Ballarat Health Services’ Queen Victoria Building hosted a celebration for IDAHOBIT Day, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The afternoon tea featured colourful cupcakes, a rainbow sprinkle-studded cake and a kaleidoscope of balloons and flags.

BHS psychiatric nurse Aaron Gore wanted the inaugural IDAHOBIT celebration for the organisation’s mental health services to simply be about fun.

“It is really important to recognise this day and how far mental health services have come,” Mr Gore said.

“There is still some stigma from the greater community about LGBTI people, but it’s all coming together and turning around slowly. But, it’s also important to recognise the 1000s of people who came before us, too.”

Mr Gore said the party was open to the wider BHS community and anyone who wanted to celebrate.

IDAHOBIT Day was established in 2004 to draw attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements and the media on the violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI people worldwide.

The date, May 17, was chosen to commemorate World Health Organisation’s decision to declassify homosexuality as being a mental disorder.

Mr Gore said IDAHOBIT Day was not a centralised campaign but a movement to keep raising awareness and celebrate how much things had changed.

City of Ballarat had its second official rainbow flag raising ceremony in Queen Victoria Square and a series of rainbow storytimes across Ballarat Libraries.