2011: A Great Year For Gay Rights!!

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2011 was a very good year for gay rights!  It was very encouraging to see more and more people around the globe accepting of gays and lesbians.  It was very heartening to watch Hillary Clinton proclaim that "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights".  There were setbacks as well, especially in Africa.  As Martin Luther King said “The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, but It Bends Toward Justice” 
MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts looks back at the year that was in LGBT news. Here are some of his highlights and our reporting from this “banner year” for equality:
Dec. 6: Obama administration pledges to prioritize LGBT equality in its foreign policy and directs agencies to help LGBT refugees. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers a speech in Geneva, in which she reminds the leaders of the world that “gay rights are human rights.”
 Sep. 20: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is officially repealed.
July 16: Gay troops participate in San Diego’s gay pride parade.
 June 24: New York passes marriage equality and a record number of couples wed.
June 16: U.N. Human Rights Council passes a resolution condemning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
April 29: Department of Labor bans discrimination based on gender identity.
Feb. 23: Justice Department announces it won’t defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
Feb. 1: Department of State recognizes nontraditional families on passport applications.
2011: Record number of Americans support same-sex marriage.
Watch the round-up:

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