British Embassy Warsaw staff wear pride-themed masks to mark IDAHOBIT
The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia is observed on 17 May to raise awareness of LGBTI rights.
Ambassador Knott wearing a pride-themed mask
Every year, this Embassy flies the Pride flag on 17 May, to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
The date marks the decision in 1990 to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organisation, and aims to raise awareness of LGBTI rights work worldwide.
This year, due to COVID19, members of the Embassy teamstaff working from home decided to mark the day in a different way: by wearing pride-themed protective masks.
British Ambassador to Poland, Jonathan Knott, said:
While right now we all need to focus on fighting COVID-19, we must not forget to continue protecting the values in which we believe.
On International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, we reaffirm our support for efforts to raise public awareness of issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community, and pay tribute to the hard work of LGBTI people in Poland, the UK and around the world to ensure human rights and dignity for all.
We continue to be committed to protecting all people from violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and ensuring that every individual enjoys equal opportunities.