A Decade in Review: Reflections on the Last 10 Years of LGBTQ Milestones

By Autumn Rendall

We’re less than a week into the new decade, but the LGBTQ community is already full steam ahead in our fight for equality. But as we move forward, it’s important to take time to reflect on just how far our movement has come in the past 10 years. The 2010s brought massive wins and milestones for the queer community, but plenty of setbacks as well. Below, we’ve compiled a 10-year review of some of the most powerful LGBTQ moments of the past decade.

2010

• The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was enacted in December 2010 and established a process for ending the policy that banned gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
• Colorado appointed the first Latina and openly gay member of the state’s Supreme Court, Monica Márquez. 
• A ban on same-sex marriages in California was ruled unconstitutional.
• The internationally famous ‘Its Gets Better’ Project launched.

2011

• “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was formally repealed in September 2011.
• New York became the sixth state, along with Washington, DC, to allow same-sex marriage.
• Australia announced new passport guidelines that allow intersex people to select “X” as a gender marker.

2012

• American LGBTQ rights took the national stage when President Obama and the Democratic Party publicly announced their support of same-sex marriage.
• Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay politician and the first Wisconsin woman to be elected to the US Senate.
• Washington, Maryland, and other states legalized same-sex marriage.
• In the US, plenty of Republicans in the presidential primaries ran on strongly anti-gay platforms.
• Internationally, Uganda planned to move forward with the “kill the gays” bill, which was inspired by American evangelical activists and intended to punish homosexuality by death. However, the bill was struck down by the country’s high court in 2014, and the punishment for homosexuality was kept at life in prison.

2013

• With the United States v. Windsor ruling, the US Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and ruled that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits.
• 16 states now allowed same-sex marriage.
• Several elected officials, such as Delaware Senator Karen Peterson, Nevada Senator Kelvin Atkinson, and Maine congressman and gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud, came out as members of the LGBTQ community.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the “gay propaganda ban,” a law that made it illegal to provide children with access to information about LGBTQ identities, and that made living in the country extremely dangerous for queer people.

2014

• President Obama signed an executive order protecting federal workers and contractors from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• The United States Supreme Court denied reviews in five different marriage cases, which subsequently allowed same-sex couples to marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The decision opened the door for the right to marry in six other states. 
• ISIS released horrifying execution videos of men thought to be gay.
• Nigeria passed a law that made same-sex marriage illegal and punishable by imprisonment.

2015

• Military Equal Opportunity was adjusted to include gay and lesbian military members.
• The Boy Scouts of America ratified a resolution that would remove a restriction on openly gay leaders and employees.
• And of course…the US Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality the law of the land!

2016

• In a major victory for transgender rights, the Pentagon lifted the ban on trans people serving openly in the US military.
• New York City issued the nation’s first intersex birth certificate.
• President Obama announced The Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights.
• Kate Brown was sworn in as governor of Oregon, becoming the highest-ranking LGBTQ person elected to office in the United States. 
• Numerous LGBTQ athletes competed in the summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.  
• In Turkey, Istanbul Pride ceremonies were banned. According to BuzzFeed News, this was the largest Pride celebration held in the Muslim community.
• The United States was shaken by the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which was an unprecedented attack on the LGBTQ community. Forty-nine members of the LGBTQ community, predominantly QPOC, were lost in the tragedy.
• Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States.

2017

• Virginia elected the state’s first openly transgender candidate to the Virginia House of Delegates, Danica Roem. She unseated incumbent Bob Marshall (who had been elected 13 times over 26 years) and became the first openly transgender candidate elected to a state legislature in American history.
• President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that the “United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military…”

2018

• The Pentagon confirmed that the first openly transgender person had signed a contract to join the US military. However, the Trump administration announced a new policy that would ban most transgender people from serving.
• Democratic US Representative Jared Polis won the Colorado governor’s race and became the nation’s first openly gay man to be elected governor.
• In the media realm, Love, Simon became the first major studio teen movie to center a gay romance. Daniela Vega, the star of Oscar-winning foreign film A Fantastic Woman, became the first openly transgender presenter in Academy Awards history. And Pose, a masterpiece of queer and trans POC television, debuted on FX. 

2019

• June 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law banning the “gay and trans panic” legal defense strategy, which was previously used to argue that a defendant acted in a state of violent temporary insanity, committing assault or murder, because of unwanted advances by an LGBTQ individual.
• In television, Billy Porter became the first openly gay Black man to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series for his role in Pose.
• In music, the song “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, a 20-year-old Black musician who came out as gay this year, broke Billboard’s record for time spent at No. 1 with an unprecedented 17 weeks.

The 2010s were marked by monumental political and cultural achievements for queer rights, both nationally and internationally. At the beginning of the decade, nearly 80 countries considered homosexuality a crime, according to BuzzFeed News. Now, more than 30 countries have legalized marriage equality or decriminalized LGBTQ identity. Transgender rights have moved into the national spotlight; intersex, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people have seen increasing representation and awareness; and countless LGBTQ people have found safe spaces and solidarity in community. Yet, hate crimes, discrimination, violence, and imprisonment persist as daily threats for LGBTQ people around the globe. We must carry the momentum of the last decade with us into 2020 and beyond—to continue to fight until we achieve true equality and equity for all. Here’s to the next decade, queers!