This is a list of notable events in LGBTQ rights that took place in the 2010s .
During the 2010s, acceptance of LGBTQ people slowly increased in many parts of the world. [1] [2] Same-sex marriage rights was a topic of ongoing debate in many nations, while over eighteen nations legalized same-sex marriage. [3] [4]
In June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed the UN's first-ever motion condemning discrimination against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, commissioning a report on the issue. [5] During an ABC News interview in 2012, Barack Obama expressed his support for gay marriage, becoming the first US president to do so. [6] Although many nations allowed gays and bisexuals to serve in their militaries, a major milestone came in September 2011 when the US abolished its "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. [7] [8]
In 2015, Ireland became the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage via a referendum. [9] In 2017, Leo Varadkar became Ireland's first openly gay Taoiseach, [10] joining the ranks of other nation's first openly gay and lesbian heads of state in the 2010s.
In April 2015, former Olympic athlete Caitlyn Jenner came out as a transgender woman, and was subsequently called the most famous openly transgender person in the world. [11] On June 26 of the same year, same-sex marriage was legalized in all 50 states of the U.S. as the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5–4 vote that refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees citizens the rights to due process and equal protection. Organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, [12] Girl Scouts of the USA, [13] and the Episcopal Church [14] announced acceptance of transgender people in the 2010s.
However, LGBT rights supporters faced obstacles with the implementation of laws curbing expression of homosexuality in Russia and China, [15] [16] [17] as well as in the United States, with the Trump administration's decisions to reinstate the ban on transgender people serving in the military, as well as the repeal of protections for transgender students. [18] [19]
This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage and legal recognition of same-sex couples worldwide. It begins with the history of same-sex unions during ancient times, which consisted of unions ranging from informal and temporary relationships to highly ritualized unions, and continues to modern-day state-recognized same-sex marriage. Events concerning same-sex marriages becoming legal in a country or in a country's state are listed in bold.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United States may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents, with civil protections widely varying by state. While the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people remain among the most advanced in the world, the rights of transgender and intersex people have been significantly eroded since the beginning of the second Trump presidency, with public opinion and jurisprudence changing significantly since the late 1980s.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Thailand are regarded as some of the most comprehensive of those in Asia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal. Legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption of children by married same-sex couples was signed into law in 2024, and came into force on 23 January 2025. Thailand was the first Asian UN member state to pass a comprehensive same-sex marriage law, as well as the first in Southeast Asia and the 38th in the world. About eight percent of the Thai population, five million people, are thought to be in the LGBT demographic.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Mexico expanded in the 21st century, keeping with worldwide legal trends. The intellectual influence of the French Revolution and the brief French occupation of Mexico (1862–67) resulted in the adoption of the Napoleonic Code, which decriminalized same-sex sexual acts in 1871. Laws against public immorality or indecency, however, have been used to prosecute persons who engage in them.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in India have expanded in the 21st century, though much of India's advancements on LGBT rights have come from the judiciary and not the legislature. LGBTQ people in India continue to face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ people. There are no legal restrictions against gay sex within India. Same-sex couples have some limited cohabitation rights, colloquially known as live-in relationships. However, India does not currently provide for common-law marriage, same-sex marriage, civil union or unregistered cohabitation.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the Republic of China (Taiwan) are regarded as some of the most comprehensive of those in Asia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal, and same-sex marriage was legalized on 24 May 2019, following a Constitutional Court ruling in May 2017. Same-sex couples are able to jointly adopt children since 2023. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender characteristics in education has been banned nationwide since 2004. With regard to employment, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has also been prohibited by law since 2007.
Laws governing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights are complex in Asia, and acceptance of LGBTQ people varies. Same-sex sexual activity is outlawed in twenty-one Asian countries. In Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, homosexual activity results in death penalty. In addition, LGBT people also face extrajudicial executions from non-state actors such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While egalitarian relationships have become more frequent in recent years, they remain rare.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Northern Cyprus since 7 February 2014. Previous laws allowed three years prison sentences, according to Articles 171 and 173 of its criminal code. Female homosexuality was not criminalised. Arrests for homosexuality have occurred as recently as 2011.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Wyoming may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Wyoming since 1977, and same-sex marriage was legalized in the state in October 2014. Wyoming statutes do not address discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; however, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBTQ people is illegal under federal law. In addition, the cities of Jackson, Casper, and Laramie have enacted ordinances outlawing discrimination in housing and public accommodations that cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Oregon have the same legal rights as non-LGBTQ people. Oregon became one of the first U.S. jurisdictions to decriminalize sodomy in 1972, and same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since May 2014 when a federal judge declared the state's ban on such marriages unconstitutional. Previously, same-sex couples could only access domestic partnerships, which guaranteed most of the rights of marriage. Additionally, same-sex couples are allowed to jointly adopt, and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations is outlawed in the state under the Oregon Equality Act, enacted in 2008. Conversion therapy on minors is also illegal.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Arkansas face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Same-sex sexual activity in Arkansas was decriminalized in 2001 and legally codified in 2005. Same-sex marriage became briefly legal through a court ruling on May 9, 2014, subject to court stays and appeals. In June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States nationwide including in Arkansas. Nonetheless, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was not banned in Arkansas until the Supreme Court banned it nationwide in Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020.
LGBTQ history in the United States consists of the contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, as well as the LGBTQ social movements they have built.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2013.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2014.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2015.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2016.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2017.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community in the United States.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2020.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights taking place in the year 2023.
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