WLeelah Alcorn was an American transgender girl whose suicide attracted international attention; she had posted a suicide note to her Tumblr blog about societal standards affecting transgender people and expressing the hope that her death would create a dialogue about discrimination, abuse, and lack of support for transgender people.
WAppling v. Walker was a state court lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry. The action began as a petition for original action before the Wisconsin Supreme Court asking the Court for a declaration that the registry is unconstitutional and for a permanent injunction against the registry, which began registering couples on August 3, 2009. On November 4, 2009, the Court declined to take the case. Petitioners then refiled in state circuit court and the court ruled in June 2011 that the registry is constitutional. That decision was affirmed by a state appeals court in December 2012, and by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July 2014.
WBrinkman v. Long, and its companion case, McDaniel-Miccio v. Hickenlooper, are the lead state court cases on same-sex marriage in Colorado. Here, a Colorado district court found on July 9, 2014, that the state's same-sex marriage ban violates same-sex couples' guarantees of equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Brinkman and McDaniel-Miccio have been appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court, where they were dismissed following the dismissal of similar petitions by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 6, 2014.
WThe 2014 Gay Games, also known as Gay Games 9, were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and musicians. It was held from August 9 to August 16, 2014 in Cleveland, with some events being held in the nearby city of Akron, Ohio. An estimated 10,000 athletes from more than 60 nations participated in 37 sports and cultural events.
WThe 25th GLAAD Media Awards was the 2014 annual presentation of the GLAAD Media Awards, presented by GLAAD honoring the 2013 season. The awards honored films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accurately represent the LGBT community and issues relevant to the community. The 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards honored 93 nominees in 20 English-language categories and 37 nominees in nine Spanish-language categories.
WIf I Loved You: Gentlemen Prefer Broadway — An Evening of Love Duets is a show conceived and directed by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, which premiered on June 14, 2014 during Luminato in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The concert featured men singing classic love songs to one another, and included a full orchestra and performances by Wainwright and special guests Boy George, David Byrne, Josh Groban and Steven Page. Countertenor Brennan Hall, Brent Carver, Glen Hansard, Ezra Koenig and Andrew Rannells also appeared. The program featured songs written by gay men, including Noël Coward, Lorenz Hart, Jerry Herman and Cole Porter.
WThe Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was an act passed by the Parliament of Uganda on 20 December 2013, which prohibited sexual relations between persons of the same sex. The act was previously called the "Kill the Gays bill" in the western mainstream media due to death penalty clauses proposed in the original version, but the penalty was later amended to life in prison. The bill was signed into law by the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni on 24 February 2014. On 1 August 2014, however, the Constitutional Court of Uganda ruled the act invalid on procedural grounds.
WThe Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which allows same-sex couples to marry in Scotland since 16 December 2014.
WThe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 is a United States federal law which specifies the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense (DOD) for Fiscal Year 2014. The law authorizes the DOD to spend $607 billion in Fiscal Year 2014.
WNational Legal Services Authority v. Union of India is a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India, which declared transgender people the 'third gender', affirmed that the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution of India will be equally applicable to them, and gave them the right to self-identification of their gender as male, female or third gender.
WPink Dolphin Monument is a public monument in R.A. Apffel Park/East Beach on Galveston Island, Texas. Inaugurated on July 25, 2014, the monument is dedicated to celebrating gender and sexual minority communities. It is the first monument dedicated to gender and sexual minorities in the southern United States.
WThe Principle Six campaign, also Principle 6, or P6, was launched in January 2014 as an Olympic protests of Russian anti-gay laws in conjunction with the 2014 Olympics being held in Sochi, Russia. Principle 6 refers to the sixth principle of the Olympic Charter that says any form of discrimination "is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.
WThe sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race began airing February 24, 2014. Like the fifth season, the season featured 14 contestants competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". For the first time in the show's history, the season premiere was split into two episodes; the fourteen queens were split into two groups and the seven queens in each group competed against each other before being united as one group for the third episode.
WSame-sex marriage has been legal in the U.S. state of Oklahoma since October 6, 2014, following the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. On that day, following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the case that found the ban unconstitutional, the federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the state to recognize same-sex marriage.
WBostic v. Schaefer is a lawsuit filed in federal court in July 2013 that challenged Virginia's refusal to sanction same-sex marriages. The plaintiffs won in U.S. district court in February 2014, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in July 2014. On August 20, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the Fourth Circuit's ruling pending the outcome of further litigation. State officials refused to defend the state's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage.
WThe Tom of Finland stamps are a 2014 issue of three Finnish first class stamps drawn by and celebrating the work of Finnish artist Tom of Finland.
WWolf v. Walker is a federal lawsuit filed in February 2014 that challenged Wisconsin's refusal to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, its refusal to recognize same-sex marriages established in other jurisdictions, and related statutes. In June 2014, Judge Barbara Crabb of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled for the plaintiffs and in the week before she stayed her decision county clerks in 60 of the state's 72 counties issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples and some performed marriage ceremonies for them. The state appealed her decision to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed her opinion in a unanimous decision on September 4. The state requested a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court, which was denied on October 6. Same-sex marriages resumed after the Seventh Circuit issued its mandate the next day.