ANNUAL LGBT+ CALENDAR

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

A day to remember the millions murdered or whose lives were irrevocably changed during the Nazi Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

LGBT HISTORY MONTH

The theme for 2023 LGBTQ+ History month is 'Behind the Lens'. The aim of this theme is to celebrate LGBT+ people's hard work and contributions made to the production of film and cinema from 'behind the lens'. 

We have put together some resources to highlight some of the key events and people in LGBT+ history, alongside stories from your colleagues across the network, as well as some virtual events for you to attend throughout the month.

TIME TO TALK DAY

A day to bring the nation together to get talking and break the silence around mental health.

We have a number of support tools availible to help if you need to talk today or any day of the year!

NATIONAL HIV TESTING WEEK

It aims to reduce the numbers of undiagnosed people and those diagnosed late.

INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY

Marked annually on March 8th, International Women's Day is one of the most important days of the year to:

• Celebrate women's achievements

• Raise awareness about women's equality

• Lobby for accelerated gender parity

• Fundraise for female-focused charities

LBT Women's Health Week

A week dedicated to reducing health inequalities and improving access to health and social care for LBT women.

TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY

A day dedicated to celebrating trans people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by the trans community worldwide.

DAY OF SILENCE

Started in 1996 by a University of Virginia student named Maria Pulzetti and held the second Friday of every April, Day of Silence is a campaign that seeks to shed light on what many LGBTQ youth experience daily. 

Initially intended to focus on this problem within the school system, it has since expanded into workplaces, university campuses, and sporting events. 

Yearly, millions participate by staying silent for the duration of their day, representing the silencing of LGBTQ students.

LESBIAN VISIBILITY WEEK

Lesbian Visibility Week aims to show our solidarity with every woman within the LGBTQI community, as well as celebrate lesbians. 

It is essential that Lesbian Visibility Week is a voice for unity and lifts up ALL women, especially those who come from marginalised communities. 

Recent research (Pride Matters survey, conducted by Pride In London 2018) has shown that gay women are almost twice as unlikely to be out in the workplace as gay male colleagues.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK 

The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week in 2023 is Anxiety.

Anxiety is an important human emotion but, in some circumstances, it can get out of hand and become a mental health problem.

A lot of different things can contribute to feelings of anxiety, including exams, relationships, a new job, a date or a big life change. It is also an emotion people frequently experience around money and not being able to meet life’s basic needs.

Anxiety is also one of the most common mental health problems people face. According to a survey we carried out recently, a quarter of adults feel so anxious that it stops them from doing the things they want to do some or all of the time

INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA, BIPHOBIA & TRANSPHOBIA

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.

The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.

PRIDE MONTH

An Annual LGBT Pride Celebration to recognise the influence LGBTQ+ people have had around the world.

EDINBURGH PRIDE

On Saturday 24th June 2023, Pride Edinburgh takes place in the heart of the capital for an inclusive and fun celebration of the local LGBTQIA+ community.

LONDON PRIDE

The UK’s biggest, most diverse Pride. A home for every part of London’s LGBT+ community.

INTERNATIONAL NON-BINARY PEOPLE'S DAY

To celebrate the wide range of people worldwide who identify as non-binary.

SPARKLE WEEKEND

The world’s largest free-to-attend celebration of gender diversity, held in Sackville Gardens at the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village

TRANS PRIDE

Trans Pride Brighton is the first and the largest Trans Pride event outside of America. Each year since 2013 they’ve host the largest protest for trans liberation in Europe, with over 10,000 people attending.

BELFAST PRIDE

Belfast Pride Festival is one of the biggest festivals in Belfast and runs over 150 events across 10 days.

LEEDS PRIDE

Yorkshire's Biggest celebration of LGBTQ+ Life.

BRIGHTON PRIDE

The Pride LGBTQ+ Community Parade is one of the undisputed highlights of the Brighton & Hove Pride weekend and is a glorious showcase of the city’s charities, community groups and small businesses.

UK BLACK PRIDE

Europe's largest celebration for African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and Caribbean heritage LGBTQ people.

MANCHESTER PRIDE

Manchester Pride is one of the UK's leading LGBTQ+ charities. Their vision is a world where LGBTQ+ people are free to live and love without prejudice. They’re part of a global Pride movement celebrating LGBTQ+ equality and challenging discrimination.

LEICESTER PRIDE

Leicester Pride is Leicester’s annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) festival, held at the beginning of September each year.

BI VISIBILITY DAY

Celebrating bi identities and highlighting biphobia since 1999.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

A month to celebrate those whose contributions to society have often been marginalised. Recognise the diversity of the LGBT community and profile black LGBT role models.

We have more supporting information in our community pages

INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN DAY

Take some time to read about the lesbians of colour who are making history - in music, sport, comedy, writing, social justice, and more!

HATE CRIME AWARENESS WEEK

Started in 1995, in direct response to the murder of Stephen Lawrence, to raise awareness and promote local support for the victims of hate crime.

Our Support & Wellbeing pages have some further support for reporting Hate Crime

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY

National coming out day is a time for those in the LGBT community to finally be open about who they are to their friends, family and the world!

This day was founded in 1988. Being out and proud as a lesbian person, a bisexual person, a gay person or a trans person is such a liberation and is sure to completely transform your life for the better.

INTERNATIONAL PRONOUNS DAY

There’s a lot of discussion in the media and online recently about the use of gender pronouns.

Gender pronouns aren’t new though. We use them all the time to identify and refer to someone. Describing people as ‘he’ or ‘she’, groups of people as ‘they’ or ‘them’, as well as inanimate things as ‘it’ is something we all do every day.

SPIRIT DAY

LGBT+ youth disproportionately face bullying and harassment because of their identities. 

Each year, millions go purple for Spirit Day to support LGBT+ youth in a united stand against bullying. 

Pledging to “go purple" on Spirit Day is a way for everyone to visibly show solidarity with youth and to take part in the largest, most visible LGBTQ anti-bullying campaign in the world.

ACE WEEK

Ace Week, formerly Asexual Awareness Week, is an international campaign dedicated to raising awareness and expanding education of asexuality.

TRANS AWARENESS WEEK

Transgender Awareness Week is a week when transgender people and their allies take action to bring attention to the community by educating the public about who transgender people are, sharing stories and experiences, and advancing advocacy around the issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that affect the transgender community.

DISABILITY HISTORY MONTH

UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) is an annual event creating a platform to focus on the history of the struggle for equality and human rights. 2

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

A day to memorialise those killed, and raise public awareness of hate crimes against trans people.

WORLD AIDS DAY

An opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Our charity Partner Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, and the largest voluntary sector provider of HIV and sexual health services in the UK.

If you would like to make a donation to the Terrence Higgins Trust, please use the dedicated Next donations link.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The UN has honed its focus on promoting the well-being and welfare of people living with disabilities, and in 1992 called for an international day of celebration for people living with disabilities. 

• Celebration – to recognize and value the diversity of our global community, and to cherish the role we all play, regardless of our abilities;

• Learning – to understand and learn from the experiences of people with living with a disability;

• It is a day for optimism – to look towards the future and the creation of a world where a person is not characterised by their disabilities, but by their abilities;

• Action – where all people, organisations, agencies and charities not only show their support for International Day of People with Disabilities, but take on a commitment to create a world characterised by equal human rights.

RAINBOW LACES DAY

A day where organisations, players and fans come together to show their support for LGBT people in sport.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

A day to commemorate the UN's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.