The path of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, questioning, two-spirited movement has been a steep uphill battle until recently. Throughout history, the LGBTQ2 community has been discriminated against or outright persecuted. Even today, people continue to have harsh reactions to events like a famous athlete coming out as homosexual. Less than two years ago, gay marriage was finally legalized in the United States. Most LGBTQ2 people would consider hate crimes the biggest problem facing the community today. Activists have been working for the LGBTQ2 movement long before same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015. Homosexuality had been deemed as a mental illness all over the world for many years, and often had extreme consequences. Activist
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Hawaii became the first state to drop the ban and later in the spring of 1997 Hawaii would also be the first state to offer domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples. After this, legislation was passed in different states that declared the basis of marriage to be procreation. This meant several states placed a ban on same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, Alaska followed Hawaii’s lead with its own approval of gay marriage in 1998 (Goldburg-Hiller). Many states would proceed to go back and forth on whether or not to allow marriage between people of the same sex until finally on June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court declared banning gay marriage as unconstitutional, therefore legalizing it in all states across the country …show more content…
In the past, the American military discharged gay people. This developed into the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993 when President Bill Clinton signed the executive order (Brown). This law acts exactly as named; meaning the United States would not actively ‘pursue’ action against homosexual servicemen so long as they make no overt mention of their homosexuality. Despite how illiberal this law seems, it is an important stepping stone to social and political acceptance. President Barack Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2011, allowing lesbians and gay men to serve openly in the military. This was a great step towards the future; however, transsexual people were still banned from serving openly in the military. President Barack Obama’s administration stepped up to the plate again to help the LGBTQ2 community in 2016 when Secretary of Defense Ash Carter lifted the ban on openly transgender people serving in the military (Rizzon, Cohen).. The military is gradually becoming more accepting of LGBTQ2 people enlisting with the assistance of democratic
Hawaii became the first state to drop the ban and later in the spring of 1997 Hawaii would also be the first state to offer domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples. After this, legislation was passed in different states that declared the basis of marriage to be procreation. This meant several states placed a ban on same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, Alaska followed Hawaii’s lead with its own approval of gay marriage in 1998 (Goldburg-Hiller). Many states would proceed to go back and forth on whether or not to allow marriage between people of the same sex until finally on June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court declared banning gay marriage as unconstitutional, therefore legalizing it in all states across the country …show more content…
In the past, the American military discharged gay people. This developed into the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993 when President Bill Clinton signed the executive order (Brown). This law acts exactly as named; meaning the United States would not actively ‘pursue’ action against homosexual servicemen so long as they make no overt mention of their homosexuality. Despite how illiberal this law seems, it is an important stepping stone to social and political acceptance. President Barack Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2011, allowing lesbians and gay men to serve openly in the military. This was a great step towards the future; however, transsexual people were still banned from serving openly in the military. President Barack Obama’s administration stepped up to the plate again to help the LGBTQ2 community in 2016 when Secretary of Defense Ash Carter lifted the ban on openly transgender people serving in the military (Rizzon, Cohen).. The military is gradually becoming more accepting of LGBTQ2 people enlisting with the assistance of democratic