Pope Francis denies he offered support to outlaw clerk

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 26 that state bans on marriage for same-sex couples are unconstitutional and that states must recognize marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples from other states. The 5 to 4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges ended bans enforced by 13 states and secured lower court decisions that struck down bans in nine other states.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, stated that “the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.… The Court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them.”

Ireland approves same-sex marriage, and more

In the world’s first-ever national referendum on giving legal recognition to marriages of same-sex couples, Irish voters in May weighed in 2 to 1 for legalization. More than 60 percent of the country’s voters turned out to have their say. And by December 2, the legislature had approved a bill that prohibits Catholic-run schools from discriminating against teachers

December 25, 2015

based on their sexual orientation.

The legislation repeals an existing law, known as Section 37, which allowed discrimination against employees based on their sexual orientation. The bill now goes to President Michael Higgins for his signature.

Catholic leaders maintain opposition to same-sex marriage

At a three-week-long global summit, Catholic bishops in October rejected efforts to soften the church’s policies against homosexuality and samesex marriage. Instead, the document approved by 86 percent of more than 258 bishops gathered in Rome said that “every person, independently of their sexual tendency, must be respected in their dignity and welcomed with respect.” But it also stated that there was “no foundation whatsoever to assimilate or establish analogies, even remotely, between homosexual unions and God’s design for marriage and the family.”

A state clerk tries to mount campaign against Supreme Court

A county clerk in Kentucky, Kim Davis, captured national headlines for weeks as she attempted to circumvent a U.S. Supreme Court decision that found state bans against marriage for same-sex couples to be unconstitutional. Davis and her supporters portrayed her continued refusal to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples as an exercise of her religious beliefs, but others—including a few Republican presidential candidates—said she was violating her oath of office to carry out the law.

In August, the full U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency request to stop enforcement of a federal district court order that Davis resume issuing marriage licenses.

Pope Francis stunned LGBT people when it was revealed that he secretly accepted a visit from Kentucky clerk Kim Davis during his wildly popular visit to the United States.

Davis and her attorney characterized the visit, which took place at the Vatican’s embassy in Washington, D.C., as an expression of the pope’s support for her defiance of the Supreme Court’s ruling that bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. But in short order, the Vatican issued a statement saying the pope did not know about or support Davis’ efforts to subvert the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage and noted, instead, that the only audience the pope gave while in the United States was to a gay friend and his partner.

EEOC says Title VII prohibits LGBT discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled in July that existing federal law prohibits employment discrimination against federal workers based on sexual orientation. The five-member commission said that the prohibition of sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “means

Houston voters on November 3 voted 3 to 2 to repeal a year-old nondiscrimination ordinance—a repeal that appeared to be largely driven by a campaign that claimed the law would enable sexual predators to enter women’s restrooms to assault young girls.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed the City Council in May 2014 as an effort to prohibit discrimination based on numerous factors, including race, ethnicity and religion. But opponents of prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity convinced voters that HERO amounted to a “Bathroom Ordinance.”

Olympic legend comes out publicly as transgender

Bruce Jenner, the United States’ 1976 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, acknowledged in a Vanity Fair interview and on national television in April that she has always felt she is a woman and that she would, going forward, live life as a woman, Caitlyn Jenner.

The resulting publicity prompted a flood of discussions publicly and nationally about transgender people: their prevalence, their needs, their fears, and their medical and legal challenges. While violence and discrimination against transgender people continues, Jenner’s openness undoubtedly advanced the American public’s understanding.