PsySSA Commemorates International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia, and Transphobia.

 

On International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, PsySSA joins the global community in affirming the dignity, rights, safety, and humanity of LGBTQIA+ people.

Contributions from PsySSA’s Decolonising Psychology Division (DPD) and Sexuality and Gender Division (SGD) reflect on the ongoing realities of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, gender-based violence, discrimination, and the harmful impact of exclusionary systems and practices. They also call for collective action to strengthen advocacy, mental healthcare access, legal protections, and affirming psychosocial support for LGBTQIA+ individuals across South Africa and the African continent.

PsySSA reaffirms its commitment to ethical, evidence-based, and affirming psychological practice that promotes dignity, freedom of expression, and the right of all people not only to survive, but to thrive.

IDAHOBIT 2026: At the heart of democracy is the right of all to thrive

South Africa, as an active member of the international community, has a responsibility “to advance our constitutional values beyond our borders,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 4th meeting of the ‘In Defence of Democracy’ initiative in Barcelona, Spain, on 18 April.

While there has been pushback against our Constitution within our borders, there is, arguably, still sufficient consensus that constitutional values are the backbone of our democracy. These include: the rule of law; an independent judiciary; protection of fundamental freedoms (such as association, speech and movement); equal opportunity and justice; political participation; accountability and transparency; and the protection of minorities. In summary, a true democracy ensures that freedom is not just a gift from government, but a protected right (as illustrated by the South African Bill of Rights).

What has this got to do with IDAHOBIT, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, celebrated every year on 17 May? This year’s theme ‘At the heart of democracy’ is a reminder that truly democratic societies must be grounded in justice and freedom for everyone. And ‘everyone’ includes members of our LGBTQIA+ communities, who, along with everyone else who resides in South Africa, have the right not just to exist, but to thrive.

One aspect of thriving is being able to express and fulfil one’s highest and most actualised self, living out the potential in all of us to find love and work, live a decent and dignified life, and participate in community and political spaces. To thrive one must be valued from a young age, nurtured, protected, loved and celebrated.

As the Sexuality and Gender Division of PsySSA, we therefore call for ‘conversion practices’ (attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender) to be outlawed, not only in South Africa, but in the rest of Africa too. With Outright International, we have produced a Toolkit for Mental Health Providers working with Survivors of Conversion Practices in Africa, based on research conducted by Outright. This research has shown the devastating effects of conversion practices, often causing lasting psychological, social, spiritual and physical harms, impeding thriving. Noteworthy is that these practices are often imposed on vulnerable young people.

If South Africa is to truly be a ‘defender of democracy’ beyond its borders, this must start at home. While existing law could assist survivors of conversion practices, it does not go far enough to prevent these practices and the harms they cause. Our president, if he started a process of banning conversion practices, would send a powerful message to the whole African continent, that constitutional values of equality, fairness, dignity and freedom are not just words on paper, but vehicles for legal and social change. At the ‘heart of democracy’ is the freedom of all Africans to thrive, not just survive, the attempts to change, crush and distort their sexuality or gender. This IDAHOBIT celebration should be a call for activism which ends dehumanising conversion practices, once and for all.

Author

Pierre Brouard, Clinical Psychologist, Executive Member, Sexuality and Gender Division, PsySSA; Research Associate, Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender, UP; and Extraordinary Lecturer, Centre for Human Rights, UP.

The 17th of May marks International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, And Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). The day draws its significance from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) decision to remove homosexuality from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) by declassifying it as a mental disorder in 1990. This marked a shift in collective humanity and freedom.

IDAHOBIT, in 2026, is celebrated under the theme, “At the heart of democracy.” This theme symbolizes the centrality of the role of democracy in mental health advocacy, freedom of expression, and the fundamental right to life for everyone. It comes at a time when the rights of LGBTQIA+ people face significant threats from governments, groups, and individuals. Recently, this has been worsened by the termination of the United States Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in South Africa. The termination of PEPFAR has reduced access to healthcare services such as HIV prevention and management, including Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), as well as gender-affirming care.

While South Africa leads as one of the African countries with the most progressive legislation regarding the LGBTQIA+ community, homosexuality remains criminalised in much of the continent. Despite South Africa’s milestones in recognising LGBTQIA+ rights, including the Civil Union Act of 2006, gender-based violence persists in daily life. Horrific cases of corrective rape, among other forms of violence and homicide, target members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Each unresolved incident undermines the rights of LGBTQIA+ people and highlights the ongoing failures of the criminal justice system.

Whilst the psychology profession in South Africa has been at the forefront of advocacy against homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, as demonstrated by essential guiding manuals such as PsySSA’s Practice Guidelines for Psychology Professionals Working with Sexually and Gender-Diverse People (2025), which seek to ensure gender discrimination does not take place within the profession and beyond, there remains a lot of work that is to be done to address the way in which gender justice remains largely inaccessible in society at large.

What remains a key issue is how healthcare and criminal justice institutions continue to adhere to colonial gender frameworks, which further undermine gender justice, especially in remote and disadvantaged areas. As an essential part of decolonising psychology, we therefore call psychologists in clinical, educational, research, and industrial fields to move beyond the professional setting.

There is a need to collaborate with activist organisations that bring to life the principles of gender equality, freedom of expression, and an ethics of care outlined in the guiding manual.

Resources:
https://www.psyssa.com/practice-guidelines-for-psychology-professionals-working-with-sexually-and-gender-diverse-people-2nd-ed/
https://anovahealth.co.za/our-work/key-populations/
https://www.samesamecollective.org/