The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21,1996. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marriage to the union of one man and one woman,and it further allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.
Roberta Achtenberg is an American attorney and civil rights advocate who served as a commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She was previously assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,becoming the first openly lesbian or gay public official in the United States whose appointment to a federal position was confirmed by the United States Senate. This confirmation hearing garnered a lot of publicity,opposition,and support.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington,D.C.,the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGBTQ individuals,including advocating for same-sex marriage,anti-discrimination and hate crimes legislation,and HIV/AIDS advocacy. The organization has a number of legislative initiatives as well as supporting resources for LGBTQ individuals.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Massachusetts since May 17,2004,as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Constitution of Massachusetts to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts was the sixth jurisdiction in the world to legalize same-sex marriage after the Netherlands,Belgium,Ontario,British Columbia,and Quebec. It was the first U.S. state to open marriage to same-sex couples.
Elizabeth Millen Birch is an American attorney and former corporate executive who chaired the board of directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force from 1992 to 1994. She served as the executive director of the Human Rights Campaign,the nation's largest LGBT organization,from January 1995 until January 2004.
This article addresses the history of lesbianism in the United States. Unless otherwise noted,the members of same-sex female couples discussed here are not known to be lesbian,but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of lesbianism—that is,same-sex female sexual and romantic behavior.
Jennifer Chrisler is a former executive director of the Family Equality Council,a nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy and education organization based in the United States that was previously known as the Family Pride Coalition.
LGBTQ movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender and queer social movements in the United States of America,beginning in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBTQ people. Some have also focused on building LGBTQ communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia,homophobia,and transphobia. LGBTQ movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity,including lobbying,street marches,social groups,media,art,and research. Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes:
For the lesbian and gay movement,then,cultural goals include challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity,homophobia,and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights,benefits,and protections from harm.
Same-sex marriage became legally recognized statewide in New Mexico through a ruling of the New Mexico Supreme Court on December 19,2013,requiring county clerks to issue marriage licenses to all qualified couples regardless of gender. Until then,same-sex couples could only obtain marriage licenses in certain counties of the state. Eight of the 33 counties,covering 58% of the state's population,had begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in August and September 2013. New Mexico's marriage statute was not specific as to gender,and it was the only state lacking a state statute or constitutional provision explicitly addressing same-sex marriage. Lacking a state law or judicial ruling concerning same-sex marriage prior to December 19,2013,policy for the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples was determined at the county level at the discretion of local issuing authorities i.e.,some counties recognized same-sex marriage and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples,while others did not.
Chai Rachel Feldblum is an American legal scholar and activist for disability and LGBT rights. A former law professor at Georgetown University Law Center,she served as Commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She was nominated to the position by president Barack Obama in 2009. In April 2010,she received a recess appointment to the EEOC,and in December 2010 she was confirmed by the United States Senate. The Senate confirmed her in December 2013 for a second term on the Commission which expired in July 2018.
Beth Robinson is an American lawyer and judge from Vermont. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is the first openly lesbian judge to serve on any federal court of appeals. Robinson served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 2011 to 2021.
Victor Basile is an author and American LGBT rights activist who was the first executive director of the Human Rights Campaign,serving in that position from June 1983 to June 1989.
P. Kay Floyd is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who represented the 46th district in the Oklahoma Senate from 2014 to 2024. She served as the Minority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate after succeeding John Sparks in 2018 until she was term limited in 2024. She previously served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing the 88th district between 2012 and 2014.
Nitza Ileana Quiñones Alejandro is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Quiñones Alejandro is the first lesbian Latina to be appointed to serve as a federal judge.
Elaine Debra Kaplan is the chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims. She served as General Counsel of the United States Office of Personnel Management from 2009 to 2013,and as acting director of the office in 2013.
Judith Ellen Levy is an American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan since 2014.
Francis H. Woodward is a former American politician who was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.
Mary Margaret Rowland is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and a former United States Magistrate Judge for the same court.
