Talk about a bipolar year – America inaugurates the first president to make sweeping promises to the LGBT community, then promptly decides to put off fulfilling them; four New England states plus Iowa make marriage equality legal, then Maine’s legislation is repealed by popular vote. They say 2009 was the capstone to the worst decade in history, and a lot of this year’s top stories make me wonder whether or not American LGBTQ folks have come out ahead after the victories and setbacks of the last 12 months. I think I’ll settle with “there’s still more work to do.”

Marriage Equality

First Iowa’s Supreme Court declares same-gender marriage legal, then a flurry of legislative actions in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire (plus court action in Connecticut, and a year-end city council decision in Washington D.C.) make you think the “domino effect” might just be real. Then Maggie Gallagher and her NOM goons brought us Question 1, a re-run of Prop 8 in Maine, and the Catholic Archbishop of D.C., Thomas Wurel threatens to stop feeding the poor if he has to pay domestic partnership benefits to his LGBT employees. At least George Taekei had fun.

Obamania’s Bad Hangover

Why is traditionally-spineless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) the biggest elected LGBT advocate in D.C., even if it’s almost by default? Judging by the news coverage of the Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act, Sen. Reid was the major force in moving the biggest LGBT legislative victory through the Senate. Meanwhile, Obama promised us the world in his 2008 campaign, but when push comes to shove on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, supporting LGBT rights at the state level, and generally changing the federal bureaucracy’s stance on teh gays, he generally fell flat. Even Rep. Barney Frank, the usual “LGBT lion” in D.C. got into a few catfights with LGBT activists in and out of the government, and generally seemed a bit out of touch. Cleve Jones’ and David Mixner’s “hair of the dog” cure to Obamania, also known as the National Equality March, fell equally flat, with little grassroots momentum to show for their railing against the HRC and other members of Gay, Inc.

Religious Groups Get Religion

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) general assembly ok’s lesbian and gay ministers in committed relationships (despite the tornado that hit the Minneapolis Convention Center), and the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota nominates an lesbian minister to head the diocese, although she’s ultimately not elected.

Flashback: Stonewall
Pulling some sh*t straight out of the 1970’s, police in Fort Worth, TX and Atlanta, GA raid gay bars claiming a range of offenses including drug dealing and excessively strong drinks (a violation of Texas’ alcohol regulations) prompted the raids. In both raids, bar patrons complained of police using homophobic slurs, and one patron in Fort Worth was slammed into the floor and handcuffed by officers during the raid, causing him brain damage. Police claimed the “gay panic” defense.

The (Death of) LGBT Media

This year, the same forces that have been slowly bleeding the Star-Tribune dry hit the LGBT community like a wrecking ball. Due to financial difficulties – and, former employees say, gross mismanagement – the Washington Blade and the Southern Voice closed their doors along with four other LGBT magazines ownded by Windows Media after their parent company went belly-up. This, along with the gutting of The Advocate’s staff, the magazine’s reduction to an insert in Out, and the nation-wide decline of LGBT bookstores stood in sharp contrast to the continued ascendance of queer news blogs like the Bilerico Project, Pam’s House Blend, Joe.My.God, Towleroad, and (of course) TheColu.mn.

The Unfinished Story

As the year wound down, the House and Senate wrangled over competing health care reform bills designed to make care cheaper and dramatically more available to all Americans. In itself, successful reform would represent a boon to the community, since there are plenty of poor LGBT folks out there. The bill passed by the House, however would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of “personal characteristics” in the delivery of healthcare, and would eliminate the tax penalty to workers who provide coverage for their same-gender partners under their employers’ health insurance policies, make HIV drugs more available for people with low incomes, and direct the federal government to begin gathering health data on the national LGBT community for the first time in history. However, these important provisions are all missing from the Senate bill, and it’s far from certain whether or not they’ll make it through the conference committee process.