This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBTQ rights that took place in the year 2006.
Events
January
1
Serbia equalizes the age of consent for homosexual acts to 14, matching the legal age for heterosexual acts.[1]
In the U.S. state of Illinois, a new state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation goes into effect.
In the U.S. state of Washington, a new mayor of Spokane is sworn in to succeed James E. West, who was recalled after a political scandal involving him using his office computer to access gay websites.
25 – The Ocean County, New Jerseyfreeholders vote to allow county police and fire department employees to designate someone other than a spouse as a pension beneficiary. The move comes after the case of Laurel Hester, a police officer with the Ocean County prosecutor's office with terminal cancer, came to national attention when the freeholders refuse repeatedly to change the spouses-only rule.[2]
27 – In the U.S. state of Washington, legislators pass a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (which is legally defined to include gender identity). It passes with a 25–23 vote in the state senate and by a 61–37 vote in the House of Representatives. State governor Christine Gregoire says she will sign the bill into law on January 31.
March
8 – The city council of Washington, D.C., bans gender identity discrimination in the private sector.
11 – Ernie Fletcher, governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky, rescinds a 2003 executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the public sector.[3]
May
27 – An attempt to stage the first-ever gay pride march in Moscow ends with violence and mass arrests, after activists took to the streets despite the ban by mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
The Federal Marriage Amendment fails to pass the U.S. Senate. Of the 60 votes required to invoke the cloture motion, 49 senators voted to put the amendment to a vote and 48 voted against.
Anti-discrimination law in the state of Washington enters into effect, after a ballot initiative to reverse it fails to collect enough signatures.[4]
29 – The Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Arkansas confirms a lower state court judgment, ruling that it is unconstitutional to ban lesbians and gays from being foster parents.
29 – The Anglican Journal reports that Terence Finlay, retired Archbishop of Toronto and Metropolitan of Ontario, has solemnised the marriage of a lesbian couple—and that Finlay's successor, Colin Johnson, has suspended his license to conduct weddings.[6]
October
16 – The government of Hong Kong accepts the decision of the appeals court to equalise the age of consent from 21 (for homosexual acts) to 16 (the legal age for heterosexual acts).[7]
25 – The New Jersey Supreme Court rules in a 4–3 decision that the state constitution guarantees same-sex couples all the legal benefits of marriage, but does not explicitly legalize same-sex marriage in the state.[8]
8 – The UK Government publishes regulations outlawing discrimination in Goods and Services covering Northern Ireland which are due to enter into force on the January 1,[13] which prove controversial with some religious groups[14]
9 – Yogyakarta Principles was developed at a meeting of the International Commission of Jurists, the International Service for Human Rights and human rights experts from around the world at Gadjah Mada University on Java, Indonesia from 6 to 9 November 2006.
1 – An equalised age of consent law comes into force in Isle of Man, reducing the legal age for homosexual activity from 18 to 16 to match the age for heterosexual activity.
11 – Three LGBT organisations—ILGA-Europe, LBL, and LSVD—are granted United Nations ECOSOC consultative status after a hard fought campaign from many non-governmental organizations.[20]
14
The New Jersey Legislature enacts a bill to establish civil unions in that state. The measure passed 56–19 in the Assembly, and 23–12 in the Senate. It will come into effect 60 days after the governor signs it.[21]
In the Republic of Ireland, the Labour party introduces a civil unions bill in the Dáil, to be debated in early 2007.[22][23]
19 – New Jersey bans gender identity discrimination in the private sector.[24]
21 – New Jersey governor Jon Corzine signs the bill establishing civil unions in the state. The first civil union licenses become available on February 20, 2007.[25]
Deaths
January 30 – Coretta Scott King, 78, American civil rights activist and advocate of gay rights
February 18 – Laurel Hester, 49, American police officer whose fight to name her domestic partner as her pension beneficiary garnered national attention[2]
May 24 – Fritz Klein, 73, American bisexual sex researcher and psychiatrist
July 3 – Nimrod Ping, 58, British gay architect and politician
