This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2010.
Quick Facts List of years in LGBTQ rights (table) ...
Close
March
- 1 – Crime Decree 2009[3] decriminalises in Fiji.[4] Fiji became the first Pacific Island country to formally decriminalise homosexuality.
- 2 – The European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously against "a blanket exclusion of persons living in a homosexual relationship from succession to a tenancy" in Kozak v. Poland.[5][6]
- 4 – Mexico City's same-sex marriage and adoption laws come into effect.[7] This follows 22 couples' taking part in a symbolic marriage ceremony in Tlaxcala on February 26 to highlight the issue.[8]
- 9 – The first same-sex marriages are performed in the District of Columbia, with licenses having been available since March 3.[9]
- 31
- The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopts a recommendation on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.[10]
- In Fields v. Smith the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin strikes down the state's "Inmate Sex Change Prevention Act". Passed in 2005, the law barred doctors in Wisconsin prisons from prescribing hormone treatment or sex reassignment surgery to transgender inmates. The court finds that denial of treatment absent a medically necessary reason constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.[11]
May
- 17 – Amid controversy, a law enabling same-sex marriage in Portugal is promulgated by president Aníbal Cavaco Silva, although adoption is ruled out.[18][19] The law comes into force on June 5, with the first marriage on June 7.
- 18 – Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza are convicted in a Malawian court or having committed "unnatural offenses" and "indecent practices between males" under sections 153 and 156 of Malawi's criminal code after local newspapers reported that they had participated in a public same-sex chinkhoswe, or engagement ceremony.[20] Monjeza, who identifies as male, and Chimbalanga, a transgender person who identifies as female, are each sentenced to 14 years hard labour on May 20, but are pardoned by President Bingu wa Mutharika following international pressure and an appeal from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[21]
July
- 1 – Ireland's Dáil Éireann passes the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 without a vote.[29] It passed the Seanad Éireann the next week by 48 votes to 4, completing its passage through the Oireachtas.[30] On July 19, President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, signs the bill into law, creating a form of civil union for same sex couples with most of the rights and duties of marriage, except that civil partners may not adopt or jointly be guardians of a child. The act also provides rights for participants in long-term cohabiting relationships who have not entered into a civil partnership or marriage.[31]
- 6 – Hawaii governor Linda Lingle vetoes Hawaii House Bill 444, which would have established civil unions for same-sex couples in that state.[32]
- 7 – The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, in HJ and HT v Home Secretary,[33] ruled that the asylum claims of two men based on their fear of being persecuted in their home countries (Iran and Cameroon) because of their homosexuality may not be denied on the basis of their ability to conceal their homosexuality in the so-called "discretion test".[34]
- 8 – United States district court judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled in two separate cases that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. In Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services Tauro says that the definition of marriage enacted by Congress for federal purposes violates the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and "encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state" by treating some couples with Massachusetts marriage licenses differently than others. In Gill v. Office of Personnel Management brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, he says the law violates the equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[35][36]
- 15 – The Argentine Senate passes (despite the General Law Committee recommending rejection of the bill)[37] a same-sex marriage bill that had passed in the Chamber of Deputies on May 5.[38] President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signs the law on July 21.[39] Argentina becomes the tenth country in the world, and third Roman Catholic country, to legalize same-sex marriage, despite heavy criticism from the Church in Argentina amongst others.
- 19 – The United Nations Economic and Social Council voted to accredit International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) as a non-governmental organization granted consultative status, allowing IGLHRC to attend UN meetings, contribute statements and collaborate with UN agencies.[40]
- 22- The European Court of Human Rights holds, in P.B. and J.S. v. Austria, that lack of access to insurance for same-sex couple on equal terms with other marriages violates the ECHR.[41][42]
November
- 2 – Voters in El Paso, Texas, pass an initiative that strips health insurance benefits from the unmarried partners of city employees.[65] Supporters say that their intention was to target gay city employees and their partners.[66]
- September 22 – Tyler Clementi, American student, died by suicide after a video of his sexual encounter with a man was streamed over the internet without his knowledge.[70]
HJ and HT v Home Secretary [2010] UKSC 31, [2010] 3 WLR 386. Retrieved December 11, 2010.