2019 in LGBT rights

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2019.

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Events

January

• 1
  • Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Austria.[1]
  • A law banning conversion therapy on minors in the U.S. state of New Hampshire takes effect.[2]
  • A law banning hate speech based on "transgender identity or expression" takes effect in Sweden.[3]
  • A law allowing third gender option ("diverse") on official documents takes effect in Germany.[4]
  • A law allowing legal gender change without medical or psychological requirements, as well as third gender option ("X") on birth certificates takes effect in New York City.[5]
• 23 - Angola decriminalizes homosexuality.[6]
• 25 - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signs a bill banning the use of conversion therapy on minors. The law takes effect immediately, making New York the 15th U.S. state to enact such a ban.[7]

February

• New Jersey has become the second state in United States of America to require public schools to teach LGBT and disability-inclusive material.
• 15 - Health Minister of Germany, Jens Spahn, calls for a ban on conversion therapy.[8]
• 17 - The French Parliament votes to replace the use of the words "mother" and "father" in official school forms with the terms "parent 1" and "parent 2". Supporters of the legislation say it aims to guarantee equal treatment for pupils with parents of the same sex.[9]
• 19 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, following a unanimous ruling by the National Supreme Court of Justice which struck down the state's ban on such marriages as unconstitutional.[10]

March

• 8 - The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[11]
• 16 - The Reformed Church in Austria allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[12]
• 23 - The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg allowed blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches.[13]
• 28 - Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, issues an executive order prohibiting mental health professionals from offering conversion therapy for minors.[14]

April

• 23 - Madras High Court Justice GR Swaminathan directed Tamil Nadu Government to issue Government Order banning sex reassignment surgeries on intersex infants and children.[15]

May

• 15 - The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[16]
• 22 - The Evangelical Church of the Palatinate allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[17][18]
• 24 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Taiwan.[19][20]

June

• 2 - San Marino bans discrimination based on sexual orientation by constitution. The motion passed with 71.46% of votes in a referendum.[21]
• 7 - The decriminalization of homosexuality pass the lower house in Bhutan.[22]
• 11 - Botswana's High Court unanimously decriminalizes homosexuality.[23]
• 12 - High court in Ecuador allowed same-sex marriages in a ruling landmark decision.[24]
• 13 - Brazil's Supreme Federal Court with a majority of 8 out of 11 judges voted in favour of making homophobia and transphobia crimes similar to racism.[25]
• 14 - German reformed Church of Lippe allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[26]
• 21 - After receiving Royal Assent, the bill equalizing the age of consent in Canada came into force[27]

LGBT Free Zone stickers distributed by the Gazeta Polska newspaper in Poland

July

• 3 - UK Methodist Conference voted by 247 votes to 48 to allow same-sex marriages in UK Methodist Churches. [28]
• 6 - In Iceland a law allowing self-determination gender change as well as third gender option came into effect. [29]
• 9 - In UK House of Commons, MPs overwhelmingly voted 383–73 in favour of extending same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland. The clause will require secondary legislation, and will only come into force if a devolved Northern Ireland Assembly is not formed by 21 October.[30]
• 25 - Poland, Warsaw district court ordered that distribution of LGBT-free zone stickers should halt pending the resolution of a court case.[31] However Gazeta Polska's editor dismissed the ruling saying it was "fake news" and censorship, and that the paper would continue distributing the stickers.[32] Gazeta continued distribution of the stickers, but modified the decal to read "LGBT ideology-Free Zone".[31]

August

• 8- The Evangelical Reformed Church of the canton of Zürich allowed bessing of same-sex marriages.[33]
• 28 - Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to ban sex reassignment surgeries on intersex infants and children, with an exception of cases where it would be required to overcome life-threatening situations. Tamil Nadu Government passed a Government Order as per the Madras High Court directive.[34][35]
• 29 - The Swiss Reformed Church allowed blessing of same-sex marriages.[36]

September

• 18 - The Reformed Church of Aargau allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[37]
• 20 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[38]

October

• 22 - Legislation to recognize same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland passed by MPs at Westminster, taking effect after 21 October deadline passed without a devolved Northern Ireland government being re-formed.[39][40][41]

November

• 9 - The Union of Evangelical Churches in Germany allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[42]
• 17 - The Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.[43]
• 20 - The Evangelical Church of Westphalia allowed blessings of same-sex marriages[44][45][46]
• 29 - The Evangelical Church in Central Germany allowed blessings of same-sex marriages[47]

December

• 13 - Gabon adopted a ban on homosexuality.[48]

References

1. "Austrian women celebrate country's first same-sex marriage". Yahoo!. Associated Press. 1 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
2. DeWitt, Ethan (29 December 2018). "Dozens of N.H. Laws Will Take Effect on Jan. 1". Concord Monitor. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
3. "Greater legal protection for trans people on the way in Sweden". ILGA-Europe. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
4. Oppenheim, Maya (1 January 2019). "Germany introduces third gender for people who identify as intersex". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
5. Chung, Jen (1 January 2019). "NYC Officially Starts Offering Non-Binary Gender Option On Birth Certificates". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
6. Human Rights Watch: Angola Decriminalizes Same-Sex Conduct
7. Chris Mills Rodrigo (25 January 2019). "Cuomo signs ban on conversion therapy in New York". TheHill.
8. "German minister calls for ban on conversion therapy". The Guardian. 15 February 2019.
9. Emma R. (17 February 2019). "France changes 'mother' and 'father' to 'parent 1' and 'parent 2' under new law". Voice of Europe.
10. "La Corte da un revés al Bronco y ordena legalizar bodas gay en Nuevo León". HuffPost. 19 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
11. Kurier.at: Evangelische Kirche will homosexuelle Paare künftig segnen (German)
12. Kurier.at: Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche in Österreich öffnet Trauung für homosexuelle Ehepaare (German)
13. Stuttgarter Nachrichten: Landessynode erlaubt Segnungsgottesdienste für homosexuelle Paare (german), 23 March 2019
14. Curtis M. Wong (28 March 2019). "Puerto Rico Bans Conversion Therapy For LGBTQ Youth". HuffPost.
15. Rao, Manasa (23 April 2019). "Ban sex reassignment surgeries on intersex infants, Madras HC tells TN govt". The News Minute. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
16. Evangelisch.de: Hannoversche Landeskirche öffnet Homosexuellen den Weg zum Traualtar (german)
17. Queer.de: Pfalz: Evangelische Kirche beschließt Trauung für alle (german)
18. Welt.de: Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz beschließt kirchliche Trauung (german)
19. "#LoveWon: Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage in landmark first for Asia". AFP. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
20. "Taiwan becomes first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage". The Telegraph. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
21. webit.it; Libertas. "Risultati consultazione referendaria, oggi a San Marino". Libertas (in Italian). Retrieved 5 July 2019.
22. Bhutan’s lower house of parliament votes to decriminalise homosexuality
23. Fox, Kara (11 June 2019). "Botswana scraps gay sex laws in big victory for LGBTQ rights in Africa". Retrieved 11 June 2019.
24. NBCNews.com: Ecuador's highest court approves same-sex marriage
25. Newsfeed (14 June 2019). "Brazil Supreme Court Rules Homophobia a Crime Equivalent to Racism". The Rio Times. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
26. WDR.de: Lippische Kirche traut homosexuelle Ehepaare (german), 14 June 2019
27. "House Government Bill / C-75". Parliament of Canada - LEGISinfo. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
28. "Methodists move towards conducting same-sex marriages". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
29. "Law 80/2019". www.althingi.is. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
30. "Here's how every MP voted on equal marriage in Northern Ireland". PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
31. Polish Court Rebukes "LGBT-Free Zone" Stickers, HRW, 1 August 2019
32. Polish magazine dismisses court ruling on ‘LGBT-free zone’ stickers, Politico, 26 July 2019
33. Züricher Reformierte Kirche: Zürcher Kirchenrat sagt Ja zur Ehe für alle (german)
34. S, Mohamed Imranullah (28 August 2019). "T.N. bans sex reassignment surgeries on intersex infants, children". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
35. Foundation, Thomson Reuters. "Indian state bans unnecessary surgery on intersex babies". news.trust.org. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
36. Kirchenbund.ch: Rat des Kirchenbundes befürwortet die Öffnung der Ehe für gleichgeschlechtliche Paare Archived 30 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine (german)
37. Aargauer Zeitung.ch: Die Reformierte Kirche im Aargau unterstützt die Ehe für alle (german), 18 September 2019
38. Nordkirche.de: Segnung gleichgeschlechtlicher Paare ist Trauung (German), 20 September 2019
39. "MPs back NI abortion and same-sex marriage moves". 9 July 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
40. Page, Chris (22 October 2019). "Radical change to abortion laws in NI". Retrieved 22 October 2019.
41. Bianca Britton, Sheena McKenzie and Gianluca Mezzofiore. "Northern Ireland to legalize abortion and same-sex marriage". CNN. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
42. UEK: Ordnung für die Trauung von Ehepaaren gleichen Geschlechts (German), 9 November 2019
43. Saarbrücker Zeitung.de: Segnung von Homo-Ehen im Elsass erlaubt (german), 17 November 2019
44. Landeskirche Westfalen:Neu: Trauung auch für gleichgeschlechtliche Ehepaare und konfessionslose Ehepartner, „Gottes Segen gilt für alle Ehepaare", 20 November 2019
45. Evangelisch.de: Westfälische Kirche stellt Trauung von Homo-Paaren mit Ehe gleich, 20 November 2019
46. Neue Westfälische Nachrichten: Landeskirche von Westfalen stellt Homosexuelle vor Traualtar gleich, 20 November 2019
47. Evangelisch.de: Mitteldeutsche Landeskirche regelet Trauung homosexueller Ehepaare neu, 29 November 2019 (German)
48. Advocate.com: African nation gabon adopts ban gay sex, 13 December 2019

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