Today is the annual International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

During lockdown, many LGBT people will be stuck at home with families that don’t accept who they are.

Imagine what that does to your mental health. If you know a young person in these circumstances, reach out to them today, and every day.

And if you leave home because of it, it can be very difficult to get help. Rejection on this basis is not classed as domestic abuse.

I was moved by these stories on the BBC website. Lucy talks about her family not accepting her transgender identity while Matt was thrown out of home by parents who rejected him for being gay.

Layla Moran talks about this is as Honorary President of LGBT+ Lib Dems:

And interim co-leader Ed Davey looks at how far we have come:

This year #IDAHOBIT2020 marks 30 yrs since the WHO stopped classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder

It's amazing to see what progress we have made since then – but it is clear there is more to do both domestically and around the world to improve the lives of LGBT+ people pic.twitter.com/6zE2UlPx1z

— Ed Davey MP 🔶🇪🇺 #StayHomeSaveLives #ProtectNHS (@EdwardJDavey) May 17, 2020

Over on the Lib Dem website, Christine Jardine writes that we need to be aware of these sorts of experiences:

As Liberals we should be aware of the danger of assuming that everybody feels equally respected and protected in the current crisis. These past two months have posed problems for us all that we never thought we would have to face, and demanded strength we did not know that we had.

But we are not there yet.

In striving to reach that moment we would do well to remember the words of US politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan:

“The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.
The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.”

That is the task we must set ourselves.

Former MEP, now Chair of the Lib Dems Federal People Development Committee tweeted:

One of the reasons I first joined the @LibDems is that they share my values on equality. Let’s shout it out on this International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. #IDAHOTB2020 pic.twitter.com/bAMCM3HXpf

— Barbara Gibson 🔸🇪🇺 (@Barb_G) May 17, 2020

And our sister parties in Europe are taking this seriously too. They are having webinar tomorrow:

"Breaking the Silence: fighting LGBTI-phobia in schools and universities" 🏳️‍🌈 Join our #Renew4Equality webinar on Monday at 12h30 for #IDAHOBIT2020
Live Q&A chat here: https://t.co/FMKNsURjwY
With @SophieintVeld @radkamaxova @euanplatt @IGLYO @praguepride @mag_jeunes_lgbt pic.twitter.com/LboWijYUPw

— Renew Europe (@RenewEurope) May 16, 2020

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings