IT’S LGBTQIA+ PRIDE MONTH! QUEER HISTORY PT. 4

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.

  • 2002:
    • South Africa and Sweden passed same-sex couples adoption rights.
    • New York City expanded the definition of “gender” to include protections for transgender and gender nonbinary people in the New York City Human Rights Law. 
    • Alaska banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in state employment. 
    • New York banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. 
  • 2003: 
    • Belgium legalized same-sex marriage.
    • Bulgaria and the United Kingdom banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    • Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sodomy laws in the U.S. are unconstitutional.

    • Russia ended its ban on gay people serving in the military. 
    • Arizona, Michigan banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in state employment.
    • Kentucky banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in state employment.
    • New Mexico banned discrimination based on gender identity.
    • Pennsylvania banned discrimination based on gender identity in state employment.
    • Gene Robinson became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal church in the U.S.
    • The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved a rabbinic ruling that concluded that gender-affirming surgery is permissible as a treatment of gender dysphoria and that a transgender person’s sex status under Jewish law was changed by gender-affirming surgery. 
  • 2004: 
    • Luxembourg and New Zealand passed civil unions.
    • Germany passed step-parent adoption rights for same-sex couples.
    • Australia banned same-sex marriage.
    • Portugal banned discrimination base on sexual orientation. 
    • Constitutional amendments denying same-sex marriage were passed in 11 states. 

    • Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. 

    • Maine passed civil unions.
    • Indiana added protections for transgender workers in the public sector. 
    • Louisiana added protections for gays and lesbians that worked in the public sector. 
    • James McGreevey, then governor of New Jersey, came out as gay, becoming the first openly gay state governor in the United States. 
  • 2005: 
    • Canada and Spain legalized same-sex marriage.
    • New Zealand legalized civil unions
    • Andorra, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Slovenia passed a form of civil unions. 
    • Latvia, Uganda, and Honduras banned same-sex marriage. 

    • California legislators passed a same-sex marriage bill but it is vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    • Kansas and Texas banned same-sex marriage. 
    • Illinois and Maine banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 
    • The Roman Catholic Church issued an instruction prohibiting any individuals who “present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture’” from joining the priesthood. 
  • 2006: 

    • South Africa legalized same-sex marriage.

    • The Czech Republic passed domestic partnerships
    • Belgium passed adoption rights for same-sex couples

    • Germany became the first country in the world to ban discrimination on both sexual orientation and gender identity. 

    • New Zealand added protections for transgender people. 
    • The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gays and lesbians. 
    • New Jersey and D.C. added gender identity to their nondiscrimination laws. 

    • The United States Senate failed to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment which would have banned same-sex marriage. 

    • Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage were passed in seven more states. 
    • Attorney and transgender activist Kim Coco Iwamoto was elected to the State Board of Education in Hawaii. She became the first openly transgender person to be elected to a state-level office in the U.S. 
    • Bernard Lynch became the first Catholic priest in the world to undertake a civil partnership in the Republic of Ireland. 
  • 2007:
    • Hungary and Uruguay passed civil unions.
    • New Hampshire passed civil unions.
    • Colorado, Iowa, and Oregon banned discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity.
    • Kansas and Ohio banned discrimination in the public sector based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 
    • Michigan added protections for transgender public workers. 
    • Vermont added protections for gender identity. 
    • Logo cable channel hosted the first presidential forum in the United States focusing specifically on LGBTQIA+ issues. 
    • Theresa Sparks was elected president of the San Francisco Police Commission by a single vote, making her the first openly transgender person ever to be elected president of any San Franciso commission, as well as San Franciso’s highest-ranking openly transgender official. 
  • 2008: 
    • Norway legalized same-sex marriage
    • Ecuador passed civil unions. 
    • Uruguay passed adoption rights for same-sex couples. 
    • Kosovo declared itself to be an independent country with a new constitution that included mention of “sexual orientation,” the first of its kind in Eastern Europe. 

    • The California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. 

    • In California, voters approved Proposition 8 which made same-sex marriage illegal. 

    • Connecticut Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
    • Arkansas banned same-sex couples right to adopt
    • Matthew Mitcham became the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. 
    • Kate Brown was elected as the Oregon Secretary of State, becoming America’s first openly bisexual statewide officeholder. 
    • Rachel Maddow became the first openly gay anchor of a major prime-time news program in the U.S. when she began hosting The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.