2014: A Year In Review

As we say goodbye to 2014, here's a look back at some of the major milestones, both good and bad, that occurred for the LGBT community around the world this year.

JANUARY

• Boy Scouts of American begins welcoming openly gay youth to join their ranks.
• Nigeria passes a law making same-sex marriage illegal along with public displays of same-sex relationships and belonging to homosexual groups.
• Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus repeals Criminal Code provisions which punishes consensual sexual acts between adult men.

FEBRUARY

• Scottish parliament approves same-sex marriage bill.
• Facebook changes its gender options give users more then fifty options.
• Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, signs into law the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that criminalizes consensual same-sex relations.

MARCH

• Same-sex marriages begin to occur in England and Wales thanks to the Marriage (Same-Sex) Act 2013.

APRIL

• Malta's parliament approves a civil partnership bill.
• India officially recognizes a third gender.

MAY

• Oregon and Pennsylvania legalizes same-sex marriage.
• Laverne Cox becomes the first transgender person to be on the front cover of Time magazine.
• American football defensive end Michael Sam becomes the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team after he was picked by the St. Louis Rams during the seventh round of the NFL draft.

JUNE

• The Presbyterian Church (US) votes to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies to be held within the church.
• Luxembourg parliament approves same-sex marriage bill.

JULY

• Croatian Parliament approves a civil partnership bill.
• President Obama signs an executive order expanding employment protections for federal workers and contractors to include gender identity, which also bans sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination for companies with federal contracts.

AUGUST

• The Constitutional Court of Uganda rules the Anti-Homosexuality Bill as invalid.
• Cleveland, Ohio hosts the Gay Games with 8,000 participants from 48 states and 51 countries competing.

SEPTEMBER

• The New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade committee announces it's ending the ban on LGBT-affiliated groups marching in the parade.
• California becomes the first state to ban “trans panic” or “gay panic” as a legal defense in court.
• The Congress of Coahuila in Mexico votes to legalize same-sex marriage.

OCTOBER

• Colorado, Indiana, Alaska, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, Wyoming, Arizona, and Idaho legalize same-sex marriage
• Estonia recognizes same-sex partnerships
• Missouri recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other states.
• Adoption to same-sex couples in Virginia is legalized.

NOVEMBER

• South Carolina, Kansas, and Montana legalizes same-sex marriage.
• The Parliament of Finland approves a citizen's initiative to legalize same-sex marriage. The new law will take effect in 2016.

DECEMBER

• Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Scotland.

2014 was definitely the year to come out. Celebrities, athletes, models,  Olympians, and even a politician or two all make this year's list of notable people who came out as LGBT

• Michael Sam
• Pat Patterson
• Tim Cook
• Ellen Page
• Daniel Franzese
• Andreja Pejic (transgender)
• Billy Gilman
• Ty Herndon
• Samira Wiley
• Derrick Gordon
• Kristian Nairn
• Ian Thorpe
• Tyler Glenn
• Sam Smith
• Jin Tai
• Vicky Beeching
• Patricia Yurena Rodríguez
• Lauren Morelli
• Jay Kelly (transgender)
• Emily Rios
• Djuan Trent
• Geena Rocero (transgender)
• M.K. Nobilette
• Matt Llano
• Jim Ferlo
• John Fennell
• Paul Masvidal, 
• Sean Reinert
• Connor Franta
• Ruby Rose (gender fluid)
• Tom Luchsinger
• Liam Davis
• Lauren Neidigh
• Rob Kearney
• Lee Ryan
• Marcus Juhlin
• Kristen Kish
• Monica Raymund
• Edgars Rinkēvičs
• Thomas Hitzlsperger
• Mark McAdam
• Eric Radford

This has been quite a year for the LGBT community. There were a lot of ups and downs, but overall this year was a step forward, not a step backwards, for the community. I hope you all had your share of good times this past year and have a wonderful New Years!

I'll see you all in 2015 =)

Never Forget Leelah Alcorn

Today I learned about a story from Ohio that has hit me hard. It is one that needs to be told and spread like wildfire.

On December 29, a young transgender woman named Leelah Alcorn took her own life by stepping out in front of a semi truck. She was born "Joshua Alcorn" and was only 17 years old. Leelah was bullied for years by her own parents who were extremely religious. Her parents sent her to Christian therapists who only added to Leelah's pain.

Before she took her own life, Leelah left a message on her Tumblr page. This message needs to be read by as many as possible.

SUICIDE NOTE 

If you are reading this, it means that I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue.

Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender. I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body, and I’ve felt that way ever since I was 4. I never knew there was a word for that feeling, nor was it possible for a boy to become a girl, so I never told anyone and I just continued to do traditionally “boyish” things to try to fit in.

When I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness. After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong. If you are reading this, parents, please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me.

My mom started taking me to a therapist, but would only take me to christian therapists, (who were all very biased) so I never actually got the therapy I needed to cure me of my depression. I only got more christians telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help.
When I was 16 I realized that my parents would never come around, and that I would have to wait until I was 18 to start any sort of transitioning treatment, which absolutely broke my heart. The longer you wait, the harder it is to transition. I felt hopeless, that I was just going to look like a man in drag for the rest of my life. On my 16th birthday, when I didn’t receive consent from my parents to start transitioning, I cried myself to sleep.

I formed a sort of a “fuck you” attitude towards my parents and came out as gay at school, thinking that maybe if I eased into coming out as trans it would be less of a shock. Although the reaction from my friends was positive, my parents were pissed. They felt like I was attacking their image, and that I was an embarrassment to them. They wanted me to be their perfect little straight christian boy, and that’s obviously not what I wanted.

So they took me out of public school, took away my laptop and phone, and forbid me of getting on any sort of social media, completely isolating me from my friends. This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I’m surprised I didn’t kill myself. I was completely alone for 5 months. No friends, no support, no love. Just my parent’s disappointment and the cruelty of loneliness.

At the end of the school year, my parents finally came around and gave me my phone and let me back on social media. I was excited, I finally had my friends back. They were extremely excited to see me and talk to me, but only at first. Eventually they realized they didn’t actually give a shit about me, and I felt even lonelier than I did before. The only friends I thought I had only liked me because they saw me five times a week.

After a summer of having almost no friends plus the weight of having to think about college, save money for moving out, keep my grades up, go to church each week and feel like shit because everyone there is against everything I live for, I have decided I’ve had enough. I’m never going to transition successfully, even when I move out. I’m never going to be happy with the way I look or sound. I’m never going to have enough friends to satisfy me. I’m never going to have enough love to satisfy me. I’m never going to find a man who loves me. I’m never going to be happy. Either I live the rest of my life as a lonely man who wishes he were a woman or I live my life as a lonelier woman who hates herself. There’s no winning. There’s no way out. I’m sad enough already, I don’t need my life to get any worse. People say “it gets better” but that isn’t true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse.

That’s the gist of it, that’s why I feel like killing myself. Sorry if that’s not a good enough reason for you, it’s good enough for me. As for my will, I want 100% of the things that I legally own to be sold and the money (plus my money in the bank) to be given to trans civil rights movements and support groups, I don’t give a shit which one. The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren’t treated the way I was, they’re treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights. Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say “that’s fucked up” and fix it. Fix society. Please.

Goodbye,
(Leelah) Josh Alcorn

This whole story breaks my heart and enrages me at the same time. Parents are supposed to support and love their children no matter what! From the moment they are put into your care, you should be there for them. Who cares if later in life they realize their gender isn't the one they were born with!? They are still your CHILD.

As a community, it's stories like this that show just how much we've been letting the transgender community down. Transgender persons, especially youth, need to know there is support and help out there for them. If you do nothing else, remember Leelah Alcorn and how her suicide was completely preventable if only she'd had the love and support she deserved.

From looking through her Tumblr page, I've learned Leelah was a great artist with a spit fire personality. She is someone I wish I could've met in this life. She will never get to grow up and become the amazing woman I'm certain she would've been, even more so then she already was, but there are others like her who can still be helped, still be saved.

There are countless stories like Leelah's that occur every year, yet most of the time they never make the news much less get spread all over. Leelah's story is beginning to show up all over the internet, especially the site Tumblr.

In her note, Leelah begs us to fix society. It's time we do just that. The time to spread transgender support and help educate others on being transgender is now. Let's start remembering the T in LGBT.

Below are links to Leelah's Tumblr page as well as a news article that was written about her suicide.

http://lazerprincess.tumblr.com/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2014/12/transgender-teen-commits-suicide-cites-christian-parents-in-blog/

Recently, the first transgender suicide hotline run completely by transgender persons was created for the US and Canada. You can reach Trans Life at 877-565-8860 (US) and 877-330-6366 (Canda).

FDA Lifts Ban On Gay & Bisexual Blood Donations

This year is wrapping up with one more step in the right direction for the LGBT community here in the states.

On Tuesday, the FDA announced its plans to lift the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. The ban was put in place in 1983 during the AIDS epidemic. Back then, very little was known about HIV or what causes the disease, nor were there any quick tests for the disease. Thanks to advances in science and medicine, much more is known, and understood, about HIV now.

While the FDA has lifted the original ban, it is keeping a ban on donations by men who've slept with other men in the last year. This decision brings the US up to par with many European countries, including Great Britain, who adjusted their lifetime ban to a 12-month ban back in 2011. So while the ban isn't completely gone, it is a step in the right direction.

This decision has had mixed feedback. Some believe this is a step in the right direction. “This is a major victory for gay civil rights,” said I. Glenn Cohen, a law professor at Harvard who specializes in bioethics and health. “We’re leaving behind the old view that every gay man is a potential infection source.” However, he did admit that the policy was “still not rational enough.” While others were not so impressed. GMHC, an advocacy group formerly known as Gay Men’s Health Crisis, called the new policy “offensive and harmful.” and AIDS United, a Washington-based lobbying group, said the policy was a “step forward,” but that it “continues to perpetuate discrimination against gay and bisexual men.”

Overall, I agree that this is a step in the right direction, but it does feel like the FDA is saying only gay and bisexual men can carry HIV. However, all things take time and I'm going to count this as a win for the LGBT community. Let's hope it leads to even bigger, more significant wins in the future.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/24/health/fda-lifting-ban-on-gay-blood-donors.html?_r=0

Biggest Influential Coming Outs Of 2014

2014 was a great year as far as people in the media coming out. From all sectors of the media - broadcasting to acting to professional sports - this was the year to stomp on stereotypes and prove you can be anything you want to be no matter your orientation.

Here's a list of those whose coming outs made some of the biggest impacts in 2014.

1. Ellen Page - a Canadian actress who came out at a gay youth conference back in February.

2. Kristian Nairn - an Irish actor from the show "Game Of Thrones" who came out in March, wanting to challenge those who stereotype what gay men are supposed to look like.

3. Vicky Beeching - a British Christian singer who came out in August and became an advocate for gay rights in churches.

4. Daniel Franzeze - an actor best known for his role in the film "Mean Girls" who came out by writing a letter to his character from the film.

5. Tyler Glenn - the lead vocalist and keyboardist for the band Neon Tree proved when coming out that you can be gay and Mormon.

6. Andreja Pejic - a model for Elle and French Vogue who stunned the fashion world when she came out as a transgender woman.

7. Mark McAdam - a Sky Sports presenter who came out in September.

8. Maria Walsh - won the Rose of Tralee (a competition to find the "ultimate Irish woman") in August.

9. Michael Sam - the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year challenged the stereotype that gay men can't play football when he was drafted by the NFL.

10. Derrick Gordon - became the first openly gay National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 play when he came out in April.

11. Thomas Hitzlsperger - the highest profile soccer player to ever come out as gay which he did a mere 4 months after retiring.

12. Wang Ann-Jiun - the magazine editor-in chief came out as lesbian right in front of Taiwan's Parliament.

13. Sam Smith - the singer's debut album about unrequited love for a man was released this year.

14. Kellie Maloney - a former boxing promoter and UKIP politician had one of the most publicized coming outs this year.

15. Richard Quest - a CNN reporter who became one of the few out and proud gay journalists working for a national publication.

16. Djuan Trent - the first ever veteran Miss American contestant to come out.

17. Ian Thorpe - an Australian championship swimmer came out this year after years of media rumors circulating about his sexuality.

18. Charlie King - after earning his fame from the show "The Only Way Is Essex", the reality star came out on live UK morning television.

Thomas Hitzlsperger

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 basketball player - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/18-coming-outs-changed-world-2014101014#sthash.ymnfI9qc.dpuf

Daniel Franzeze

Daniel Franzeze

It's people like these individuals who help pave the way for the younger generations. They're the ones who show others that their orientation does not limit their potential to be or do anything they want.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/18-coming-outs-changed-world-2014101014

Kristian Nairn

Kristian Nairn

Kristian Nairn

Kristian Nairn

2014 LGBT Enemy and Ally Of The Year

Today an article was released by Grindr, naming Vladimir Putin as Enemy of the LGBT Community 2014.

This really shouldn't be too big of a surprise to anyone. In mid 2013, he passed a law banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors. Those found breaking this law are fined, some even arrested. This law caused quite the international uproar and numerous protests during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi earlier this year. Not to mention being LGBT in Russia overall is dangerous due to the majority of general populous being against same-sex relationships and LGBT rights in general

On a lighter note, Hillary Clinton was named Straight Ally of the Year. She has publicly condemned Russia’s treatment of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people, and has consistently fought for LGBT rights. In 2011 she was quoted as saying, "Gay rights are human rights."

These results were from a poll given to Grindr users in the UK, US, and Australia. Grindr is a social networking app popular with gay and bisexual men for those of you who haven't heard of it.