Why LGBTQIA+ History Month is STILL needed

The LGBTQIA+ community has a vast history and every February our community take time to reflect on the dates that are important.

These dates remind us of both the struggles we have overcome and the events we can celebrate! Below are just some of the important dates….

1951 – Roberta Cowell became the first known British trans woman to have reassignment surgery and have her birth certificate changed

1958 – The Homosexual Law Reform Society is founded to campaign for the legalisation of same-sex relationships in the UK

1967 – The Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalises sex between two men over 21 and ‘in private’. It did not extend to the Merchant Navy, the Armed Forces, or Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, where sex between two men remained illegal

June 28th 1969 – The Stonewall Riots
The riots began when police raided the stonewall Inn, a gay club in NYC. The raid sparked a riot between the police and the neighbourhood. This continued for 6 days between law enforcement and the community.
The riots became a large force behind the gay rights movement in the US, after years of having gay bars alcohol licenses revoked due to serving ‘LGBT+’ customers and public expressions of affection between same sex couples was illegal.
The Riots were brutal as police harassed and assaulted bar-goers with no other reason besides homophobia and transphobia

1971 – Same-sex marriage was banned in England and Wales.

1972 – London’s first Pride had 2000 participants

1973 – Brighton hosts their first pride

1980– Sex between two men over 21 ‘in private’ is decriminalised in Scotland

1981 – A court case finds NI’s criminalisation of same sex acts in violation of human rights.

1981 – The first UK case of AIDS was recorded, the gentleman sadly died 10 days later.

1982 – NI Decriminalises same sex acts over the age of 21 ‘in private’.

1982 – Terry Higgins dies of AIDS, the Terrence Higgins Trust is formed

1986 – A trans-man, Mark Rees, takes to court to change the law on legal status of gender   change.

1988 – Margaret Thatcher changed the law so children can’t be taught that homosexuality is     ‘okay’.

1988 – Denmark becomes the first country to give legal-recognition to same-sex partnerships.

1989 – STONEWALL  UK is founded

1991 – Northern Ireland holds their first Pride event.

1992 – The World Health Organisation declassifies same-sex attraction as a mental illness.

Stonewall begins its first major campaign of an equal age of consent in the UK

1994 – UK House of Commons moves to equalise the age of consent for same-sex relations   between men to 16 but fails.

1995 – Mermaids is founded

1997 – Equality Network formed in Scotland.

1999 – Trans Day of Remembrance founded in the USA.

1999 – Bi Visibility Day founded

2000 – The UK Government lifts the ban on lesbians, gay men and bi people serving in the   armed forces.

2000 – Legislation introduced to repeal section 28 in England and Wales.

2001 – Stonewall’s campaign to reduce age of consent for same-sex relations to 16 is   successful.

2003 – Section 28 repealed in England, Wales and NI

2004 – Civil Partnership Act 2004 allows for legal “marriage” for same-sex couples.

2004 – Gender Recognition act 2004 passed allowing trans people to have their birth certificates amended and be legally recognised as their gender.

2007 – Law changes in Scotland, allowing same-sex couples equality in adoption and fostering

2010 – The Equality Act 2010 officially adds gender reassignment as a protected characteristic

2013 – Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act passed in England and Wales.

2015 – Ireland legalises same-sex marriage.

2017 – UK Government issues a posthumous pardon to all gay and bi men previously convicted   under sexual offence laws.

2020 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Northern Ireland

Quite scary how recent some of the more positive moves were? How many of these have happened in your lifetime?

Sometimes we need a reminder of just how long it took for something that seems so ‘well duh’ to actually be made legal. In a very scary political environment at the moment its good to remind ourselves just how far we have come TOGETHER. We need to remember that it could so easily be taken away but we are stronger TOGETHER.