The American LGBTQ Rights Movement An Introduction Chapter 7 THE LGBTQ RIGHTS MOVEMENT

RIGHTS A ATE ES Iv , WAT IV EH 92 , bond now . waH . We feel On June 28 , 2013 , We were the first couple in Los Angeles to get married after the United States Supreme Court held our opponents did not have the legal standing to overturn marriage in California . It was Very important for us to get married as soon as it was legal . We had been part of a lawsuit to reinstate marriage in California for almost years . We had waited long enough .

94 , 74 We were married at on Friday , June 28 , 2013 live on the Rachel Show . Our year journey to the altar lasted a whopping six minutes . With two words we became EQUAL . Our lives forever changed . What did saying I do mean ?

You have heard about the rights over of them that are denied people who can not marry . Those are extremely important to the safety and security of gay and lesbian couples . But do you know what we were most excited about ?

The access to the language . We couldn wait to say the words married and These words have true meaning . They are ' 74 recognized globally . People know what they mean . Our old nicknames for each other have changed . It now , husband this and husband that . We can wait to introduce each other as husband , sometimes , even to people who already know us because we just want to say the word . We can say unequivocally , Being married feels Look , after 12 plus years together , the day to day hasn changed much but the feelings have . The love is deeper . The level of commitment is stronger . Our relationship is truly one bond now . We walk taller . We feel prouder . We feel EQUAL . Paul and Jeff

96 The first known efforts to protect youth emerged in the and . After hearing the story of a gay teen who was beaten and thrown out of an emergency shelter , Emery and Damien Martin founded the institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Gay Youth ( in 1979 . Renamed the Institute , the institute established New York Harvey Milk High School in 1985 for youth . Educator Virginia ( pictured ) began 10 in 1984 at Los ' Fairfax High as a dropout prevention program for students who as gay or lesbian or who express conflicts over sexual 10 grew to include a of high schools in the Los Angeles district and is today replicated in districts throughout the country . ii My VIOLENCE A HATE I JAMIE VVAS VERBALLY and physically assaulted in school for being gay . When he and his parents complained , school administrators blamed Jamie for the assaults be cause of his sexual orientation . Jamie attempt ed suicide , ran away from home , and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder . Eventually Jamie opened a civil suit against his public high school for failing to protect him . In a landmark decision in 1996 , the jury ruled that a school could be held accountable for failing to stop an abuse . That case increased accountability for schools to ensure the safety oftheir dents . It led to the nationwide development of sexual orientation policies and programs in schools . Today , Gay , Les bian Straight Education Network ) Parents , Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays ) and other groups Work with schools to support students . Many

, My students take part in an annual Day of Silence , during which they take a VOW to raise awareness to the harassment and discrimination that people often suffer in silence . The Hate Crimes Prevention Act ( was introduced in Congress in 1997 to expand federal protection to include those subject to a criminal act on the basis of their gender or sexual orientation . received renewed interest the next year when Matthew Shepard , an openly gay university student , was ly beaten and left to die in rural Wyoming . In 1999 , was defeated in Congress , but the measure was later reintroduced as the thew Shepard and James , Hate Crimes Prevention Act , with disability and gender identity added to the list of protected people . The act was signed into law in 2009 , ing the federal law to protection to transgender people . 97 Hate in 2015 Here a lane down , by category , of why the , victims single ( were targeted Gender identity bias Dis bias Gender bias Sexual bi ancestry bias 59 The Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 merely required the collection and publication of data on hate crimes . However , it was the first federal statute that recognized gay , lesbian , and bisexual people by name , implying official federal recognition of the community . By documenting hate crimes based on sexual orientation , and later gender identity , the measure provided an argument for a hate crimes law to protect people . DEFINITION OF TERMS As the transgender community became more integrated into gay , lesbian , and al community activism , the term ( or ) became common in the , while ( lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgender , and queer ) gained popularly in the . Alternative acronyms such as ( adding intersex and asexual ) adding transsexual , questioning , ally , and pansexual ) and other acronym combinations also proliferated in the . Queer gained increasing usage across this era as a positive umbrella term . Queer studies became an entrenched in academia for the study and scholarship of gender and sexual identity .

98 ' My MILITARY I AL , a JULY THE MILITARY BAN ON GAY AND lesbian people first gained GAY it al attention in 1975 with , A . A Time magazine cover story on discharged Air Force SCI ' GE . Leonard , Leonard tombstone at the Congressional Cemetery in first Washington , story of an openly person . Challenges to the ban on military service through the 19805 and 19905 with prominent cases such as Miriam court battle with the military , and Army Colonel successful challenge ofher dismissal after 25 years of service . In 1982 , the military implemented Directive , which changed homosexuality from a pos for military service to a mandatory one . Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton promised to overturn the military ban however , when elected , he signed a compromise Don Ask , Donit Tell ( policy that allowed gay and lesbian people to serve in the military as long as they didn come out publicly . Although the policy was intended to allow greater participation of gay and lesbian people in the military , the discharges continued at a high rate . Through a combination of legal challenges , political pressure , and publicity , groups supporting service members were able to introduce a bill to Congress in 2006 to repeal . Under pressure from a federal court decision that Was unconstitutional , a federal repeal was signed into law in 2010 . However , the military continued upholding policies until 2011 when it .

74 UNITED STATES HOUSE TIVE Bella introduced to Congress the Equality Act of 1974 , the first federal civil rights act to include DISCRIMINATION for gay and lesbian people . It failed . Gay and lesbian bills were reintroduced through the , and early , and although each garnered increasing support , it was never enough for passage . In 1996 , the Employment crimination Act ( was introduced to the floor of the United States Senate , but was defeated by a single vote . As , has yet to garner passage . Executive orders were an easier method to extend protections . In 1998 , President Clinton signed an executive order to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal service workforce . In 2014 , President Obama signed an executive order to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for all federal contractors . When the United States Supreme Court decided in 1986 that private sexual acts would continue to be deemed illegal in Bower . Ham ' it threatened civil rights at a fundamental level . Many lower courts used the precedent to rule that people could be judged implicitly criminal and unfit for a number of rights . One example was the 1995 Virginia Supreme Court decision Bottom . Bottoms , in which Pamela Kay Bottoms won custody of her daughter Sharon child in part because Sharon was openly lesbian . Following similar , state supreme courts in North Carolina and Alabama affirmed the removal of children from lesbian and gay parents . activists and organizations fought state initiatives in Idaho , Oregon and Maine in the . However in Colorado , they were not so successful . In reaction to lesbian and gay ordinances adopted in Aspen , Boulder , and Denver , Colorado voters passed Amendment in 1992 to prohibit any city , town , or county in the state from any action designed to protect its lesbian or gay citizens . activists fought the measure in the courts , and turned one of their biggest defeats into one of their biggest legal victories . In 1996 , the United States Supreme Court ruled in . Evan that Colorado Amendment was unconstitutional . This Supreme Court decision was the first to claim that lesbian and gay people were equal to any other citizens and could not be denied participation in society and politics . Besides providing a legal standing to challenge discrimination , it checked the power of voters or legislators to deny equal rights to people nationwide . 99

100 74 In 2003 , the United States Supreme Court delivered another victory for rights when it ruled in Lawrence . that sodomy laws were unconstitutional . Just as the federal affirmation of sodomy laws had a impact on the community , so too did the abolition . When , in 2004 , Massachusetts judges ruled that the ban against marriage was unconstitutional , they cited Lawrence . and its implication that governments should not intrude on consensual adult expressions of intimacy and ones choice of Lawrence . also cast doubt on such practices as the deportation of partners of American citizens , the ban of people from military service , and the removal of children from parents . Although . Evan and Lawrence . were critical decisions in supporting rights , the United States Supreme Court did not indicate by their rulings that citizens necessarily had the same status and rights as other minority groups . The justices ruled in 1995 that an group could legally be excluded from a public parade solely because parade organizers disapproved of their message . In 2000 , the judges ruled that the Boy Scouts of America , as a private club , could exclude people because the latter presence with the groups mission and beliefs . At at time when no gender , ethnic , or racial group could be excluded merely because an organization disapproved of them , these Supreme Court decisions suggested that people did not merit the same equal protection . MARRIAGE WAS FIRST publicized in an August 1953 cover story in ONE Magazine . That story resulted in the MARRIAGE tion of the issue by postal authorities , who deemed the topic marriage as a violation of obscenity statutes . In the gay liberation ment of the early , several couples applied for marriage licenses , but were universally denied . Legal challenges were similarly The prohibition of gay and lesbian people from marriage had beyond the tion itself . It meant that partners of hospitalized people could be denied visitation and ing power . The death of an person left the surviving partner without any of the granted to married couples . Lengthy legal battles were often required to recognize the survivors rights in housing , inheritance , and child custody . partners were barred from tax and insurance . American citizens could not keep partners from being

. in ' a Although marriage permits could not be issued for marriages , underwent marriage ceremonies across the country to affirm their commitment and love for one another . These marriage ceremonies took ( from upper left ) in San Francisco ( 1973 ) Los Angeles , CA ( 1970 ) Jackson , 1989 ) and , PA ( 1957 )

102 In 1974 , Anthony Sullivan ( right ) an Australian citizen , had exhausted his legal options for remaining in the United States . When Sullivan and his partner Richard Adams , an American citizen , were refused recognition for their marriage , the Immigration and Naturalization Service initiated deportation proceedings . Refusing to end their fifteen year relationship , Sullivan and Adams went into hiding . They remained together in the United States until Adams death in 2012 . ii My deported . partners could be excluded from adopting . status could be used to dismiss the custody claims of separated gay or lesbian parents . In 1996 , the Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled that the state could not legally deny same sex couples the opportunity to marry . Although Hawaiian voters approved an amendment pro the implementation of mar , the court decision ignited a backlash across the nation . By the end of 1996 , sixteen states had implemented laws banning same marriage , had passed the Defense of Marriage Act ( i denied couples the federal and rights of marriage , even if a state legally recognized the union . In 2000 , Vermont passed the nations first civil unions law , which conferred upon same sex couples all the states rights and benefits of married heterosexual couples . In 2004 , the Massachusetts State Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition of marriage was constitutional , and the state became the first to officially recognize gay and lesbian marriages . In reaction , more states instituted legislation banning marriage . An amendment to the United States constitution to ban marriage was proposed but defeated in 2004 and 2006 . Between 2004 and 2012 , only six more states legalized same seX marriage . Then from November 2012 to December 2013 , 11 more states legalized same sex marriage , bringing the total to 18 . When Thea Spyer died in 2009 , Edith Edie Windsor , her partner of over 40 years , was denied the federal

, 74 estate tax exemption for surviving spouses because and was sent a tax bill for . She sued , and in 2013 , the United States Supreme Court ruled in United States . Windsor that was unconstitutional , thereby granting married couples the same federal rights as heterosexual couples . By 2015 , multiple challenges to state bans on marriage had made their way through the court of appeals , with four rulings against the ban , and one upholding the ban . Consolidating the cases under . Hodges , the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave couples the right to marry across the United States . The ruling turned all state bans on marriage and granted all gay and lesbian United States citizens the right to marry regardless of where they lived . The White House in rainbow colors to celebrate the Supreme Court decision on marriage , 103

six months Ive . I am sad , and scared , ut more than any of these things , I am grateful to live for at least a short time as Michael , the man I was born to I hereby grant your petition for a change of name and gender . With these five words by the judge , my dream was realized I was officially male ! Growing up , I was told I was a girl and that no matter how much I wanted it , I would never be the boy that I wanted to be . At school , I was teased by classmates ,

106 ' 74 and by the age of five , I had learned to be ashamed of who I was . At eleven , I started to develop breasts , the hideous foreign objects that tormented me every moment of every day . My attempts to hide them proved futile and I could not have been more disgusted and ashamed of my body . I came out as a lesbian at nineteen , before coming out as transgender at . Telling people you re a takes a whole different type of courage . While I ached for the love and support of my family , it was not to be . The good news is that the community embraced me , creating a new and more meaningful family of queer .

, 74 Like most men , I was socialized to adhere to female gender norms . Thus after coming out , I was constantly questioning my gender expression . Am I trans enough ?

Am I enough of a man ?

What makes a man a man ?

But I learned that I am a man simply because I say I am and I get to choose how to express my gender . Like sexuality , gender identity is fluid . It constantly evolves and each of us must find his or her authentic self in a hodgepodge of deeply ingrained stereotypes and expectations . On August 13 , 2014 , I was told that due to brain cancer , I only have six months to live . I am sad , angry , and scared , but more than any of these things , I 107

108 , an am grateful . I am grateful that my dream came true and that I had the opportunity to live for at least a short time as Michael , the man I was born to be . Michael Saum ALTHOUGH THE 19808 SAW THE emergence of Lou Sullivan ( International and TRANSGENDER EQUAL RIGHTS Lynn International Foundation for Gender Education , a national movement did not coalesce until the early years of the 19905 . The first Southern Comfort gender conference began in 1991 and soon became one of the largest transgender gatherings in the country . Future Texas Judge , organized the first of six annual transgender law conferences the next year and also helped organize local activists into a national contingent at the 1993 March on Washington . Fantasia Fair , a weel conference for heterosexual ( that started in 1975 , blossomed in the 19905 into a world renowned event for all transgender people . COCO Andrea Jenkins was the first openly transgender black woman elected in the United States , when she took office in the City Council in 2018 . As of 2020 , she served as vice president of the council and as chair of the Race Equity Subcommittee . in her previous work as a policy aide , curator , and artist , she long advocated on behalf of transgender voices . Kim Coco became the openly transgender official in the United States when she won a seat on Hawaii Board of Education in has continuously advocated and worked with youth as a licensed therapeutic foster parent , lawyer and public figure . She was appointed to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission in 2012 .

10 , 57 Historically , murders of transgender people have been , and punished . For example , when pioneering transgender activist Johnson was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992 , the suspicious death was ruled a suicide with minimal investigation . When police refused to arrest transgender Brandon rapists in 1993 , the rapists later hunted down and murdered . Legal and police practices regarding transgender victims has gradually improved After the killers of Gwen tried to use a trans panic defense in 2004 , California enacted legislation restricting the use of the tactic . The killer of Angie , murdered in Colorado in 2008 , was the first to be convicted of a hate crime against a transgender person . A year later , Green murderer was convicted of a hate crime in New York . Hate crimes and murders still affect the transgender community . The brutal 1998 murder of Rita Hester led to a candlelight vigil in her honor and inspired Ann Smith to start the Transgender Day of Remembrance the next year . The Day of Remembrance has since become an annual worldwide event held on November 20 to honor and raise awareness of those who die from transgender hate crimes every year .

74 Anne created Transgender Nation within the San Francisco chapter of Queer Nation in 1992 , with other chapters soon opening across the United States . Transgender Nation introduced a confrontational style of advocacy that had not been seen since Sylvia Rivera and Angela Davis in the 19705 . used this kind of activism in 1994 with her group Menace , which conducted vigils at court houses where transgender hate crime perpetrators were being tried . Transgender issues had been historically neglected by mainstream gay and lesbian advocacy . Gay and lesbian measures often did not include protections for transgender people . However , transgender activists during this era increasingly integrated transgender issues into a broader movement . Although transgender people were unmentioned in previous Washington , marches , the 2000 Millennium March on Washington was the first to include a transgender plank . This more cohesive advocacy , combined with the emergence and national gender advocacy groups , has had the power to affect greater political and social . implemented the first municipal law protecting transgender citizens in 1976 , with , Pennsylvania , and Seattle , Washington , following in the 19805 . By 2018 , over 200 cities and counties had enacted laws protecting transgender people . Minnesota passed the first statewide protection for transgender people in 1993 , and by 2018 , had been joined by eighteen states and the District of Columbia . In 2012 , the federal government released a statement that transgender students are protected from discrimination under the provisions of Title IX , a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools . The United States Department of Education issued guidelines for Title IX protection in 2014 , a position later supported by the Justice Department . In 2013 , California passed a law to require that public schools recognize a student gender identity and to provide access to facilities based on that gender identification . The law was the first to specifically protect the rights of transgender students . The mismatch of personal identity and documentation creates huge challenges for those who have transitioned their gender identity . In 2010 , the federal government changed their polity to allow gender changes on passports without requiring sex reassignment surgery . As , some states permit gender changes in state identity documents , others allow the change but only with proof of sex reassignment surgery , while two other states do not permit gender changes in state documentation . In 2017 , Oregon became the first state to allow gender markers on state identification , SUITES . 111