KNOWhomo

LGBTQ* (USA) Politics You May Have Missed

LGBTQ* Same-Sex Couples Dropped from Immigration Reform Bill  This Week

If you haven’t heard, LGBTQ*individuals were dropped from equal protections under the newest immigration bill to move through congress. It is speculated that this was done to gain favor with more conservative members of Congress.

From the Washington Post:

“Today it became clear that our so-called ‘friends’ don’t have the courage or the spine to stand up for what’s right,” Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez, co-director of the social-justice organization GetEQUAL, said.

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The team at KNOWhomo will do their best to continue to update our family and friends on the progression of this bill. In the mean time, remember, if you are able to vote, it also means your voice is important to your state representatives. Send a message with sincere thoughts and feelings to your local representative and express your right to share your need for equal representation. 

Photo Source

Trans* and Gender Equality Marketing

Graphic from the NYC Commission on Human Rights

PDF: Gender Identity Discrimination NYC Human Rights Law publication

PDF: Defending Your Rights NYC Human Rights, compiled by Columbia Law School

LGBTQ* History You Should Know

When people claim “the homosexual agenda is trying to change laws all over the world,” kindly tell them that attitudes and educational thought have reversed laws criminalizing homosexuals for almost 220 years. 

Country                                Decriminalized Homosexuality in (Year)

Kingdom of Prussia                 Removes death penalty from sodomy charges (1794)

Netherlands                           Decriminalizes homosexuality (1811)

Indonesia                              Decriminalizes homosexuality (1811)

Brazil                                   Decriminalizes homosexuality (1830)

Portugal                                Decriminalizes homosexuality (1852)

Ottoman Empire (Turkey)         Decriminalizes homosexuality (1858)

**1869, “Homosexuality” is first used in print. Prior to this everything is referred to as sodomy.**

Empire of Japan                     Decriminalizes homosexuality (1880)

Italy                                   Legalizes homosexuality (1889)

Poland                                 Moves age of consent to 15y/o for everyone (1932)

Uruguay                              Decriminalizes homosexuality (1934)

Iceland                               Decriminalizes homosexuality (1940)

Switzerland                          Decriminalizes homosexuality (1942)

Sweden                              Decriminalizes homosexuality (1944)

Greece                               Decriminalizes homosexuality (1951)

Thailand                             Decriminalizes homosexuality (1956)

Czechoslovakia                    Decriminalizes homosexuality (1961)

Hungary                              Decriminalizes homosexuality (1961)

Illinois, United States           Becomes the FIRST state to decriminalize sodomy (1961)

Israel                               Decriminalizes homosexuality (1963)

England and Wales             Decriminalizes homosexuality (1967)

Canada                             Decriminalizes homosexuality (1969)

West Germany                   Decriminalizes homosexuality (1969)

Austria                             Decriminalizes homosexuality (1971)

Costa Rica                        Decriminalizes homosexuality (1971)

Finland                            Decriminalizes homosexuality (1971)  

Colorado, USA                   Decriminalizes homosexuality (1971)

Oregon, USA                    Decriminalizes homosexuality (1971)

Idaho, USA                      Decriminalizes homosexuality and then reinstates it

                                    due to outspoken anger from Catholics and Mormons (1971)

Sweden                           Becomes first country to allow gender marker change (1972)

USA                               DSM removes homosexuality from mental disorder (1973)

Malta                             Legalizes homosexuality (1973)

California, USA                Legalizes homosexuality (1975)

Australian Capitol Territory  Legalizes homosexuality (1976)

Slovenia                          Legalizes homosexuality (1977)

Vojvodina                        Legalizes homosexuality (1977)

Croatia                           Legalizes homosexuality (1977)

Montenegro                     Legalizes homosexuality (1977)

Quebec, Canada               First major metropolitan city to make sexual orientation

                                   discrimination illegal. Offers job security (1977)

Cuba                             Decriminalizes homosexuality (1979)

Spain                            Decriminalizes homosexuality (1979)

Victoria, Australia            Decriminalizes homosexuality (1981)

Colombia                       Decriminalizes homosexuality (1981)

Northern Ireland              Decriminalizes homosexuality (1982)

Wisconsin, USA               First state to offer sexual orientation protection (1982)

(the last 30 years, part 2, will be posted at a later date)

LGBTQ* Equality in the United States of America

DID YOU KNOW? —

(Yes, you can be fired for being LGBTQ* in the workplace.)

29 States DO NOT Offer Protection To Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual* Employees.

35 States DO NOT Offer Protection To Trans* Employees.

ONLY 15 STATES (!) ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

(picture from blogger: buckmire )