Top Lesbian Events of 2008 - LGBT News Stories in 2008

Lesbian News and Events of 2008

Barack Obama is the most gay-friendly ever president elected in the United States. Okay, so he's not a supporter of gay marriage. Sure, he's got the economy to deal with, closing Guantanamo and getting us out of Iraq, but don't be dismayed. I predict this president will end the military's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, sign a comprehensive employment non-discrimination law and ease immigration restrictions for bi-national gay and lesbian couples.

On June 16th California became the second state to legalize gay marriage. An estimated 18,000 gay and lesbian couples were married in California between June and November. Of course, gay couples are no longer allowed to marry with the passage of Prop 8 by voters in November. The legal status of the same-sex couples married remains in limbo.

Proposition 8, which defines marriage in California as only between one man and one woman was passed by voters in November. At first we were heart broken. Then we got angry. Then we took our anger to the streets. Our community came together like never before. Spontaneous marches and protests sprung up all over California. And then the rest of the country joined in. Gays and lesbians took to the streets demanding equal treatment from San Francisco to New York and from Florida to Alaska, protesters took to the streets on November 15th. Lesbian Life was there.

Throughout the victory and the defeat of gay marriage in California, America's most famous lesbian was there. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi married in August in a small ceremony at their home. Then Ellen used her celebrity status to urge voters to vote against Prop 8. This was Ellen's most out year yet, using her show to not only discuss gay marriage, but violence against gay and lesbian people and the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King.

While all the attention was on California, Connecticut snuck up and became the third state (now second) to legalize gay marriage. On October 10 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. The court ruled that civil unions are not the same as marriage and that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same right to be married as heterosexual couples under Connecticut's constitution.

How to Get Married in Connecticut

Pioneering lesbian rights activist Del Martin died on August 27, at age 87 just a few months after marrying Phyllis Lyon, her partner of 55 years. Del Martin was a writer and lesbian activist for most of her life.

Rachel Maddow became the first out lesbian to have her own TV news show in September. It didn't take long for Rachel Maddow to become one of the most popular personalities on television. Maddow helped boost MSNBC's ratings and beat out Larry King on CNN in 13 of her initial 25 nights on the air. Her popularity just keeps growing. Maddow for prez 2014?

Lindsay Lohan & Samantha Ronson finally came out as a couple in 2008, but they treated their relationship perhaps as all gay and lesbian relationships should be treated: as no big deal. There was no big announcement, no big coming out on the cover of People magazine (although the couple did make quite a few tabloids.) Lindsay and Sam were simply everywhere and the paparazzi followed. Some tabloids made a big deal out of their relationship, others just treated it with the same disrespect they do all celebrities. How refreshing.

On January 1, 2008 gay and lesbian Oregonians woke up to a bunch of new rights. A comprehensive nondiscrimination law went into effect and later in the year domestic partnerships were granted to gay and lesbian couples. Although not marriage, Oregon domestic partnerships come with all the state rights as marriage.

She's not the biggest star to come out this year, (Clay Aiken?) but Wanda Sykes coming out in the shadow of Prop 8 was pretty impressive. For years she's been an outspoken advocate for gay rights and same-sex marriage. We suspected, but with her confirmation, now we know for sure that Wanda Sykes is one of us AND she's got our back!