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In 1949, the Fat Monday Luncheon, a private event for local gay men, was first held in New Orleans. The Krewe of Yuga was the first gay Carnival club in 1958, followed by the Krewe of Petronius in 1961. The Krewe of Yuga disbanded after a police raid on their fifth ball in 1962, but the Krewe of Petronius continued to hold balls. Other krewes formed despite the oppressive atmosphere, such as the Krewes of Amon-Ra, Ganymede, Armeinius, Apollo, Ishtar (the first lesbian krewe), and Olympus. [1]
After the closure of a bar at the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop on Bourbon Street, gay patrons moved to a bar around the corner, known as the Café Lafitte in Exile, and turned the bar into the oldest gay bar in New Orleans.
In 1967, District Attorney Jim Garrison arrested Clay Shaw, a local openly homosexual businessman, and charged Shaw with conspiring to assassinate John F. Kennedy. The trial eventually acquitted Shaw.
In 1970, the Gay Liberation Front of New Orleans was formed. In 1971, members of the Front presented a "Gay In" picnic in February in City Park. It would not become openly known as a "gay pride" event until 1978, when the pride events became the annual Gay Pride New Orleans. In 1972, the Tulane University Gay Students Union was established. [2]
Also in 1972, the first celebrations of Southern Decadence began with several parties encouraging guests to "Come As Your Favorite Southern Decadent." Next year began the costumed walking parade, which became the focus in 1974 with the selection of a grand marshal. Although it came from these modest beginnings, the Southern Decadence festival now covers an entire week of events, culminating with the annual parade in the French Quarter, generating millions of dollars for the city's economy. However, few remember that Decadence began with a group of straight and gay friends in the Faubourg Tremé neighborhood to celebrate the end of the long hot summers. [3]
Members of the Front also organized a local chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis as well as the first local LGBT-affirming Christian congregation, an informal meeting of the Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church, which began to meet at the UpStairs Lounge in the French Quarter. However, on June 24, 1973, an arson attack on the club which provided room for the congregation to meet ended in 32 deaths from burning and smoke inhalation. The attack, which was never officially solved by New Orleans police, was a historical marker for LGBT people in Louisiana, as memorialization of the victims by local clergy proved just as difficult as finding proper burials for the dead.
In 1975, the Gertrude Stein Society was established, becoming a local nexus for future gay rights activism in Louisiana. The IMPACT newspaper (first issue, 1977) and the Faubourg Marigny Bookstore were also established in this decade. In 1978, several Tulane Law students, along with other Tulane students, created a group known as “The Lambda Forum.” While primarily a social group, the organization did hold a sanctioned forum at the Law School, discussing Gay issues. The organization was active for approximately 3 years.
In 1980, the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC) was created by a group of activists committed to attaining legal and social equality for Louisiana's gender and sexual minorities. Based in Alexandria, LAGPAC was a political organization that investigated the beliefs and stances of candidates running for public office and, through mailing lists, editorials (The Voter's Guide and The Lagniappe), and phone banking, encouraged its members to vote for candidates that were supportive of the LGBTQIA community. Meanwhile, it aimed to sway the larger Louisiana population to support equality for the state's gender and sexual minorities. At its peak, LAGPAC also had chapters in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Acadiana, and influenced numerous elections. LAGPAC ceased operations in 2002, but Equality Louisiana is considered a successor of the organization. [4]
In 1989, Forum for Equality, Louisiana's largest LGBT rights lobby organization, was established. Other organizations formed by alumni of the Gertrude Stein Society include the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus (1980), the State Gay Conference (1981), the New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus and a local chapter of P-FLAG (both in 1982), and the NO/AIDS Task Force (1983).
In 1991, the New Orleans City Council passed an anti-discrimination ordinance into law covering the sexual orientation of city workers. In 1998, this was extended to include gender expression and identity.
In 1994, the New Orleans City Council passed the Forum authored and sponsored domestic partnership law, providing for registration and benefits for same gender couples seeking to be recognized as domestic partners.
In 1993, the Louisiana Electorate of Gays And Lesbians (LEGAL) was founded. LEGAL was a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to the equal rights of Louisiana's lesbians and gay men. The organization, which supported a full-time lobbyist at every session of the Louisiana Legislature through 1998, was instrumental in passing the state's hate crime law, inclusive of penalty enhancements for crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation [5] - the first in the Deep South - and defeating an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. [6] The group would also bring a decade's worth of challenges to the state's sodomy law. [7]
In 1997, Louisiana became the first state in the Deep South to pass a hate crimes law which covered sexual orientation. [8] That same year, New Orleans mayor Marc Morial signed into law a domestic partnerships registry for same-sex couples resident in the city and for city workers.[ citation needed ]
In June 1998, as part of Pride festivities, a memorial service for the UpStairs Lounge arson was organized with a jazz funeral and a memorial plaque laid at the site of the fire.[ citation needed ]
On September 18, 2004, by a significant margin, the voters of Louisiana approved a state constitutional amendment, Louisiana Constitutional Amendment 1, that banned same-sex marriages and civil unions. The measure did not ban domestic partnerships, however. [9]
In 2011, Equality Louisiana was founded. With the support of local groups like Spectrum on LSU's campus, Capital City Alliance in Baton Rouge, People Acting for Change and Equality (PACE) in Shreveport, and Forum for Equality in New Orleans; Equality Louisiana formed to be a coalition of LGBT and allied organizations. With the concept that no single organization can move the state forward on their own, Equality Louisiana or EQLA served to coordinate statewide efforts. With an commitment to transgender inclusion, and the ability to make sure that voices from all over the state are heard, EQLA has been a leader in bringing the voices of LGBT people to the legislature. [10]
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Belarus face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Belarus. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Belarus provides no anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people, nor does it prohibit hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Southern Decadence is an annual six-day event held in New Orleans, Louisiana, by the LGBT community during Labor Day weekend, culminating in a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day.
The Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity is the oldest, largest and preeminent Norwegian member organization representing the interests of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in Norway.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in the Philippines face some legal challenges not faced by non-LGBT people, with numerous anti-discrimination legislations, bills and laws that are struggling to be passed on a national level to protect LGBT rights nationwide, with some parts of the country only existing on a local government level. LGBT individuals in the Philippines are often faced with disadvantages and difficulties in acquiring equal rights within the country. They also have a higher rate of suicide and suicide ideation compared to their heterosexual counterparts.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the Philippines have a distinctive culture in society, and also have limited legal rights. Gays and lesbians are more tolerated than accepted in Filipino society. Despite recent events that have promoted the rights, general acceptance, and empowerment of the Filipino LGBT community, discrimination remains. Homosexuals in the Philippines are known as "bakla", though there are other terms to describe them. According to the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey, 11 percent of sexually active Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 24 have had sex with someone of the same sex. According to Filipino poet and critic Lilia Quindoza Santiago, Filipino culture may have a more flexible concept of gender. Kasarian is defined in less binary terms than the English word; kasarian means "kind, species, or genus".
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2007.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Kosovo have improved in recent years, most notably with the adoption of the new Constitution, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Kosovo remains one of the few Muslim-majority countries where LGBT pride parades are held annually.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Mongolia face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT people, though there have been substantial improvements since the 1990s. Homosexuality was criminalised in Mongolia in 1961 through its Criminal Code. Following the Mongolian Revolution of 1990 and the peaceful transition to a democracy, homosexuality was legalised and awareness about LGBT people has become more prevalent. Hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity result in additional legal penalties. Hate speech based on these two categories has been outlawed in the country since 1 July 2017. Households headed by same-sex couples are, however, not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Louisiana may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Louisiana as a result of the US Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas, although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy laws. Same-sex marriage has been recognized in the state since June 2015 as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Forum for Equality is a Louisiana-based statewide LGBT civil rights advocacy group that was founded in 1989. The major focus of this group is on the political process, in which it encourages members to participate through reminders of upcoming elections, campaigns promoting awareness of legislation that affects the LGBT community, and rallies to demonstrate popular support for LGBT civil rights. The group also works to educate the LGBT community in Louisiana about the issues that affect the community as a whole. The organization is a member of the Equality Federation.
Victoria Kolakowski is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court since January 2011. Kolakowski is the first openly transgender person to serve as a trial court judge of general jurisdiction in the United States, the first elected to a judgeship, and the first to serve as any type of judge in California..
LGBT employment discrimination in the United States is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is encompassed by the law's prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sex. Prior to the landmark cases Bostock v. Clayton County and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2020), employment protections for LGBT people were patchwork; several states and localities explicitly prohibit harassment and bias in employment decisions on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity, although some only cover public employees. Prior to the Bostock decision, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interpreted Title VII to cover LGBT employees; the EEOC determined that transgender employees were protected under Title VII in 2012, and extended the protection to encompass sexual orientation in 2015.
Equality Illinois (EI) was founded in 1991 to work towards building a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment and social justice through education, advocacy, and protection of the rights of the LGBT community.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of African ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally specific identities. This timeline includes events both in Africa, the Americas and Europe and in the global African diaspora, as the histories are very deeply linked.
