Duchess Harris - Lgbtq Rights and the Law

Rights and
the Law

By Duchess Harris, JD, PhD

with Martha Lundin

Content Consultant

Heath Fogg Davis, PhD
Director, Gender, Sexuality,
and Womens Studies Program
Temple University

BEING

LGBTQ

IN AMERICA

Essential Library

An Imprint of Abdo Publishing | abdobooks.com

ABDOBOOKS.COM

Published by Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55439. Copyright 2020 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International
copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without written permission from the publisher. Essential Library is a
trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing.

Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota.
012019
092019

Cover Photo: Shutterstock Images
Interior Photos: Rena Schild/Shutterstock Images, 45; Eric Gay/AP Images, 9;
Ryan R. Fox/Shutterstock Images, 11; Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images, 12;
Ljupco Smokovski/Shutterstock Images, 17; AP Images, 19, 52; Chuck Liddy/
Raleigh News & Observer/TNS/Newscom, 22; Rawpixel/iStockphoto, 2627;
Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Georgia State University/AP Images, 31; South
Agency/iStockphoto, 33; Olivier Douliery/Abaca/Sipa/AP Images, 3637; Monkey
Business Images/Shutterstock Images, 38; Shutterstock Images, 42, 65, 72, 90;
Gerald Herbert/AP Images, 44; Alex Menendez/AP Images, 4849; Tommy Wu/
iStockphoto, 55; Daniela Kirsch/NameFace/Sipa USA/AP Images, 58; Light Field
Studios/Shutterstock Images, 6061; Janson George/Shutterstock Images, 66; Lital
Israeli/Shutterstock Images, 7071; Jacquelyn Martin/AP Images, 75; Joe Amon/The
Denver Post/Getty Images, 77; David Zalubowski/AP Images, 79; Dragon Images/
Shutterstock Images, 8283; Joe Raedle/Getty Images News/Getty Images, 87; Jahi
Chikwendiu/The Washington Post/Getty Images, 93; Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis
News/Getty Images, 97

Editor: Megan Ellis
Series Designer: Melissa Martin

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2018965867
PUBLISHERS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Harris, Duchess, author | Lundin, Martha, author.

Title: LGBTQ rights and the law / by Duchess Harris and Martha Lundin

Description: Minneapolis, Minnesota : Abdo Publishing, 2020 | Series: Being LGBTQ
in America | Includes online resources and index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781532119064 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 9781532173240 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: LGBTQ people--Juvenile literature. | Social work with sexual
minorities--Juvenile literature. | Minorities--Civil rights--United States-
Juvenile literature. | Conflict of laws--Same-sex marriage--Juvenile literature.

Classification: DDC 323.3264--dc23

contents

A Little More
Perfect

Workplace
Discrimination

Health and
Privacy

Safe Schools and
Students Rights

The Fight for
Marriage Equality

Adoption and
Family Planning

The Future of
Rights and Laws

People held up celebratory signs
outside the Supreme Court
after they heard the ruling on
Obergefell v. Hodges .

A LITTLE MORE

PERFECT

H

undreds of people gathered on the grass outside
the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, in June 2015.
They waved rainbow flags and posters in the air while
waiting in anticipation to hear the opinion of the court. Most of
the crowd were part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and queer (LGBTQ) community. The ruling of the Supreme
Court in Obergefell v. Hodges would decide whether LGBTQ
couples across the United States could legally marry.
Some of the people standing outside had been with their
partners for years. However, couples who lived in the 13 states
that banned same-sex marriage did not have the same rights as
married couples. The Supreme Court ruling could change that.

News media interns ran out of the building holding thick
pamphlets of paper. They handed the pamphlets to their
coworkers. The packets of paper held the decision of the court
for Obergefell v. Hodges . When people realized the Supreme

AN EVOLVING
LANGUAGE

Labels are always changing. This is no
different in the LGBTQ community. As of
2018, LGBTQ was the most current umbrella,
or overarching, term for the community.
Some people also add I for intersex and
A for asexual. For a long time, the only
label used to describe many identities was
homosexual . Transgender people used to
be labeled as transvestites , and later as
transsexuals . Language is always changing,
and people can shift labels to best
reflect themselves.

Sometimes people reclaim language.
Queer is one of those words. For many
years, queer was used as a slur against
LGBTQ people. However, some people have
chosen to use queer as an umbrella term
for all LGBTQ people. They may even use
queer as their own identity, as in the Q in
LGBTQ. However, not all people feel this
way. Some people see queer as only a slur.
It is important to recognize how language
impacts people.

Court had declared that LGBTQ people had the right to marry
in the United States, the crowd cheered. Some started to cry
from happiness. Reporters from around the country filmed
the moment and interviewed people in the crowd. The official
opinion of the court was more than 100 pages long. Once the
decision was posted
on the internet, people
read it aloud from
their smartphones.

The decision in
Obergefell v. Hodges
protected the right
of people to marry a
partner of the same
sex. It also guaranteed
that those marriages
would be recognized
in every state in the
country. That afternoon,
President Barack Obama
called the ruling a
victory for America. He
added, This decision
affirms what millions
of Americans already

believe in their hearts: When all Americans are treated as equal
we are all more free.... Today, we can say in no uncertain terms
that weve made our union a little more perfect.

However, not every person in the United States agreed with
the Supreme Court decision. Chief Justice John Roberts was
one of the judges who dissented, or disagreed with the opinion.