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May 17 is here. The European Union has issued its annual IDAHOBIT statement, the Council of Europe is convening foreign ministers in Copenhagen, and the global theme — At the Heart of Democracy — is doing more work than usual. A day-of look at what is actually happening.
We are in Tirana on the day. Some rainbow flags are out, some embassies are flying them, the Pride parade is six days away, and the city is humming in a way that — for the first time — feels normal. A first-person dispatch from May 17.
One LGBTQ+ Colombian killed every 32 hours in 2025. A Kenyan rights group documents systematic police violence. Sixty-four countries still criminalize same-sex relations. As IDAHOBIT lands Sunday, the global picture is harder than the headlines.
May 17 lands on Sunday — the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. From where we're sitting in Tirana, it feels less like a campaign moment and more like a stocktake. Some notes on what's planned across the Balkans.
The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia returns May 17 with a theme that links queer rights to democratic backsliding. Sixteen days out, here's what the day is, what's planned, and where the global picture sits.
