Legislation and the Community
In the past 60 years, there have been many landmark casings and rulings in favor of the LGBTQ+ community. While there are still a ways to go with universal discrimination laws in this country, it’s important to look back on the past to appreciate how far we have come.
Many see Stonewall as the beginning to the gay rights movement, but not everyone knows that the whole ordeal started over something as silly as liquor licenses. After the prohibition ended, new legislation was written that curbed the selling of liquor. The rewording of this legislature was outright transphobic and homophobic. Legislation classified “female impersonators” with common criminals and prohibited their service. After a few years, queer people won the right to drink in bars, as long as they didn’t express their queer identity as it was labelled “disorderly”. Kissing and dancing became criminally punishable acts for alcohol serving establishments that allowed this “promiscuous” behavior. Many cases fighting these unjust and discriminatory laws were brought up but to no avail.
The Stonewall Riots changed this. While some may argue that Stonewall didn’t do a lot legislature wise, it did win queer people the right to gather and the right to a good drink. Today, gay bars populate America’s largest cities, and are popular for their upbeat music, famous drag shows, and for always being a good time.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) was a policy signed by Bill Clinton that lifted a ban on queer military service for the first time since World War II. The catch is, queer people were not allowed to speak openly about their sexuality or engage in sexual activity while in the service. Clinton viewed this “bold” move as a way to liberalize an existing bill, but in reality, it did more harm than good. While it may have allowed queer people to service, more than 13,000 service members were discharged from the military due to DADT. Barack Obama repealed DADT in 2010 after the House and Senate voted to repeal and the policy was officially terminated in 2011, much to the joy of queer service members and queer community members fighting to end legal discrimination.
In 2018, Donald Trump instated a virtual ban on transgender military service, meaning that “transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.” However, this ban was relatively short lived. With the Biden administration taking office in 2021, this ban was reversed, and transgender service members no longer had to serve in fear.
Domestic Partnerships
Domestic partnerships were a way to provide same sex couples close to the same benefits as straight couples when same-sex marriage still wasn’t legal. Many of the benefits included health coverage, bereavement leave, and visitation in hospitals and jails. Benefits for domestic partnerships also varied by employers when it came to health insurance coverage, but they were never able to benefit in terms of taxes, social security, or immigration. During the time when domestic partnerships were popular and same-sex marriage was illegal, many court cases arose when it came to passing pensions onto domestic partners and other legal dealings of that liking, some cases were won and some were lost (check out Laurel Hester’s story). Nowadays, many domestic partnership benefits have been phased out by employers, but only because same-sex marriage is now legal across the nation! Win!
DOMA
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is one of the most discriminatory policies towards same-sex couples put in place by federal law. While the law didn’t prohibit same-sex marriage, it decreed that other states and the federal government didn’t have to recognize those unions or grant them access to the same benefits as straight couples. For example, while employers may have provided health insurance coverage to same-sex and straight spouses, same-sex couples were required to pay income tax on the amount of the premium. Besides the financial fallout of this, it was just generally upsetting and morally off-putting that the government you are a citizen of does not recognize your marriage, or your family. The good news is that DOMA is a thing of the past thanks to the 5–4 ruling in United States v. Windsor in 2013. The overruling of DOMA meant that same-sex couples were now entitled to the same federal benefits as straight couples. Another win!
Gay Marriage
Probably the most widely covered and monumental ruling in favor of the queer community, the ruling in 2015 on Obergefell v. Hodges is one of greatest victories for our community. The 45 year long fight for universal marriage equality in America started in Minnesota in 1970 when the first same-sex couple applied for a marriage license. In 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to expressively legalize same-sex marriage, with more and more states following suit until a universal ruling stating that a ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional on June 26th, 2015. For many, this ruling meant that same-sex couples who married were now entitled to the same benefits as straight married couples, such as healthcare, estates, and medical decisions. While not all queer people say marriage is for them, all should have access, and now we do!
Discrimination Laws
While The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, classified crimes against queer people a hate crime, discrimination and a lack of discrimination laws still run rampant in this country. Prior to the 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, employment discrimination wasn’t widespread, and still isn’t universally protected. This landmark case for LGBTQ+ rights “expanded the definition of sex in Title VII to now prohibit employers from discriminating against employees because of sexual orientation or gender identity.” While Bostock v. Clayton County may protect some employed people, members of the community can still be discriminated against when it comes to housing and public accommodations, as well as in school and sports.
In the past month, many political moves have been made attacking the trans community, such as classifying gender affirming healthcare as a felony, forcing school faculty and staff to out trans students to their families, not allowing transgender people in Montana to change their gender marker on birth certificates, and banning transgender middle and high schoolers from participating in sports. While Asa Hutchinson may have overruled the anti-trans bill brought up in Arkansas, it’s just the tip of the iceberg of the next wave of fighting for equal trans rights. The introduction of the Equality Act will hopefully better the situation and lead us into the new fight for queer rights.
While there may be a long way to go with universal discrimination laws in America, they don’t dictate whether or not you have the right to be proud of who you are. Not only does reflecting on the past allow us to appreciate where we have come from and where we are now, it also teaches us something. 60 years ago, no one would have imagined that same-sex marriage would be nationally legal today, that queer couples could adopt kids, that we would see a president carrying a pride flag through the White House, or that we would have an openly-gay member of the U.S. Cabinet. So just imagine what our community could be like 60 years from now, and remember to do your part in fighting to get it that way.
Haven is a developing virtual pride center aimed at providing young LGBTQ+ people with a community at their fingertips. The founders of Haven come from a place of love, understanding, and commitment. Haven is a community founded by young LGBTQ+ people for LGBTQ+ people. Checkout our website, havenvpc.org, and follow us on Instagram @haven.vpc for updates on our journey.
Haven is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. You can email us at havenvpc@gmail.com.
