A lot of progress was made in 2007 in the United States – not through big gains, but through small important steps. Here's a quick look at the stories that topped 2007.
1. Presidential Candidates Take Gay Concerns Seriously Gays and lesbians became major players in the Democratic primary race in 2007, with all of the candidates racing to assure us that they would (mostly) support our battle for civil rights.
LOGO and HRC made history by hosting a presidential debate for the Democratic candidates in which Richardson flubbed a question about choice, Kucinich rhapsodized about love and Melissa Etheridge impressed all of us with her wise questions.
2. ENDA Who could have predicted that a gay bill that seemed likely to pass would tear our community apart? The Employment Non-Discrimination Act that was put before the House of Representatives in September (and which passed Congress 235-184) did not include transgender protections – a bill introduced in April but not yet voted on, does.
HRC entered into a tug of war with transgender and other gay and lesbian organizations, debating two important values: incrementalism ( i.e., winning in small steps) vs. full inclusion. It's still not clear which value has won – and it won't be for some time yet.
3. Gay Unions Move Forward Advances were made in gay marriage and unions on many fronts this year.
Washington state recognized domestic partnerships, Oregon and New Hampshire said they would recognize civil unions beginning in 2008 and New Jersey began to recognize civil unions (which caused a mess, when companies were unsure about whether they were obligated to treat civil unions as marriages.).
Iowa had gay marriage for one day thanks to a ruling that preventing them was unconstitutional. The resumption of gay marriage there waits on an appeal. New York agreed to recognize gay marriages performed legally in other jurisdictions, and a Vermont panel came close to wrapping up discussion on whether civil unions there be converted to marriage. And Massachusetts voted to keep marriage equality.
On the other hand, Calif. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a same-sex marriage bill and the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a gay marriage ban.
4. AIDS Numbers Were Overstated The United Nations announced that it had overstated the size of the AIDS epidemic – new infections have dropped every year since their peak in the late 1990s. So, instead of 39.5 million infected worldwide, we are left with – 33.2 million. Still seems like an awfully big number.
5. Public Opinion Turns For Us – Kind of A survey in June announced that for the first time, a majority of Americans believe that sexual orientation cannot be changed. Unfortunately, in a separate poll, a similar majority declared themselves to be against gay marriage.
Gay unions though? Americans are for them, by 56 percent.
This sort of thing could give a girl whiplash. They're for us! They're against us! They're for us!
6. The Matthew Shepard Act Rises – and then Tanks What looked hopeful turned into a crushing defeat, when Congress dropped the Matthew Shepard Act in December. The hate crimes bill passed the House in April, and the Senate in September, where it was attached to a defense bill. But it got tied up in the committee that harmonizes the House and Senate versions, and when it became clear that the defense bill wouldn't pass with the Shepard Act attached, Congress dropped it. The bill would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to a list of hate crimes.
7. Don't Ask, Don't Tell Moves Toward Retirement Despite Gen. Peter Pace's declaration that "gays are immoral," more and more military officers and legislative leaders in 2007 called for the end of the ban, including Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the ban was enacted. In November, 28 other retired generals called for an end to the ban in a letter in the New York Times, saying, that gay servicemembers have served their country honorably. SLDN estimates that 65,000 gay men and lesbians now serve in the American armed forces and that there are more than one million gay veterans.
8. FDA Renews Gay Blood Ban The FDA announced that they would keep the ban forbidding any man who has ever had sex with a man from giving blood.
The American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and America's Blood Centers all testified last year that the ban "is medically and scientifically unwarranted" and that "it does not appear rational to broadly differentiate sexual transmission via male-to-male sexual activity from that via heterosexual activity on scientific grounds." Yet the Bush Administration chose to keep it. Surprise, surprise.
9. Scandals and Controversies
The biggest gay scandal of 2007 was of course Larry Craig's unfortunately wide stance in an airport restroom. But that wasn't the only gay bathroom scandal among Republican leaders.
Rep. Bob Allen offered $20 to a cop for oral sex in the bathroom of a park and Louisiana state senate candidate Joey Difatta was caught in a sting in a mall restroom.Other scandals? GOP state chair Donald Fleischman was accused of seducing and fondling a teenage boy, Washington state Sen. Richard Curtis supposedly hired a rent boy and former head of the Young Republican National Federation Glenn Murphy was called out for allegedly forcing sex on another man.
This year had its share of gay-centered controversies, too. Let's not forget Ann Coulter calling John Edwards a "fag," Isaiah Washington using the "f" word to refer to fellow Grey's Anatomy actor T.R. Knight (who came out during the controversy) and basketball star Tim Hardaway saying that he "hates gay people." He has since apologized.
10. Kicking Down the Closet Door Happily, a number of gay folks came out this year, directly or indirectly, including T. R. Knight, David Hyde Pierce, Jodie Foster, Neil Patrick Harris and Lance Bass. Every time a celeb comes out, it makes every gay person's life easier.
In short, 2007 was a good year. Let's hope that 2008 has even more successes – and fewer scandals.
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