This Year in Lesbian News…

We saw marriage rights come and go, non-discrimination laws go into effect legislatively while discrimination continued on socially, and a new administration promise to make it all better soon without changing laws that could improve the quality of life for the LGBT community now. It’s all that and more in a year of lesbian news…

1. Same-Sex Marriage Victories. In April, Iowa became the first Midwestern state  to recognize marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples when the state Supreme Court unanimously (7-0) decided that the equal protection provision of the Iowa Constitution guarantees gay and lesbian couples the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. Less than a week later,  Vermont became the first state to recognize marriage for committed lesbian and gay couples through the legislative process when the state Senate voted 23-5 and the House of Representatives voted 100-49 to override Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto. Then, in June, Gov. Lynch of New Hampshire signed legislation passed by the state Senate and House of Representatives recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples under state law.

2. President Obama Signs Hate Crimes Legislation Into Law. President Barack Obama was praised by the LGBT community on 10/28/09 for signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The historic law gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said of the event:  “Today’s signing of the first major piece of civil rights legislation to protect LGBT Americans represents a historic milestone in the inevitable march towards equality.”

3. Question 1 Passes in Maine. Election day 2009 did not go well for the LGBT community. The passage of Question 1, a referendum vetoing Maine’s law recognizing same-sex marriages, was particularly disappointing. Maine was poised to become the fifth state in the United States to recognize same-sex marriage in May 2009, after the measure was passed by the state Senate and House of Representatives and signed into law by Governor John Baldacci. The issue was placed on the statewide ballot after opponents to marriage equality submitted sufficient signatures for a people’s veto referendum.

4. Raid of Ft. Worth Gay Club. On June 28, 2009 at 1:00am, on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a life was seriously impacted by what witnesses say was excessive force used by police and agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission during a raid of a gay bar – that had been open only five days – in Fort Worth, Texas. The story made headlines all across the country and the investigation into what happened lasted for months. In her post, ”Raid of Ft. Worth Gay Club on 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots Leads LGBT Leaders to Hold a Candlelight Vigil For Those Arrested and Injured,” Cherry Grrl Contributing Writer Chastity Kirven skillfully and articulately reported on the event.

5. California High Court Upholds Proposition 8. One of the biggest LGBT news stories of 2008 spilled over into 2009 when the highest court in CA upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex [Prop. 8] on 5/26. Advocates of same-sex marriages who gathered outside the court building in San Francisco met the decision with chants of “Shame on you.” The battle to win back marriage equality in the state, however, is set to continue into 2010 as advocates refuse to take “no” for an answer.