Being Gay in the New Millinneum

We have moved into the 21st Century and we started this era with some worries - worries that our technologic dependence would come crashing down on us and cause havoc with our everyday lives (all of this was for nought). As Gays and Lesbians we hoped for more change and for equal rights. I had a family member once tell me to just hang in there, that "one day" we would have the same rights. I felt insulted by this ignorant statement. Why should I have to wait for "one day" when opposite sex people can marry and divorce at will without as much as a slap on the hand for disrupting the "sanctity of marriage". Let's see how we have progressed so far in the 2000's.

2000

• Although medicine & treatment helps persons with AIDS live longer, there is still NO cure . . .
• Many people and organizations in the Twin Cities continue to serve the needs of people with AIDS.
• The 4th March on Washington for Equality is held in Washington DC.
• New Jersey's Ninth Annual Pride Parade & Festival is held in Asbury Park.
• German Bundestag officially apologizes to gays and lesbians persecuted under the Nazi regime, and for "harm done to homosexual citizens up to 1969".
• Vermont becomes the first U.S. state to legalize civil unions.
• Israel recognizes same-sex relations for immigration purposes for a foreign partner of Israeli resident.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Azerbaijan, Gabon and Georgia.
• British ban against lesbians and gay men serving in the military is lifted.
• Britain outlaws discrimination against lesbians and gay men.

2001

• Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands legalized. 
• Germany enacts registered partnership legislation. 
• Soccer fans, clerics leading ultranationalist youth and skinheads stormed the first Pride march in Belgrade (at the time Yugoslavia, now Serbia), attacking and seriously injuring several participants and stopping the manifestation from taking place. The police was too poorly equipped to suppress riots or protect the Pride marchers. 
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Comes into effect: Germany (without joint adoption until Oct 2004, then with step-adoption) Passed: Finland (without joint adoption until May 2009, then with step-adoption).
• Limited Partnership laws: Passed and Comes into effect: Portugal (without joint adoption) (replaced with marriage 2009) Comes into effect: Swiss canton of Geneva (without joint adoption).
• Anti-discrimination legislation: US states of Rhode Island (private sector, gender identity) and Maryland (private sector, sexual orientation).
• Equalization of age of consent: Albania, Estonia and Liechtenstein, United Kingdom.
• Repeal of Sodomy laws: US state of Arizona.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: the rest of the United Kingdom's territories.
• Homosexuality no longer an illness: China.

2002

• "Minneapolis and St. Paul in Vintage Postcards" is released. The book includes references to historic sites that have become well-known for there modern day events - including the GLBT Pride Celebration in Loring Park, and the vigil that was held for Matthew Shepard.
• Sweden legalizes adoption for same-sex couples, making Sweden's registered partnership nearly identical to marriage, with the exception of right to marriage in a church.
• Zurich extends marriage-like rights to same sex couples.
• Controversial openly gay Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated by Volkert van der Graaf. 
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Passed and Comes into effect: Canadian province of Quebec (with joint adoption), Comes into effect: Finland (without joint adoption until May 2009, then with step-adoption), Passed: Argentinian city of Buenos Aires (without joint adoption).
• Limited Partnerships laws: Passed: Swiss canton of Zurich (without joint adoption).
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: South Africa (joint and step adoption), Sweden (step adoption).
• Anti-discrimination legislation: US states of Alaska (public sector, sexual orientation) and New York (private sector, sexual orientation).
• Equalization of age of consent: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and the Australian state of Western Australia.
• Repeal of Sodomy laws: Romania, Costa Rica and the US States of Arkansas and Massachusetts.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: China, Mongolia.
• Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays established its Transgender Network, also known as TNET, as its first official "Special Affiliate," recognized with the same privileges and responsibilities as its regular chapters.
• MTF teenager Gwen Araujo murdered by sex partners, in California.

2003

• U.S. Supreme Court strikes down remaining state sodomy laws.
• Same-sex marriage in Belgium legalized, but is not equal to heterosexual marriage because couples lack adoption rights.
• A bill is introduced in the Canadian parliament to legalise statutory same-sex marriage (new style "common law" same-sex marriage was already created by Act of Parliament in 2000).
• Germany's Supreme Court upheld the country's civil union law which gives some of the benefits of marriage to registered same-sex couples. 
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Comes into effect: Argentinian city of Buenos Aires (without joint adoption), Passed:: Australian state of Tasmania (step adoption only).
• Limited Partnerships laws: Comes into effect: Austria (without joint adoption)(replaced with registed partnerships 2010), Croatia (without registration or adoption).
• Anti-discrimination legislation: Bulgaria (all sectors, sexual orientation), United Kingdom (excluding religious organisations, sexual orientation), US states of Arizona (public sector, sexual orientation), Kentucky (public sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Michigan (executive branch of the state government, sexual orientation), New Mexico (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Pennsylvania (public sector, gender identity).
• End to ban on gay people in the military: Russia
• Equalization of age of consent: Australian state and territory of New South Wales and Northern Territory.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Iraq.
• Recriminalisation of homosexuality: Belize.
• Gene Robinson becomes the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal church in the USA.
• Reuben Zellman became the first openly transgender person accepted to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he was ordained in 2010.
• Committee on Jewish Law and Standards approved a rabbinic ruling that concluded that sex reassignment surgery (SRS) is permissible as a treatment of gender dysphoria, and that a transgender person's sex status under Jewish law is changed by SRS.

2004

• Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage in May while eleven other U.S. states ban the practice through public referenda in the November elections.
• Civil unions in Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul now accepts civil unions.
• Domestic partnerships in New Jersey legalized in July. 
• In Canada, 85% of the population lived in a province or territory with same-sex marriage.
• Australia bans same-sex marriage, while New Zealand passes the Civil Union Bill. 
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Comes into effect:: Australian state of Tasmania (step adoption only), Passed: New Zealand (without joint adoption).
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: Germany (Step Adoption).
• Banning of Same-sex marriage: Australia, US states of Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oregon and Utah.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage and civil unions: US states of Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin.
• Anti-discrimination legislation: Portugal, US States of Indiana (public sector, gender identity), Louisiana (public sector, sexual orientation) and Maine.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Cape Verde, Marshall Islands and San Marino.
• UK Gender Recognition Bill, James McGreevey becomes the first openly gay Governor in U.S. history.
• The first all-transgender performance of the Vagina Monologues was held. The monologues were read by eighteen notable transgender women, and a new monologue revolving around the experiences and struggles of transgender women was included.
• Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon became the first same-sex couple to be legally married in the United States, when San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom allowed city hall to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, all same-sex marriages done in 2004 in California were annulled. After the California Supreme Court decision in 2008 that granted same-sex couples in California the right to marry, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon remarried, and were again the first same-sex couple in the state to marry. Later in 2008 Prop 8 illegalized same-sex marriage in California, but the marriages that occurred between the California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage and the approval of Prop 8 illegalizing it are still considered valid, including the marriage of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. However, Del Martin died in 2008.
• In the United Kingdom, transgender people are allowed to change the gender on their birth certificates.

2005

• State of California expands domestic partnership statutes to include most marriage rights available under state law. California domestic partnership is available to opposite-sex couples age 62 and older who meet certain Social Security qualifications, and to all same-sex couples age 18 and older without further qualification.
• Uganda and Latvia amended their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage.
• Same sex marriage legalized in Canada and Spain.
• Switzerland voted in favor of extending rights for registered same-sex couples
• South Africa's Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal, under the country's constitution, to ban gay marriages.
• André Boisclair is chosen leader of the Parti Québécois, becoming the first openly gay man elected leader of a major political party in North America.
• UK introduces Civil partnerships with rights all but equal to marriage.
• Maine adds sexual orientation and gender identity to existing anti-discrimination laws.
• The Church of Sweden, the former state church, decides to hold blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples, who can already enter into registered partnerships equal to marriage. This decision prompted the Russian Orthodox Church to cut eccumenical relations to the Church of Sweden.
• Connecticut passed Civil Union law.
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Passes and Comes into effect: Andorra, United Kingdom (without joint adoption (England and Wales) until Dec 2005, without joint adoption (Scotland) until Sep 2009, without joint adoption (Northern Ireland)), US state of Connecticut; Comes into effect: New Zealand (without joint adoption), US state of California; Passed: Switzerland (without adoption), Slovenia.
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: UK Subdivisions of England and Wales.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage and civil unions: US states of Kansas and Texas.
• Anti-discrimination legislation: US States of Illinois (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity) and Maine (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity).
• Repeal of Sodomy laws: Puerto Rico.
• Two gay male teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, are executed in Iran.
• Bonnie Bleskachek became the first openly lesbian fire chief of a major metropolitan area in the United States (specifically, Minneapolis).
• New Zealand first country to outlaw employment discrimination and hate crimes on the basis of gender identity.
• "Equal Marriage Rights for All" resolution passed by the 25th General Synod of the UCC.

2006

• Illinois outlaws sexual orientation discrimination.
• Washington State adds sexual orientation to existing anti-discrimination laws.
• An attempt to stage the first-ever gay pride march in Moscow ended with violence and mass arrests, after activists took to the streets despite the ban by mayor Yuri Luzhkov. 
• The first regional Eastern European Pride - Internacionala Pride 2006 - took place in Zagreb, Croatia, with participants coming from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania.
• Kyle Hawkins becomes first openly gay male coach at the NCAA level of a men's team.
• United States Senate fails to pass an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America making gay marriage illegal.
• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and Comes into effect: South Africa (with joint adoption).
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Passed and Comes into effect: Czech Republic (without joint adoption), Comes into effect: Slovenia, Passed: Mexican City of Mexico City and US state of New Jersey.
• Limited Partnership laws: Passed: Australian State of South Australia.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage: US State of Tennessee.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage and civil unions: US States of Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin.
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: Belgium.
• Anti-discrimination legislation: Faroe Islands, Germany (sexual orientation and gender identity), New Zealand (gender identity)[citation needed] and US States and Districts of Illinois (sexual orientation), New Jersey (private sector, gender identity), Washington (sexual orientation and gender identity) and Washington, D.C. (private sector, gender identity).
• Voiding of Anti-discrimination legislation: Kentucky.
• Equalization of age of consent: Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Serbia.
• Springfield, Missouri repeals gay soliciting laws.
• The International Conference on LGBT Human Rights is held in Montreal.
• Chaya Gusfield and Rabbi Lori Klein, both ordained in America, became the first openly lesbian rabbis ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement. Conservative Judaism decided to allow openly lesbian rabbis and cantors.
• Elliot Kukla, who came out as transgender six months before his ordination in 2006, was the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

2007

• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Passed and Comes into effect: Mexian state of Coahuila; Comes into effect: Mexican City of Mexico City, Switzerland (without adoption), US state of New Jersey; Passed: Hungary (with adoption), US state of New Hampshire, Uruguay (without adoption until Sep 2008).
• Limited Partnership laws: Passed and Comes into effect: US state of Washington and Colombia; Comes into effect: Australian state of South Australia, US state of Oregon.
• Anti-discrimination legislation: United Kingdom (sexual orientation) and US states of Colorado (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Iowa (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Kansas (public sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Michigan (public sector, gender identity), Ohio (public sector, sexual orientation and gender identity), Oregon (private sector, sexual orientation and gender identity) and Vermont (private sector, gender identity).
• Equalization of age of consent: Portugal, South Africa, UK territory of Jersey, Vanuatu.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Nepal and New Zealand territories of Niue and Tokelau.
• Marches and Prides: the first ever gay pride parade in a Muslim country is held in Istanbul, Turkey.
• August 9, the Logo cable channel hosts the first presidential forum in the United States focusing specifically on LGBT issues. Six Democratic Party candidates participate in the event. GOP candidates were asked to attend but turned it down. 
• On 29 November, the first foreign gay wedding was held in Hanoi, Vietnam between a Japanese and an Irish national. The wedding raised much attention in the gay and lesbian community in Vietnam.
• From 2007 to 2008 actress Candis Cayne played Carmelita Rainer, a transgender woman having an affair with married New York Attorney General Patrick Darling (played by William Baldwin), on the ABC prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money. The role made Cayne the first openly transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character in prime time.
• Jalda Rebling, a German woman born in Holland and ordained in America, became the first openly lesbian cantor ordained by the Jewish Renewal movement.
• Rabbi Toba Spitzer became the first openly lesbian or gay person to head a rabbinical assembly when she was elected president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Assembly at the group's annual convention, held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
• Joy Ladin became the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox institution (Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University).
• The US House decided to divide the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) into two pieces of legislation – one focusing on sexual orientation and the other on gender identity. ENDA would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

2008

• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and Comes into effect: US states of California (May–Nov 2008) and Connecticut; Passed: Norway (with joint adoption).
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Passed and comes into effect: The Australian Capital Territory, Ecuador (without joint adoption), US state of Washington (expansion of previous legislation; Comes into effect: US state of New Hampshire, Uruguay (without joint adoption until Sep 2008).
• Limited Partnership laws: Comes into effect: Australian state of Victoria, US state of Oregon.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage: US states of Arizona and California.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage and civil unions: US state of Florida.
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: Uruguay.
• Banning of Same-sex adoption: Arkansas (struck down by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2011).
• Anti-discrimination legislation: California.
• Equalization of age of consent: Nicaragua, Panama.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Nicaragua and Panama.
• Marches and Prides: the first ever gay pride parade in Bulgaria.
• Kosovo declares itself to be an independent country with a new constitution that includes mention of "sexual orientation", the first of its kind in Eastern Europe.
• Portland voters elect Sam Adams (Oregon politician) mayor, making it the largest city in the US with an openly gay mayor (the next largest is Providence, Rhode Island).
• June 3, the first two same-sex civil marriages (two men and two women) take place in Greece on the island of Tilos, the supreme court prosecutor and the minister of Justice claim the marriages are null and void.
• Silverton, Oregon elected Stu Rasmussen as the first openly transgender mayor in America.
• Angie Zapata, a transgender woman, was murdered in Greeley, Colorado. Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and committing a bias-motivated crime, because he killed her after he learned that she was transgender. This case was the first in the nation to get a conviction for a hate crime involving a transgender victim. Angie Zapata's story and murder were featured on Univision's "Aqui y Ahora" television show on 1 November 2009.
• The first ever U.S. Congressional hearing on discrimination against transgender people in the workplace was held, by the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
• Rachel Maddow became the first openly gay or lesbian anchor of a major prime-time news program in the United States when she began hosting The Rachel Maddow Show on U.S. cable network MSNBC.
• Annise Parker was elected as the first openly gay or lesbian mayor of Houston, Texas.
• Kate Brown was elected as the Oregon Secretary of State in the 2008 elections, becoming America's first openly bisexual statewide officeholder.
• 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot and killed, a day after a verbal exchange with 14 year-old Brandon McInerney and his friends. King, an eighth-grader who identified as gay and occasionally wore makeup, high heels and other feminine attire to E. O. Green Junior High School, was shot in the head while in class at school.
• California Supreme Court overturns ban on same-sex marriage; gay-marriage opponents bid to get proposed amendment on ballot.

2009

• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and Comes into effect: Sweden (with joint adoption), US states of Iowa and Vermont; Comes into effect: Norway (with joint adoption); Passed: Mexican City of Mexico City (with joint adoption), US states and districts of New Hampshire (step adoption only), Maine (never came into effect), Washington, D.C.
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Passed and comes into effect: Hungary (without joint adoption), Colombia (expansion of previous rights without joint adoption), US states of Nevada and Washington (expansion of previous rights); Passed: Austria (without joint adoption).
• Limited Partnership laws: Passed and Comes into effect: US states of Colorado and Wisconsin.
  Abroad Union recognition: Japan, US district of Washington, D.C.
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: Finland (step adoption), UK Subdivision of Scotland.
• Banning of Same-sex marriage: Maine.
• Anti-discrimination legislation: Serbia, US state of Delaware (private sector, sexual orientation), USA Matthew Shepard Act.
• End to ban on gay people in the military: Argentina, Philippines, Uruguay.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: India.
• Iceland elects the first openly gay head of government in the world, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.
• On March 10, in Tel Aviv, Uzi Even and his life partner was the first same-sex male couple in Israel whose right of adoption has been legally acknowledged.
• The California Supreme Court upholds Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in November 2008, with a 6–1 vote.
• Canadian province of Alberta becomes the last province to include the words "sexual orientation" in the Human Rights Act. 
• Washington state voters approve keeping same-sex relationship rights as Domestic Partnerships by 51 percent.
• Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas becomes the first known top-level professional male athlete in a team sport to come out while still active.
• Diego Sanchez became the first openly transgender person to work on Capitol Hill; he was hired as a legislative assistant for Barney Frank. Sanchez was also the first transgender person on the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Platform Committee in 2008.
• Barbra “Babs” Siperstein was nominated and confirmed as an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee, becoming its first openly transgender member.
• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts sued the US government over the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was enacted in 1996.

2010

• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and comes into effect: Portugal (without joint adoption), Iceland (with joint adoption), Argentina (with adoption); Comes into effect: Mexican City of Mexico City (with joint adoption). US state of New Hampshire (step adoption only) and Washington, D.C.
• Recognition: The Mexican Supreme Court rules that marriages contracted in Mexico City are valid throughout the country, although no other jurisdiction is required to perform them. Australian State of Tasmania recognises same-marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
• U.S. state of California, United States District Judge Vaughn Walker strikes down California's Proposition 8 as violative of the United States Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses.
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Comes into effect: Austria (without adoption and IVF access rights); Passed: Ireland (without adoption rights).
• Limited Partnership laws: Passed and comes into effect: Australian state of New South Wales (without joint adoption until Sep 2010).
• Same-sex couple adoption legislation: Australian state of New South Wales, Denmark.
• End to ban of same-sex couple adoption: US states of Arkansas and Florida.
• Trans Rights: Australia becomes the first country in the world to recognise a 'non-specified' gender, when the New South Wales Government recognises Norrie May-Welby as being neither male or female. Norrie has since been forced to choose a gender.
• End to ban of gay people in the military: Serbia.
• Passed: USA (See Don't Ask Don't Tell).
• End to ban of trans people in the military: Australia.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Fiji.
• Marches and Prides: the first ever legal gay pride parade in Russia, held in St. Petersburg.
• Guinness World Records recognized transgender man Thomas Beatie as the world's "First Married Man to Give Birth".
• Amanda Simpson became the first openly transgender presidential appointee in America when she was appointed as senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
• Kye Allums became the first openly transgender athlete to play in NCAA basketball. He was a transgender man who played on George Washington University's women's team.
• Victoria Kolakowski became the first openly transgender judge in America.
• Mary Albing became the first openly lesbian minister ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving the Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer on the south side of Minneapolis.
• Chai Feldblum, who was openly lesbian, became the first openly LGBT person to serve on the EEOC.
• In Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty signed into law the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, and marriage licenses became available on March 3, 2010. This amendment act allows same-sex couples to marry in the city itself.
  Maryland’s Attorney General declared that although Maryland does not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the state is able to provide marriage rights and benefits to same-sex couples married outside of Maryland.

2011

• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and comes into effect: New York; India's first married lesbian couple: LGBT rights in India (July 2011).
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Comes into effect: Ireland (without adoption rights); Passed and comes into effect: Isle of Man (with joint adoption), US State of Illinois (with joint adoption rights), Liechtenstein, Rhode Island; Passed: US State of Delaware (comes into effect Jan 2012) and Hawaii (comes into effect Jan 2012).
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Mozambique.
• End to ban on gay people in the military: USA.
• Tony Briffa, believed to be the world’s first intersex mayor, elected in the City of Hobsons Bay in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, at the end of November.
• Elio Di Rupo, first openly-gay male head of government, becomes Prime Minister of Belgium, 6 December.
• Chaz Bono appeared on the 13th season of the US version of Dancing with the Stars in 2011. This was the first time an openly transgender man starred on a major network television show for something unrelated to being transgender.
• Harmony Santana became the first openly transgender actress to receive a major acting award nomination; she was nominated by the Independent Spirit Awards as Best Supporting Actress for the movie Gun Hill Road.
• The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to allow the ordination of openly gay and lesbian ministers.
• Rachel Isaacs became the first openly lesbian rabbi ordained by the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary.
• Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of California and Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles became the first same-sex couple chosen to share the first kiss upon a U.S. Navy ship's return.
• Brenda Sue Fulton was named to the West Point Board of Visitors, making her the first openly gay member of the board that advises the Academy.

2012

• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and comes into effect: Denmark, Mexican state of Quintana Roo, U.S. states of Maine and Washington; Passed: U.S. state of Maryland; Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws.
• Comes into effect: U.S. States of Delaware and Hawaii.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: São Tomé and Príncipe.
• The first gay Israeli couple was granted a divorce by an Israeli family court. The divorce of Tel Aviv University Professor Avi Even, the first openly gay Knesset member, and Dr. Amit Kama was granted on Sunday by the Ramat Gan Family Court, according to Haaretz, which ordered the Interior Minister to register their status as divorced.
• The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued a regulation to prohibit LGBT discrimination in federally assisted housing programs. The new regulations ensure that the Department's core housing programs are open to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Katie Ricks became the first open lesbian ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
• Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly announce support for same-sex marriage on 9 May.
• Taiwan's first same-sex Buddhist wedding was held for Fish Huang and her partner You Ya-ting, with Buddhist master Shih Chao-hui presiding over the ritual. 
• Berkeley, California became the first city in America to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals. The Berkeley City Council unanimously and without discussion declared 23 Sep as Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day.
• City Councilmember Marlene Pray joined the Doylestown, Pennsylvania council in 2012, though she resigned in 2013; she was the first openly bisexual office holder in Pennsylvania.
• Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be elected to the US Senate, as a Senator for Wisconsin.
• Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) became the first openly bisexual person elected to the US Congress.
• Stacie Laughton became the first openly transgender person elected to any American state legislature when she won a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. However, she resigned from the New Hampshire state legislature before she took office, after it was revealed that she had served four months in Belknap County House of Corrections following a 2008 credit card fraud conviction.
• San Francisco voted to become the first U.S. city to provide and cover the cost of sex reassignment surgeries for uninsured transgender residents.
• Mark Pocan was elected in Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District, becoming the first openly gay candidate who will follow an openly gay member of the U.S. Congress (in this case Tammy Baldwin).
• Sean Patrick Maloney became the first openly gay candidate elected to represent New York in Congress.
• Mark Takano became the first openly gay person of color to win election to the U.S. House. He was elected to represent California’s 41st Congressional District.
• Josh Boschee was elected as North Dakota's first openly gay legislator.
• Stephen Skinner was elected as West Virginia's first openly gay state legislator.
• Jacob Candelaria was elected as New Mexico's first openly gay male state legislator.
• Brian Sims became Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator who was out when he was elected.
• After Brian Sims was elected but before he took office, Rep. Mike Fleck came out as gay, making him Pennsylvania's first openly gay state legislator.
• David Richardson was elected as Florida's first openly gay state legislator.
• Colorado Democrats elected Mark Ferrandino as the first openly gay House speaker in state history.
• Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote. Maine was the very first state to do so, followed by Maryland.
• The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy was held for a young lieutenant and her partner (Ellen Schick and Shannon Simpson) at the Old Cadet Chapel in West Point’s cemetery.
• The first same-sex marriage at the U.S. Military Academy's Cadet Chapel at West Point (not to be confused with the Old Cadet Chapel) was held for Brenda Sue Fulton and Penelope Dara Gnesin. Fulton was a veteran and the communications director of an organization called Outserve, which represents actively serving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender military personnel.
• The first same-sex couple became engaged in the White House (Ben Schock and Matthew Phelps).
• Air Force Col. Ginger Wallace became the first known out member of the U.S. military to have their same-sex partner participate in the pinning ceremony tradition that had been reserved for spouses and family members. Her partner of 10 years, Kathy Knopf, pinned colonel wings on Wallace days after the two attended President Obama's State of The Union address as a guest of the First Lady.
• At a ceremony in Arlington, Army Reserve officer Tammy Smith became the first openly gay, active duty general in American history. Smith was promoted to brigadier general at a private ceremony at the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
•  Navy Chief Elny McKinney and Anacelly McKinney became the first known same-sex couple to marry on a U.S. military base. They were wed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego.

2013

• Same-sex marriage laws: Passed and comes into effect: New Zealand, Uruguay, Brazil (federal level), France, Brazilian states of Ceará, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, Santa Catarina and Paraíba, U.S. states of Delaware, Rhode Island, and Minnesota; Comes into effect: U.S. State of Maryland.
• Civil Union/Registered Partnership laws: Comes into effect: U.S. State of Colorado.
• Same-sex couple adoption legalisation: New Zealand, Gibraltar, France.
• Decriminalisation of homosexuality: Benin.
• Barack Obama mentioned the word "gay" and the issue of gay rights for the first time in a speech at the U.S. presidential swearing in; specifically, he did so in his inaugural address.
• Kathleen Wynne became the first openly LGBT premier of a Canadian province, namely Ontario, after defeating Sandra Pupatello in the third round of voting of the Ontario Liberal party's leadership race on January 26, 2013. Sworn in on February 11, 2013, she is the party's first openly LGBT leader and Ontario's first female premier.
• Robbie Rogers announced he was gay on February 15, becoming the only male fully capped international association footballer to do so.
• Jason Collins on April 29, became the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay.
• Rep. Mark Pocan's spouse Philip Frank became the first same-sex spouse of a federal lawmaker to officially receive a House Spouse ID. In 2009, Marlon Reis, the spouse of Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), was issued a congressional spouse ID, but later card services told him that he had been given the designation accidentally.
• For the first time the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decided to allow the same-sex spouse of a military veteran to be buried in a U.S. national cemetery. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki gave permission for retired Air Force officer Linda Campbell, 66, to bury the ashes of her same-sex spouse Nancy Lynchild at Williamette National Cemetery in Oregon.
• Autumn Sandeen, a U.S. veteran and transgender woman, received a letter from a Navy official stating, “Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female effective April 12th, 2013.” Allyson Robinson of Outserve declared, "To our knowledge, this is the first time that the Department of Defense has recognized and affirmed a change of gender for anyone affiliated, in a uniformed capacity — in this case a military retiree."
• The first same-sex kiss ever on a Eurovision stage occurred at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest when Krista Siegfrids, who sang "Marry Me", ended her semi-final performance by kissing one of her female dancers.
• Dr. Saul Levin was named on May 15th, 2013 as the new chief executive officer and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, making him the first known openly gay person to head the APA.
• Ukraine had its first gay pride march, which was held in Kiev.
• Robbie Rogers joined the Los Angeles Galaxy, making him the first openly gay male athlete to compete in Major League Soccer.
• Rehana Kausar and Sobia Kamar, both from Pakistan, became the first Muslim lesbian couple to enter into civil partnership in the United Kingdom.
• Fallon Fox came out as transgender, thus becoming the first openly transgender athlete in mixed martial arts history.
• Jallen Messersmith of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., came out and is believed to be the first openly gay player in U.S. men's college basketball.
• Guy Erwin became the first openly gay bishop to be elected by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; he was elected to the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA.
• And all of this in only five months.

So far this century has brought some great changes but we can't rest on our laurels, we still have a long way to go. We are called the United States of America but in my eyes we arent' very united. Thomas and I were married on October 11, 2004 in Massachusetts. That marriage is only legal there. It is ridiculous that a heterosexual couple can marry in any state and that marriage is legal in the entire country but a homosexual couple only has a legal marriage in that one state. It should be legal in every state if we are a truly united country. I hope that this change happens soon - I for one am tired of waiting.

Me and Thomas - October 11, 2004 (Provincetown, MA)

Well I covered our progress since the 1960's and it truly opened my eyes as to how hard people have fought to gain us our rights and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I have learned a lot and I hope I can help our cause as we continue to gain rights and equality.