LGBTQ Rights: 2000s to Present

While the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community has become more visible and won more legal protections in recent years, state lawmakers have increased attempts to pass legislation that could restrict civil rights for LGBT people.

After more than a decade of advocacy, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009.

Lawrence v. Texas, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (6–3) on June 26, 2003, that a Texas state law criminalizing certain intimate sexual conduct between two consenting adults of the same sex was unconstitutional.

Over the past few decades, brave LGBTQ plaintiffs from around the nation have stood up for their rights by asking the Supreme Court affirm their fundamental liberties.

In a long-sought victory for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic and the success of the battle for marriage equality have been, over the past thirty-five years, the two events that have most affected LGBT lives.

Laverne Cox has emerged as a public leader of the trans movement, using her prominence to make the case for equal rights and touring the country giving a speech titled “Ain’t I A Woman?” When Cox says it, that refrain is not a question.

A federal judge found in favor of transgender student Gavin Grimm, whose efforts to use the boys’ bathrooms at his high school reached the Supreme Court and thrust him into the middle of a national debate about the rights of transgender students.

Essay by trans author and activist Julia Serrano.

The GLSEN National School Climate Survey is a report on the school experiences of LGBTQ youth in schools.

Despite the gains made for gay rights in recent years, homeless LGBT youth have benefited little. Instead, their numbers on the streets have swelled, representing up to an estimated 40 percent of the nation’s young adult homeless population, data shows.

Gavin Grimm, came out as trans in high school and became the center of a fight to use the appropriate restroom at school, a case which went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Janet Mock is an American writer, TV host, and transgender rights activist.

Julia Serano is an American writer, spoken-word performer, trans-bi activist, and biologist.

Laverne Cox is an actress and public leader of the trans movement, using her prominence to make the case for equal rights.