25 Awesome Gay Things To Be Thankful For This Year

It’s Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for so much this year. We’ve had a lot of amazing things happen in 2012 so far, haven’t we? Eleven months ago, there was still a possibility of Rick Santorum becoming President, so don’t say 2012 never gave you anything. Let’s reflect, have feelings and remember all the reasons why we’re thankful this year.

1. Delaware and Hawaii began recognizing civil unions.

2. Obama called for queers and trans* people to have access to public housing.

3. Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling against Prop 8 was upheld! The US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Prop 8 is unconstitutional.

4. Autostraddle won all of the Bloggies ever! Or just the ones we were nominated for: Best Entertainment Weblog, Best Group/Community Weblog, and Weblog of the Motherlovin’ Year!

5. A bill passed in Washington to allow gay marriage (spoiler alert: it also passes the good ol’ ballot test with an A+!).

6. US Customs threw us a bone and lets gay couples fill out declarations forms as families.

7. There’s a real, live, out lesbian on SNL now.

8. Rick Santorum dropped out of the Presidential race and we became free to turn on our televisions and computers without seeing his stupid face.

9. The very first A-Camp of all time!

10. President Obama announced that he supports same-sex marriage.

11. Argentina worked on becoming a Trans* Rights All-Star, and Chile and Cuba are on the gay rights upswing.

12. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that anti-trans* discrimination is a Real Thing and finally provided trans* people with legal protections in the workplace.

13. Edie Windsor won a lawsuit ruling DOMA unconstitutional.

14. Pride Parades and Autostraddle Meetups!

15. We had International Brunch Day!

16. Megan Rapinoe officially came out.

17. Remember that time the USWNT won the Olympic Gold Medal?

18. Andrew Shirvell was ordered to pay $4.5 Million for his creepy anti-gay attack blog.

19. Alex’s “Call Your Girlfriend” dance video. Yep.

20. Lori Lindsey came out in an interview with Autostraddle!

21. We raised $116,645 in 45 days to save the website! This was the most amazing thing to happen all year, I think we can all agree.

22. Second Federal Appeals Court struck down DOMA.

23. Lana Wachowski was awarded this year’s Visibility Award, and makes us all cry.

24. We had a million meetups for International Meetup Week(s)!

25. Obama won reelection, Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay woman elected to the U.S. Senate in history, AND Marriage Equality in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, and Minnesota rejected a same-sex marriage ban. All in one day.

Okay, what’d we forget? What are you most thankful for this year?

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Hansen

Hansen is the former DIY & Food Editor of Autostraddle.com and likes to spend most days making and cooking and writing. She teaches creative writing at Colorado State University and is pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in her free time.

Hansen has written 189 articles for us.

14 Comments

  1. I love this post, but no love for Maryland, Maine, or Minnesota on the gay marriage front? So proud of Maryland!

  2. Ever since the election I constantly marvel at what happened and have had to literally pinch myself at least once a day to check and make sure that President Obama, Tammy Baldwin, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, Washington and Minnesota were not just a really fucking awesome dream.

  3. If the world really is ending in December, at least we went out with a bang! So many good things this year!

  5. I’m really thankful for this list. Working in a public high school which is ridiculously homophobic, it’s easy to only concentrate on the negative. I love having reminders that the big picture is a different (and more hopeful) one!

  6. Guys – I hosted a meet-up. And it was super fun!! And we carved pumpkins and drank hot apple cider (and whiskey!). I was kind of nervous no one would show up and people totally did. Thankful for the whole deal and to AS for having these meet-ups!

    Does anyone know who I am supposed to send photos to? Am I too late?

    Also, I am super grateful that I will be going to A-Camp 2013!!!!

  7. y’all forgot number 26: Words with Girls featuring Hannah Hart.

    …actually pretty much anything featuring Hannah Hart(o).

  8. also on a more serious note, I’m really thankful so many trans*-related things are on this list. both because after the sadness and anger that Trans Day of Remembrance evoked in me, it’s good to be reminded that there’s some hope for progress, and because I’m thankful y’all made them such an integral part of the list. I remain grateful that Autostraddle is, on the overwhelming whole, an incredibly conscious, welcoming, and supportive place for trans* and gender-non-conforming folks. Thank you all (commenters too!) from the bottom of my queer little heart for that.

  9. 27. There’s a new women’s pro soccer league in the US that was announced today and play starts next spring. More Pinoe and Lori Lindsey is always an awesomely gay thing to be thankful for.

  10. I’m on the train finally 15 minutes from home after traveling all day. This post is amazing. I flew directly over Manhattan today. My flight attendent was the most adorable gay man. I flew over the gorgeous coast of Maine. There were 2 people in line ahead of me at security this morning. My ukulele didn’t get broken in my travels today. So many incredible things to be thankful for! Did I mention that this post is amazing!

  11. I’m thankful for the first queer person of color to be elected to the US Congress, and for it to be a queer Asian American.

    I didn’t have a lot of Asian American role models portrayed in the media growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. My mom would tell me I should pursue journalism or ice skating so that I could be the next Connie Chang or Michelle Kwan. When I decided to pursue law, my mom told me that I could be like Condoleeza Rice, who was one of the only high ranking women of color that my mom knew of – neither of us knew of any famous Asian American politicians. Although my life’s passion is to serve my community, I always assumed that being an openly queer woman would prevent me from doing so as a elected official, putting aside the fact that my racial community is often considered to be perpetually foreign.

    As a queer, Asian American people’s lawyer, I am inspired by Rep. Takano’s success. He brings much needed visibility to a community struggling to be seen. He reminds the world that not only are there queer folks in the Asian American community – there are also Asian Americans in the queer community. We rule Facebook, write and report the news, serve our country, now, finally, write and pass national laws within Congress. His victory gives me hope that we, too, can be successful and be honest with who we are – and that the world is ready for us. Rep. Takano’s success brings me hope for my future and the future of queer people of color everywhere.

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