From gay marriage to genr inty, a timele of the legal battl that have shaped L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
Contents:
- THE RIGHTS OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE
- THE GAY EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT.
- GAY RIGHTS
- END OF ROE THREATENS GAY MARRIAGE, BIRTH CONTROL ACCS: THE 14TH AMENDMENT, EXPLAED
THE RIGHTS OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE
The gay rights movement the Uned Stat began the 1920s and saw huge progrs the 2000s, wh laws prohibg homosexual activy stck down and a Supreme Court lg legalizg same-sex marriage. * 14th amendment and gay rights *
Evans, 1 the Supreme Court stck down a state nstutnal amendment that both overturned lol ordanc prohibg discrimatn agast homosexuals, lbians, or bisexuals, and prohibed any state or lol ernmental actn to eher remedy discrimatn or to grant preferenc based on sexual orientatn.
The Court cled to adopt the analysis of the Supreme Court of Colorado, which had held that the amendment ged on gays’ and lbians’ fundamental right to participate the polil procs. 18 In reachg that ncln, the Court noted that, jt as evolvg societal norms rm the liberty rights of same-sex upl, so too do “new sights and societal unrstandgs” about homosexualy reveal “unjtified equaly” wh rpect to tradnal ncepts of the stutn of marriage.
In 1992 Colorado enacted Amendment 2, which repealed existg state laws and barred future laws protectg lbians, gay men and bisexuals om discrimatn. Durg a typil “raid, ” police tried to arrt people for their mere prence at a gay bar, but the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back – and the gay rights movement was lnched. In 1986, after more than two s of support for lbian and gay stggl, the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn tablished a natnal Lbian and Gay Rights Project.
THE GAY EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT.
This Amendment protects the right to anize and urge ernment to end discrimatn, to regnize lbian and gay relatnships, and to adopt laws prohibg discrimatn the private sector. It also clus the rights to form social and polil anizatns, to socialize bars and rtrants, to march or prott peacefully, to produce art wh gay them and to speak out publicly about LGBT issu.
Nothg is more important than makg schools safe and welg plac for gay and lbian youth, who often face tremendo hostily om their fay and muny durg their formative years. This means protectg stunts om vlence, guaranteeg their right to anize events and clubs like other stunts, and makg sure that gay teachers who might serve as healthy role mols are not themselv victimized by discrimatn. The ACLU has fought harassment of stunts California, Nevada, Oh and Washgton, fend gay teachers California, Idaho and Utah, and advoted for gay stunt groups Alabama, Indiana, Mnota, Utah and Wisns.
Reprented by the ACLU’s Lbian and Gay Rights Project, Mary Jo hop to tablish that public employe have a nstutnal right to be ee om discrimatn and harassment the workplace. ” In addn to reprentg David before the Mississippi Supreme Court, the ACLU will ntue fightg on behalf of lbian and gay parents, and to elimate state sodomy laws.
GAY RIGHTS
But somehow do not work out that way stat like Florida and Arkansas, which ban gays and lbians om adoptg and beg foster parents, rpectively. As a remr of what is supposed to be the sence of child-welfare policy, the ACLU’s Lbian and Gay Rights Project 1998 published a report entled In the Child’s Bt Intert: Defendg Fair and Sensible Adoptn Polici.
Y, twelve stat (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachetts, Mnota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, Rho Island, Vermont and Wisns), the District of Columbia, many municipali, and hundreds of bs and universi have enacted laws that protect gay, lbian and bisexual people om employment discrimatn. Perhaps as important, the polici give some small acknowledgement to the timate, mted relatnships central to the liv of so many lbians and gay men, which society otherwise ignor.
END OF ROE THREATENS GAY MARRIAGE, BIRTH CONTROL ACCS: THE 14TH AMENDMENT, EXPLAED
Denyg lbian and gay upl the right to wed not only priv them of the social and spirual signifince of marriage; has ser, often tragic, practil nsequenc. Sce they n not marry, the partners of lbians and gay men are not next of k tim of crisis; they are not nsulted on ccial medil cisns; they are not given leave to re for each other; they are not each other’s legal heirs, if, like most Amerins, they do not have wills. The ACLU believ that sce we have attached such enormo social nsequenc to marriage, vlat equal protectn of the law to ny lbian and gay upl the right to wed.
If the ERA were nsted to protect LGBT people, the need for an Employment Non-Discrimatn Act and laws that ban hog discrimatn would also is not to say that the gay-rights movement should take up the fight for the ERA. Jt as advot of civil rights for Ain Amerins have, gay-rights advot have been workg the urts for years to build legal precent for full equaly unr the law; a movement that is currently succeedg at brgg gay Amerins unr the Equal Protectn Clse. Currently, wh feral s challengg both California’s ban on same-sex marriage and DOMA, as well as the recent repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” seems likely that legal doctre will expand to protect gay rights, as did women's whout an ERA.
The allure of a cure-all amendment is great, but the gay-rights movement is better off stickg to s current track of dividual s to secure equal rights.