News of the year. (Time Line).JANUARY 1/11: [A] Wanda Jean 41, becomes the first African-American woman since 1954 to be put to death in the United States. She had been found guilty of the murder of her lover, Gloria Leathers. 1/15: The Army drops its plan to dismiss openly gay Arizona state representative Steve May from the Army Reserve after May agrees not to reenlist when his term as a reservist re·serv·ist n. A member of a military reserve. reservist Noun a member of a nation's military reserve Noun 1. ends. 1/19: The Republican Unity Coalition The Republican Unity Coalition was created as an outgrowth of the George W. Bush campaign in the 2000 US presidential election. It is a "grasstops" organization of the United States Republican Party, with a Board of Advisors formerly including the late President Gerald Ford, as is launched in an effort to help the GOP become more inclusive of gay people. 1/20: Mary Cheney, the openly lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, attends her father's and President George W. Bush's inauguration with her partner, Heather Poe. 1/26: Diane Alexis Whipple is fatally attacked in the hallway of her San Francisco apartment building by two Presa Canario dogs in the presence of one of their owners, Marjorie Knoller. Knoller and her husband, Robert Noel, lived down the hall from Whipple and her partner, Sharon Smith. FEBRUARY 2/7: The White House backpedals after chief of staff Andy Card says its office on AIDS policy would be closed. "The office of AIDS policy will continue at the White House," spokesman Ari Fleischer says. 2/26: The Greater New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Councils of the Boy Scouts of America Noun 1. Boy Scouts of America - a corporation that operates through a national council that charters local councils all over the United States; the purpose is character building and citizenship training tells New York's city council that it is trying to persuade the national group to change its "repugnant" ban on gay scouts. MARCH 3/8: Democratic Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. state representative Nancy Hetherington comes out in an op-ed piece for The Providence Journal. 3/12: The National Center for Lesbian Rights The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a non-profit, public interest law firm that litigates precedent-setting cases at the trial and appellate court levels, advocates for equitable public policies affecting the LGBT community, provides free legal assistance to LGBT files a wrongful death The taking of the life of an individual resulting from the willful or negligent act of another person or persons. If a person is killed because of the wrongful conduct of a person or persons, the decedent's heirs and other beneficiaries may file a wrongful death action suit on behalf of Sharon Smith, the partner of Diane Whipple, against the owners of the dogs that killed Whipple. The suit is filed even though California law prohibits gay people from filing such suits for the wrongful deaths of their partners. 3/13: Mormon-run Brigham Young University Brigham Young University, at Provo, Utah; Latter-Day Saints; coeducational; opened as an academy in 1875 and became a university in 1903. It is noted for its law and business schools. suspends sophomore Richard Escoto for "homosexual conduct." Another student, senior Matthew Grierson, was told earlier in the month to either withdraw from the university or face a two-year suspension for holding another man's hand. 3/16: A Texas appeals court upholds the state's sodomy sodomy Noncoital carnal copulation. Sodomy is a crime in some jurisdictions. Some sodomy laws, particularly in Middle Eastern countries and those jurisdictions observing Shari'ah law, provide penalties as severe as life imprisonment for homosexual intercourse, even if the law--which pertains only to same-sex sexual acts. 3/18: [F] Paris elects openly gay Bertrand Delanoe as mayor. 3/19: The Berkeley, Calif., police department begins requiring all employees to take a six-hour awareness class on GLBT GLBT Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered issues. 3/24: An Arkansas judge strikes down the state's sodomy law. 3/31: [B] Dr. Laura Schlessinger announces the end of her controversial TV show, Dr. Laura. APRIL April: see month. 4/1: A lesbian couple and three gay couples in Amsterdam become the first same-sex couples in the world to be legally married. The couples wed in a communal ceremony just minutes after the Dutch law granting same-sex marriage takes effect. 4/9: President Bush appoints Scott Evertz as director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy The Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) coordinates the continuing domestic efforts to reduce the number of new infections in the United States. In addition, the Office works to coordinate an increasingly integrated approach to the prevention, care and treatment of , making Evertz Bush's first openly gay appointee and the first gay person to head the AIDS office. 4/10: Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hires openly gay Stephen Herbits, who opposes the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. For the month Herbits serves as a consultant, he screens applicants for top department jobs. 4/11: The Massachusetts-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders Founded in 1978, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is a non-profit legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression. files a lawsuit on behalf of seven gay and lesbian couples seeking to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriages. 4/13: [D] The Puerto Rico Justice Department applies domestic violence laws to same-sex couples. Although Gov. Sila Calderon says she "respects" the decision, she says she will not allow her administration to take any steps toward recognizing same-sex marriages. 4/16: [C] Film director Steven Spielberg resigns from the Boy Scouts of America's advisory board because of the BSA's antigay policies. 4/21: Elizabeth Toledo says she will step down as executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is a nonprofit organization that supports grassroots organizing and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. Founded in 1973, NGLTF works to strengthen the gay and lesbian movement at the state and local levels while . In late May NGLTF NGLTF National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announces Toledo's replacement, Lorri Jean, the former executive director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center provides a broad array of services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Its clinic and on-site pharmacy offers free and low-cost health, mental health, HIV/AIDS medical care and HIV/STD testing and prevention. . 4/30: The San Francisco board of supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislature of San Francisco, California. Government and politics As the official name implies, the City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a charter city and charter county approves a plan that would allow city funds to pay for sex changes for city employees. MAY 5/2: Anthony Romero, a 35-year-old gay Latino, is named executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. . 5/4: Tom Cruise files a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Chad Slater, a gay-porn star whose stage name is Kyle Bradford, because Slater allegedly told a French magazine he had had an affair with Cruise. 5/8: Arizona governor Jane Hull signs a bill repealing a state law that outlawed sodomy, oral sex, and cohabitation A living arrangement in which an unmarried couple lives together in a long-term relationship that resembles a marriage. Couples cohabit, rather than marry, for a variety of reasons. They may want to test their compatibility before they commit to a legal union. by unmarried couples. 5/10: [I] Police raid a gay nightclub on the Nile and round up 55 men for "deviant sexual acts." The questioning leads police to detain 52 men. Egyptian laws do not explicitly outlaw homosexuality, but the practice is taboo in the conservative, mostly Muslim country. 5/10: Ronald Gay, who in 2000 killed one person and injured six others in a shooting at a Roanoke, Va., gay bar, pleads guilty to first-degree murder and six counts of malicious wounding. He is sentenced to life in prison on July 23. 5/12: Texas governor Rick Perry signs the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act into law, strengthening penalties for offenses against minorities, gays, and others. The measure is named for the east Texas black man who was dragged to death behind a pick-up truck in 1998 by three white men. 5/15: Maryland governor Parris Glendening signs a bill making his state the 12th to ban discrimination against gays, ending a decade-long battle by gay rights groups to add the phrase "sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. " to the state's antidiscrimination law. A conservative group called Take Back Maryland immediately challenges the law, launching a petition drive to put the law before voters in a referendum. 5/18: A Minnesota judge strikes down the state's sodomy law, 5/19: The Army rejects an appeal of an unsuccessful wrongful death lawsuit filed by Patricia Kutteles, the mother of Pfc. Barry Winchell, a 21-year-old gay soldier who was beaten to death in 1999 by fellow soldiers. The appeal was Kutteles's last chance to seek redress under the Military Claims Act. JUNE 6/1: The White House declines to issue a gay pride proclamation, as it had done under President Clinton. "The president believes every person should be treated with dignity and respect, but he does not believe in politicizing people's sexual orientation," spokesman Scott McClellan says. 6/1: At the annual Boy Scouts of America national meeting, leaders of Scout councils in seven of the nation's largest cities petition the organization to drop its policy barring gay scouts and leaders. 6/5: The 20th anniversary of AIDS: A report on five cases of what would come to be known as AIDS first appeared June 5, 1981, in the "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is a weekly epidemiological digest for the United States published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 5 June 1981 issue of the MMWR published the cases of five men in what turned out to be the first report of AIDS. " by the then-named Centers for Disease Control. 6/13: Hawaii enacts a gay-inclusive hate-crimes law. The new law allows enhanced sentencing of people convicted of felonies in which the victim was selected because of disability, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, race, or religion. It also calls for statistics to be kept on hate crimes. 6/15: Openly gay Klaus Wowereit is selected as interim mayor of Berlin. His position as mayor is solidified in October when citizens overwhelmingly elect him to a full five-year term. 6/17: The United Methodist Church United Methodist Church, in the United States, religious body formed by the union in 1968 of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church (see Methodism). suspends two Seattle pastors because they revealed that they are gay. The reverends Mark Williams and Karen Dammann take their case to the church's judicial council, which on October 29 upholds the denomination's ban on gay clergy who are not celibate. 6/21: Romania decriminalizes gay sex, in part to increase its chances of being accepted into the European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community . 6/21: The badly ecomposed body of Fred Martinez Jr., a 16-year-old transgendered Navajo boy, is found outside Cortez, Colo. A few weeks later, 18-year-old Shaun Murphy of Farmington, N.M., is charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with the killing. 6/29: U.S. surgeon general The U.S. Surgeon General is charged with the protection and advancement of health in the United States. Since the 1960s the surgeon general has become a highly visible federal public health official, speaking out against known health risks such as tobacco use, and promoting disease David Satcher says there is no evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. JULY 7/11: The White House backs away from a proposal to give the Salvation Army and other religious groups an exemption from state and local nondiscrimination laws in exchange for supporting the Administration's faith-based funding plan. 7/23: U.S. district judge Charles Simpson III dismisses charges that a state-funded Baptist agency in Kentucky broke the law when it fired a woman because she is a lesbian. However, Simpson leaves intact one of the suit's questions: whether government money should go to religious institutions to provide social services. 7/27: [E] California superior court Judge A. James Robertson II rules that Sharon Smith can sue the owners of the dogs that fatally mauled her partner, Diane Whipple, for wrongful death even though Smith is not a surviving spouse under the law. 7/28: The South Dakota transportation department refuses to let the Sioux Empire Gay and Lesbian Coalition participate in the state's Adopt-a-Highway program because it would require the state to post a highway sign with the group's name. After the group threatens to sue, South Dakota governor Bill Janklow announces on August 17 that the organization will get its sign. Janklow adds that all signs in the program will by replaced by generic ones by the end of the year. AUGUST 8/10: A month after a Boston Boy Scouts council says it won't discriminate based on sexual orientation, the group rejects Mark Noel's application for membership. Noel had been fired as a New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). troop leader because he is gay. 8/18: Scotland Yard issues a guide to all officers asking them to avoid calling gay and lesbian people "homosexuals," explaining that the word is "a medical term used to criminalize crim·i·nal·ize tr.v. crim·i·nal·ized, crim·i·nal·iz·ing, crim·i·nal·iz·es 1. To impose a criminal penalty on or for; outlaw. 2. To treat as a criminal. lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals in the 19th century" and "should generally be avoided." 8/22: The Human Rights Campaign releases a comprehensive analysis of the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau figures, which show that gay and lesbian families live in 99.3% of all counties in the nation. 8/22: Notoriously antigay U.S. senator Jesse Helms announces that he will retire at the end of his fifth term, in January 2003. Among the contenders who announce their intentions to run for the North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. seat: are openly gay Democratic superior court judge Ray Warren, who once worked for Helms. 8/30: U.S. district judge James Lawrence King James Lawrence King (born on December 20, 1927 in Miami, Florida) is the senior federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and one of the longest serving federal judges in the entire United States. upholds Florida's ban on same-sex adoption. SEPTEMBER 9/1: Anne Heche marries Coley coley Noun Brit an edible fish with white or grey flesh [perhaps from coalfish] Laffoon. She announces her pregnancy on September 5 during a TV interview with Barbara Walters. 9/5: Vermont governor Howard Dean, best known for championing the state's civil unions law, announces he will not seek reelection re·e·lect also re-e·lect tr.v. re·e·lect·ed, re·e·lect·ing, re·e·lects To elect again. re . On November 19 Dean says he has formed a political action committee, which could be his first step toward a possible 2004 presidential bid. 9/11: [H] Hundreds of gay men and lesbians are among the victims and the rescue workers affected by the terrorist attacks in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. 9/13: [G] Appearing on Pat Robertson's Christian TV program The 700 Club, the Rev. Jerry Falwell blames gay people in part for the terrorist tragedy, saying, "I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle ... all of them who have tried to secularize sec·u·lar·ize tr.v. sec·u·lar·ized, sec·u·lar·iz·ing, sec·u·lar·iz·es 1. To transfer from ecclesiastical or religious to civil or lay use or ownership. 2. America--I point the finger in their face and say, `You helped this happen.'" 9/14: President Bush authorizes the Department of Defense to issue a "stop-loss" order that suspends most military discharges, including those of lesbian and gay service members who violate the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. While some military branches issue the stop-loss orders, no branch includes among its suspended discharges those based on sexual orientation. 9/22: Sen. John McCain gives a tearful eulogy at the memorial service in Berkeley, Calif., for openly gay rugby player Mark Bingham, a passenger on the ill-fated United Airlines Flight 93. OCTOBER 10/11: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Committed to ending the pandemic and human suffering caused by HIV, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation develops innovative solutions, combining scientific evidence with community experience to fight HIV/AIDS and promote health. , the two beneficiaries of the California AIDS Ride, announce they will no longer be a part of the Pallotta TeamWorks-produced event. Instead the organizations will put on their own fund-raising event, The AIDS/LifeCycle. On November 8, Pallotta TeamWorks announces a new partnership with AIDS Project Los Angeles AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by HIV disease, reducing the incidence of HIV infection, and advocating for fair and effective HIV-related public policy. . 10/11: New York governor George Pataki issues an executive order granting the surviving partners of gay and lesbian victims of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks benefits, equal to those of heterosexual victims' spouses, from the state's Crime Victims Board. 10/13: The Associated Press releases a photo of a U.S. Navy bomb headed for Afghanistan with the phrase "High jack this fags" scrawled on the side, setting off a firestorm of criticism. The Navy condemns the graffiti. 10/18: Shaun Murphy pleads innocent to first- and second-degree murder charges in the killing of transgendered 16-year-old Fred Martinez Jr. 10/25: Cheri Goldstein and Holly Perdue Perdue may refer to:
NOVEMBER 11/1: The Salvation Army's Western territory, which encompasses 13 states, announces that it will extend benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees. Eleven days later the organization's national leadership extinguishes the offer, instituting a new policy stripping its regional entities of the authority to make decisions regarding health care benefits for employees. 11/5: A Colorado court rules that gay parents' sexual orientation cannot be used to deny them visitation with their children. 11/6: Gay rights legislation and pro-gay politicians win big at polls. Among the notable results: Gay rights are victorious in three local ballot initiatives in Michigan and another in Miami Beach, Fla.; Denver extends antidiscrimination protection based on gender identity. 11/7: A federal jury rules that three Minersville, Pa., police officers are not responsible for the death of Marcus Wayman, an 18-year-old high school football player who killed himself in 1997 after officers allegedly threatened to tell Wayman's family he was gay. 11/14: The four-month trial of 52 Egyptian men arrested for having gay sex comes to a close. One man is sentenced to five years in prison, another to three years, and 20 men to two years each, while 29 are acquitted. (Another was sentenced earlier.) But just one day after the sentencings, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is an international organisation addressing human rights violations against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV/AIDS. learns that four more men were arrested on similar charges in Cairo on November 10. 11/17: Aaron Webster, a 41-year-old gay man from Vancouver, Canada, is found beaten to death in the city's Stanley Park. Webster was beaten with a baseball bat or a pool cue. 11/21: Maryland's law banning discrimination against gay people takes effect after opponents abandon their attempt to put the law before voters for November 2002. 11/27: Local chapters of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays launch a holiday-season protest of the Salvation Army's antigay policies by dropping "reminder bills" into the organization's trademark red collection kettles that read, in part, "I would have donated $5, but the Salvation Army's decision to discriminate against gay and lesbian employees prevents my donation now and in the future." 11/28: Tom Cruise drops a $100 million lawsuit against Michael Davis, publisher of Bold magazine, after Davis states he does not have a videotape of Cruise having sex with a man. The court ruling includes a stipulation that reads in part, "[Cruise] is not, and never has been, homosexual and has never had a homosexual affair." DECEMBER 12/1: World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, with an estimated 38. commemorations take place across the globe, including the release of a remake of Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On?" by members of Destiny's Child, 'N Sync, No Doubt, and other acts. Proceeds from the single benefit various AIDS organizations. 12/4: The American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. issues guidelines regarding gay survivors of the September 11 attacks--making it the first national relief agency to provide detailed policies on how to respect same-sex relationships when determining eligibility for disaster-related assistance. 12/5: Antigay reverend Pat Robertson resigns as president and member of the board of directors of the equally antigay Christian Coalition. 12/5: President Bush names gay-friendly former Montana governor Marc Racicot to head the Republican National Committee. 12/6: First--and, so far, only--openly gay Texas legislator Glen Maxey announces that he will not seek reelection. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion