2010 in LGBT rights

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LGBT history in 2010.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2010.

Events

February

• 2 – The
  gender identity disorder from their federal income taxes.^[1][2]

• 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]

April

• 8 –
  donating blood.^[12]
• 16 –
  Arkansas Proposed Initiative Act No. 1, banning adoption by same-sex couples (but not LGBT individuals) is overturned in state court for violating the Constitution of Arkansas right to privacy.^[13][14]
• 29 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopts a resolution^[15] and a recommendation^[16] along lines similar to the March 31 recommendation of its Council of Ministers, "calling on member states to address" an array of issues related to LGBT rights.^[17]

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
  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.^[21]

• 2 – United States President Barack Obama issues a memorandum ordering federal departments and agencies to extend spousal benefits to same-sex couples to the extent permitted by the Defense of Marriage Act.^[22][23]
• 24 – In
  Schalk and Kopf v. Austria,^[24] the European Court of Human Rights unanimously finds that a State not legislating for, or recognising, same-sex marriage is not in violation of Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). By four votes to three, it ruled that the non-recognition of same-sex relationships was not in violation of the ECHR.^[25]
• 27 – Same-sex marriage in Iceland is legalized with Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and her partner, Jónína Leósdóttir, among the first to make use of the law.^[26]
• 28 – The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez^[27] that public universities may refuse to recognize student organizations with policies that discriminate against LGBT people.^[28]

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
  civil unions for same-sex couples in that state.^[32]
• 7 – The
  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 –
  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
  Church in Argentina
  amongst others.
• 19 – The
  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]

August

• 4 – In
  Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage, violates the "Equal Protection Clause" and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution because there is no rational basis for singling out homosexual couples for denial of marriage licenses.^[43][44] The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit then issued an emergency stay without explanation on August 16.^[45]
• 10 – The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled in quick succession that Mexico City's same-sex marriage law is constitutional,^[46] that the same marriages contracted in Mexico City must be recognised throughout Mexico, although no other state is required to perform them,^[47] and that it is unconstitutional to bar these married same-sex couples from adopting children.^[48][49]
• 9 – A judge in
  same sex marriage.^[50]
• 17 – The
  Federal Constitutional Court of Germany rules that the surviving partners of registered partnerships are entitled to the same inheritance tax laws as the survivors of marriages. Surviving marital partners previously paid 7–30% inheritance tax while surviving registered partners paid 17–50%.^[51]
• 31
  • The Parliament of Tasmania approves legislation to recognise same-sex marriages and registered unions performed outside Tasmania.^[52]
  • The
    Texas constitutional ban on same-sex marriage does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and that district courts in Texas do not have subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a same-sex divorce case.^[53][54]