In recent years, the United States has made great progress toward equality for LGBTQ citizens. More states are allowing same-sex marriage than ever before and in still more states, it’s at least a consideration where it wasn’t before.
Although our work is certainly not done, there are some victories that prove we’re headed in the right direction. Here are some highlights of some recent victories for gay rights:
In several states, same-sex marriage bans were struck down in 2014.
Going into 2015, that means that 70% of Americans now live in an area that allows same-sex marriage, according to the Human Rights Campaign. That’s a big deal.
President Obama signed two executive orders in 2014 that greatly enhance the legal protections for the LGBT community:
- The first amends an earlier order from President Bill Clinton that banned sexual orientation discrimination in the federal government and federal contractors to explicitly include protections for transgender employees. Although this does only apply to federal employees, it’s a great precedent for the labor force as a whole.
- The second amends an order originally signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the existing categories of protected groups, like race, religion, and sex. This serves to make it very difficult for any administration to undo the first order.
The FDA is changing the lifetime blood donation ban for gay men to only a 12-month waiting period.
The old protocol stated that any man who has had sex with a man anytime since 1977 is unable to donate blood, but recent scientific findings indicate that the ban was unnecessary, which left many arguing that it was tantamount to discrimination. Early estimates from the Williams Institute say that this change could increase the nation’s blood supply by as much as 2%.
Even the pope has thrown in his two cents.
Although only around 15% of the world’s population is Catholic, the pope is nonetheless an important figure in world religions. While he is far from the LGBT community’s greatest advocate, when asked about families with children identifying as LGBTQ, he did go on the record saying that the Catholic community has “to find a way to help that father or that mother to stand by their son or daughter.”
