IT’S LGBTQIA+ PRIDE MONTH! QUEER HISTORY PT. 3

IT’S LGBTQIA+ PRIDE MONTH!

UNFORTUNATELY, PRIDE FESTIVALS AROUND THE COUNTRY WERE CANCELED BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 VIRUS.

This year I feel we need to look back on the history of the LGBTQIA+ movement and see how far we have come.

  • 1988: 
    • Sweden became the first country to pass a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • The first National Coming Out Day was observed on October 11 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the 2nd National March on Washington.
  • 1989: Denmark became the first country to pass domestic partnerships. 
  • 1990: 

    • The Gay and Lesbian Independent School Teachers Network (GLSTN) was founded.

    • Policies restricting the immigration of lesbians and gays to the United States were rescinded. 
  • 1992: Australia and Canada became the first countries to end their bans on gay people serving in the military.
  • 1993:
    • Norway passed civil unions
    • Belarus, Gibraltar, Ireland, Lithuania, and Russia decriminalized homosexuality. 
    • New Zealand ended their ban on gay people serving in the military. 
    • New Zealand passed the Human Rights Amendment Act, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • Minnesota legislature enacted the first statewide law banning discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. 

    • Transgender youth Brandon Teena was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska.

    • “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for the U.S. Military became the law.

Trigger Warning! 

  • 1994: 
    • South Africa banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • Bermuda, Serbia, and Australia decriminalized homosexuality.
    • Canada grants refugee status to gays fearing for their well-being in their native country. 
    • The American Medical Association removed homosexuality as an illness.
    • Deborah Batts became the first openly gay federal judge. 
  • 1995:
    • Sweden legalized civil unions.
    • Albania and Moldova decriminalized homosexuality
    • Ed Flanagan became the first openly gay, statewide elected official in the U.S. when he served as Vermont’s State Auditor. 
  • 1996: 
    • Iceland passed registered partnerships.
    • Hungary passed cohabitation recognition for same-sex couples
    • Canada banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    • President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), denying federal benefits to same-sex spouses, and created an exception to the U.S. Constitution to allow states to disregard same-sex marriages performed in other states. 

    • A federal appeals court issued the first judicial opinion in U.S. history finding that a public school could be held constitutionally accountable for not stopping antigay abuse.

    • Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s Amendment 2, which denied gays and lesbians protections against discrimination.

  • 1997: 
    • Fiji banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution. 
    • Ecuador and Venezuela decriminalized homosexuality. 
  • 1998:
    • Belgium passed registered partnerships. 
    • Ecuador and Ireland banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa, Cyprus, and Tajikistan decriminalized homosexuality.
    • Romania and South Africa ended their bans on gay people serving in the military.
    • Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay person to win election to a first-term seat in Congress. 

    • Matthew Shepard was beaten and killed outside Laramie, Wyoming.

    • Hawaii voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.  

Trigger Warning!

  • 1999: 
    • France passed civil unions.
    • Chile decriminalized homosexuality. 
    • Israel’s Supreme Court recognized a lesbian partner as another legal mother of her partner’s biological son. 
    • South Africa granted spousal immigration benefits to same-sex couples. 
    • The American Counseling Governing Council adopted a position “opposing ‘reparative therapy’ as a ‘cure’ for individuals who are homosexual.”
    • California became the first state to pass a domestic partnership law.
  • 2000:

    • The United Kingdom ended its ban on gay people serving in the military. 

    • In Germany, the Bundestag officially apologized to the LGBTQIA+ community persecuted under the Nazi regime, and for “harm done to homosexual citizens up to 1969.”

    • Vermont became the first state in the United States to legally recognize civil unions between same-sex couples. 

    • Hillary Clinton became the first First Lady to march in an LGBTQIA+ pride parade.
  • 2001: 

    • The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

    • Portugal passed limited partnerships.
    • Rhode Island banned discrimination based on gender identity
    • Maryland banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • Pink Triangle Park was dedicated; it was the first permanent free-standing memorial in America dedicated to the thousands of persecuted homosexuals in Germany during the Holocause of World War II.