Summer is typically the slowest time of the year for news at PGN.
But the doldrums were nowhere to be found in the LGBT community these past few months. From the U.S. Supreme Court to the streets of Philadelphia’s Gayborhood, summer 2013 was definitely a newsmaker.
In late June, the nation’s top court handed down decisions decades in the making. The justices ruled that a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, providing the first federal recognition of same-sex unions. At the same time, the court overturned California’s Proposition 8, paving the way for marriages to resume in the nation’s most populous state.
The results of the DOMA decision were immediate, as immigration officials announced a review of all visa petitions regarding same-sex couples. The effects have continued throughout the summer, as just last week the Internal Revenue Service announced it would treat same-sex married couples equal to heterosexual married couples, meaning eligibility for joint federal tax filings and other benefits.
Also on the marriage front, marriage-equality laws legalized this past spring in three states — Rhode Island, Minnesota and Delaware — went into effect this summer.
Regionally, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a measure that prohibits medical providers from administering conversion therapy to minors, becoming only the second state in the nation to do so.
And Pennsylvania saw its greatest-ever developments in the marriage-equality movement. In July, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed suit on behalf of 23 plaintiffs, including 10 same-sex couples, one widow and two children, challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. This is the first time such a suit has been filed in Pennsylvania.
That month in Montgomery County, Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes also made history, becoming the first Pennsylvania official to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He was subsequently sued by the state, and the case began to play out in a Harrisburg courtroom this week.
Even closer to home, Philadelphia lost iconic lesbian bar Sisters, which shut down abruptly in August. The owners refused to comment on the reason for the shuttering. And just this week, the owner of Giovanni’s Room, longtime Philadelphia bookseller and the oldest LGBT bookstore in the country, announced he was stepping down, leaving the future of the store in question.
With a summer as jam-packed as this, we can only assume the fall will bring just as much legal wrangling, courtroom drama and community developments — but, fingers crossed, good news will dominate.