2013: The year of gay marriage?

Contents:

• HOW 2013 BEME THE GREATT YEAR IN GAY RIGHTS HISTORY
• GAY MARRIAGE THE US SUPREME COURT, 2013
• 2013: THE YEAR OF GAY MARRIAGE?
• LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
• GAY MARRIAGE
• SUPREME COURT BOLSTERS GAY MARRIAGE WH TWO MAJOR RULGS
• THE EVOLUTN OF THE NATN’S ‘FIRST GAY PRINT’

HOW 2013 BEME THE GREATT YEAR IN GAY RIGHTS HISTORY

Prr to last year's electns, gays and lbians had a civil right to marry only six stat. "This year reprented the te tippg pot, " says Eric Marc, thor of Makg Gay History.

" This has been "the gayt year gay history, " the words of Fred Saz, vice print of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, and not only bee dividual stat and the U. Supreme Court have extend greater protectns to gay upl.

GAY MARRIAGE THE US SUPREME COURT, 2013

There have been substantive chang policy and personnel, wh Print Obama sentially doublg the number of openly gay dividuals who have served as feral judg and ambassadors. This year has also seen symbolic ton, cludg Obama enshrg the e of gays the civil rights pantheon his send gural addrs, and the first profsnal athlet major sports g out. None of which is to suggt that anti-gay discrimatn has gone away entirely, or that all Amerins are on board wh the trends.

But an earlier Pew survey found that a majory of gay marriage opponents viewed s legal regnn as "evable. " And gay rights advot almost n't believe the progrs they've already ma. A Long Time Comg As wh any great societal change, this year's victori for the gay rights movement took a long time to gtate.

Gays and lbians had once plaed about feelg visible, but as lns of dividuals have e out, they not only have ma their polil sir more tangible but also have won sympathetic alli among many straights. "It took the shape of a ln different nversatns that a newly out gay fay member had wh her parents or his siblgs, " Kenll says. Jt as the prence of gays Amerin life me to seem more monplace, so did same-sex marriage.

2013: THE YEAR OF GAY MARRIAGE?

"It took a long time for those gay marriage announcements to be route, " Harris says. " By the time Democrat Tammy Baldw of Wisns was sworn this year as the first openly gay senator U. Heather Mizr, an openly gay Maryland Democrat nng for ernor next year.

" Credg Obama Given that gays make up a small actn of the populatn, they have need to w over alli. Durg his first term, Obama sometim me across as a reluctant warrr on gay issu, takg his time to "evolve" his posn on marriage, his timg perhaps prodd by remarks om Vice Print Joe Bin.

Obama had already been the rare natnal polician to e the word "we" when speakg of the gay rights e before announcg his support for same-sex marriage last year. In his gural addrs January, he referred the same breath to Stonewall, Selma and Sene Falls (rpectively, landmarks the stggl for rights for gays, Ain-Amerins and women). Obama has been the "gays' LBJ, " says Jonathan Rch, a rint scholar at the Brookgs Instutn, parg the current print to Lyndon Johnson, who signed to law the Civil Rights and Votg Rights Acts of the 1960s.

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

Ccially, he end "don't ask, don't tell, " the policy that kept gays and lbians om servg openly the ary. This year's Supreme Court cisns on gay marriage might well have turned out differently if the ernment still had an active tert argug for discrimatn, says Aaron Belk, director of the Palm Center at San Francis State Universy, which studi transgenr ary service. "People who opposed gays the ary were exactly right to do so, " he says.

GAY MARRIAGE

"They realized the ary is so wily revered Amerin society that if they uld draw the le the sand there, they uld prevent gays om lockg rights other parts of society. " Aspiratnal Achievement Obama spoke about gay rights aspiratnal terms his send gural.

"Our journey is not plete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else unr the law, " he said, "for if we are tly created equal, then surely the love we m to one another mt be equal as well. Marriage helped gays "change the subject om beg primarily about rights and nondiscrimatn to beg about love, fay and muny, " says Rch, who has wrten books about same-sex marriage and growg up gay.

SUPREME COURT BOLSTERS GAY MARRIAGE WH TWO MAJOR RULGS

" Gays have not won every battle.

It remas legal for employers to fire people for beg gay or transgenr more than half the stat. There's still nsirable ristance among many voters and policians to the gay rights e. But the fact that support for gays and gay marriage has been risg — particularly among young people — may leave opposn to their movement ls heated, activists say.

THE EVOLUTN OF THE NATN’S ‘FIRST GAY PRINT’

"Before Obama, was possible to say that gay rights was a ntroversial but gy ncern, " Rch says.

"After Obama, is agree or disagree, but gay rights is 100 percent mastream. Wdsor cisn, gay marriage bans were overturned by urt lgs several stat, but those lgs were put on hold pendg appeals to the US Supreme Court.

6, 2014, the Supreme Court cled to hear appeals om five of those stat, and the cisn immediately cleared the way for legal gay marriage Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virgia, and Wisns. Six other stat which gay marriage bans had been overturned, Colorado, Kansas, North Carola, South Carola, Wt Virgia, and Wyomg, were also affected by the Supreme Court lg bee they were the jurisdictns of the lower urts that had overturned the gay marriage bans.