Ron Buckmire has created a list of the 10 most significant GLBT events of the decade. Somehow, he left off me getting my cat, Critter, but I can forgive him.
I put the sodomy ruling at number 1. These laws, in my view, were ticking time bombs, sitting quietly on the books in wait for a fundamentalist tyrant who would enforce them with zeal. Having these archaic laws overturned was a massive victory for the GLBT community and officially made it so we are not outlaws.
Number 2, was Massachusetts legalizing same-sex marriage – which made the concept tangible and definitively showed that the sky would not fall, as anti-gay activists had predicted.
We’d love to know your thoughts on the top 10? Here’s is Ron’s list:
10. The Vermont legislature enacts nation’s first civil unions law, signed by Governor Howard Dean, in response to the Vermont Supreme Court’s Baker v. Vermont ruling, 2000.
9. California legislature passes Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg’s AB 205, the first comprehensive domestic partner statute granting almost all the rights and responsibilities of marriage in state law (signed by Governor Gray Davis, went into effect January 1, 2005), 2003.
8. Democrats retake congressional majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, 2006.
7. Voters pass ballot measures amending 11 state constitutions to ban recognition and validation of same sex marriages while re-electing President Bush, 2004.
6. U.S. House of Representatives passes Employment Non-Discrimination Act prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation nationwide after gender identity protections are dropped, 2007.
5. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules marriage for same-sex couples is a fundamental right that can not be constitutionally denied, 2003.
4. United States Supreme Court overturns the homophobic Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) precedent, ruling that sodomy laws are unconstitutional, in Lawrence v. Texas, strengthening privacy rights for all Americans, 2003.
3. Proposition 8 is passed by California voters, stripping the recently-granted right to marry after an $83 million electoral campaign filled with lies and deception, 2008.
2. President Barack Obama signs the federal hate crimes bill, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act, into law, 2009.
1. George W. Bush is (s)elected president after U.S. Supreme Court intervention in Florida recount results in defeat of Vice-President Al Gore, 2000.
