young LGBTQ+ people as well as those affected by HIV, up until the age of 25.
James Dunne, events coordinator for SAYiT, from Sheffield, said: “It’s about coming together in solidarity, and standing up against prejudice that has plagued the queer community for years.”
He added: “It’s about allies too, as we’re all there to stand together and make a difference.”
The worldwide event has been in the works since 2004 and has taken place in Sheffield for over a decade.
The event will take place on the 17th May in the Winter Gardens, just as the vigil for trans teenager Brianna Ghey took place just three months ago. It is set to include contributions such as public speeches from a plethora of queer activists and organisations such as LGBT Sheffield.
Amarpreet Singh-Gill, 20, a sports intern for the Stonewall charity, said: “I don’t think people realise these events are necessarily just about equal rights, but about educating on why they even came to be.”
The rallies consist of a ‘1 minute noise’ as opposed to silence to symbolise how they aim to advocate against LGBT rights violations and spread awareness for the cause.
The specific date commemorates over 30 years since the World Health Organisation’s decision to declassify homosexuality as a disease.
He added: “People forget that there’s still lots of gay people that lived through the AIDs epidemic, and watched their friends die.”