Queer In Review 2019

Stonewall D&A Newsletter December 19, 2019 | 0

It’s that time again, for a Queer In Review! We hope that you’ve been able to thrive, flourish, and help make the world a little more gay this 2019. Let’s take a look at some of the news that made headlines this year, from Taiwan to “They”. We are also highlighting some individuals who’ve helped make our world better. Last, check out the Days of Awareness to learn more about them. Thank you for joining us in 2019, we wish you a holiday season full of joy! See you in the next decade in 2020!

The News

Taiwan Legalises Same-Sex Marriage

Being a Japan based organization, it only seems fitting to open with a major event that happened in Asia: the legalising of same-sex marriage in Taiwan. The Taiwanese Constitutional Court was given 2 years make these changes after the prohibition of same-sex marriage was deemed unconstitutional (3). And finally on the 24th of May 2019 the Constitutional Court actioned the legislation changes. Taiwan is the first Asian country to do so. With many countries are lagging, such as Singapore, where being homosexual is still in the crimes act. We hope the Taiwan can be the catalyst for legislative change amongst Asian countries.

Religion & Same-Sex Marriage

While not a legistative change 2019 was year were many religious organisations allowed the blessings of same sex-marriages. The names of the churches are egregiously long so the list of the organisations can be found here in the significant events which occurred in 2019 for the LGBT community. However we are still waiting for Pope Francis to announce his blessings of same-sex marriages. If you are interested on his perspectives full timeline can be found here. For more on queer identities and religion check out our previous newsletter here.

Conversion Therapy Bans

Worldwide progress has also been made into the banning of conversion therapy. This may be hand in hand with more religious organisations public support of LGBT people. Dictionary.com defines it as “Conversion therapy refers to the widely discredited practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” (4) or as more colloquially known as “praying the gay away.” Countries in 2019 that banned this practice are Netherlands, France, Austria and Argentina (5). In addition many US states also followed suit, however it’s unsure when a country wide ban will happen. As of May 2019 18 states have banned this practice (6).

Word of the year: “They”

Furthermore, this year has been a year of pronoun education and recognition. In September the Merriam-Webster Dictionary added an additional definition of “used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary” (7) This was a massive win for non-binary people. On December 10th Merriam-Webster Dictionary announced its word of the year being “they”. “They” was searched 313%(8) more times than in 2018.

Changemakers

MJ Rodriguez’s star has been shining brighter than ever after landing the role of Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista on FX’s Pose. MJ has prior stage and TV experience, including an award winner performance as Maureen in an Off-Broadway revival of Rent. In 2018, she made history along with her fellow castmates as being part of a cast that has five trans women as series regulars. In 2019, she’s landed a deal with Olay, the first latina trans woman to do so and even performed in BET’s Soul Train awards. She continues to break ground and we are looking forward to what she does in 2019! (9)(13)

In 2019, Taiga Ishikawa became the first openly gay man to be elected into one of the two houses of the Japanese National Diet. He publicly came out in 2002 through his memoir 僕の彼氏はどこにいる？(Where is my boyfriend?) and in 2011 he ran for and was elected to a seat in Tokyo’s Toshima ward. He was able to mobilize people into action during his campaign, sending a reminder that LGBTQIA+ people do exist and contribute to society. His party’s aims to introduce and pass a bill that eliminate the discrimination of LGBTQIA+ people and another for marriage equality. As a politician, Mr. Ishikawa wants to support vulnerable people in Japanese society. (10)(14)

“Booked and busy!” is the motto of actor, comedian, and content creator Rickey Thomspon. The 23 year-old started making videos on Vine(RIP) when he was 17 and has built himself up since then. In 2018, he walked in an Alexander Wang fashion show. In 2019, he was on the cover of Gay Times Magazine’s 500th issue and won a Streamy award for Lifestyle. He is unapologetically Black, queer, and himself. He has dreams to make it big in Hollywood and he is well on his way to making them come true. (11)(15)

Megan Rapione, an American soccer player, has had quite an excellent year. In 2019, she helped lead the United States women’s national team to a FIFA World Cup victory, was named the Best FIFA Women’s Player, and won the Women’s Ballon d’Or, one of the top honors in her sport. She’s taken her platform to call attention to issues like the gender wage gap, racism, and homophobia. Her work on and off the field led to Sports Illustrated magazine recognizing her as Sportsperson of the Year. (12)(13)(16)

Days of Awareness

World AIDS Day was celebrated on Sunday December 1st. This annual awareness event is to back people living with HIV. The awareness event is made up of three main goals: to support people currently living with HIV, to remember and commemorate the people who have lost their lives and to have a worldwide conversation about AIDs to fight to remove stigma and to continue to educate. The 2019 campaign this year was “Rock The Ribbon Together”. A quote from the official website(1) states “Rocking a red ribbon not only completes any outfit; it shows everyone – especially people living with HIV and their families – your support.” You can watch the campaign video where some beautiful people (literally) are rocking some red ribbons here. Keep an eye out for next year’s campaign for 2020 to support an important event for our queer community!

Human Rights Day was celebrated on Tuesday December 10th. This awareness day commentates the anniversary of the United Nations adopting Universal Declaration of Human Rights . This document lays the foundations of protection against discrimnation on the grounds of race, colour, religion and sex to list a few. It is a yearly call to action for people to “Stand Up for Human rights,” (2) 2019s theme this year was “Youth Standing Up for Human Rights”. This seems like a very fitting theme as youth action has constantly was proven to be a force not to be reckoned with.