Today is the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). This annual event highlights the continuing social plight of people who are gay, bisexual, transgendered or who, for any reason, don’t fit into whatever sexual template the Daily Mail and its ilk consider acceptable. Much as modern Britain has become a more enlightened place over the past couple of decades, there is still progress to be made. Stonewall have found that one in five LGBT people still suffer homophobic bullying at work, and nine out of ten teachers admit that homophobic bullying takes place in their schools.

Sadly, nine out of ten teachers also lack training or instruction in how to deal with this. Having grown up a confused, bruised and beaten bisexual under the shadow of Section 28, I know this only too well. The ambiguous wording of this clause in the Tory-led Local Government Act of 1988 caused many school staff to actively ignore homophobia for fear of legal repercussions. Nothing outside the heterosexual norm was even acknowledged by educational establishments, leaving anyone else to be ostracised and openly bullied in their own classrooms. Even though Section 28 was quietly repealed in 2003 (despite opposition from the Conservative Party and a young David Cameron), its legacy lives on.

As an act of defiance against prejudice, people across the world will today join flashmobs for same-sex kissing, hugging and hand-holding in public. Here’s a video featuring some very attractive couples snogging in front of the Eiffel Tower last year:

(I feel I should also remind you not to forget Kiana Firouz, a woman fighting deportation from the UK to Iran where she’ll potentially face execution or imprisonment for “unrepentant homosexuality”. I urge you to do everything you can to keep her here.)