The top 15 queer newsmakers of 2009
Filed by: Alex Blaze
December 31, 2009 1:30 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/12/the_top_15_queer_newsmakers_of_2009.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2009/12/the_top_15_queer_newsmakers_of_2009.php)
I drew up a list of the top 15 LGBTQ people who kept on making the headlines, both here in LGBTQ media and in straight media. These are not the "15 greatest LGBT people of 2009," nor are they the "15 people who advanced equality the most in 2009." This isn't "Alex Blaze's favorite people," either, since that list would be very different and a lot less photogenic. They're people who identify as L, G, B, T, or Q who, for one reason or many, got talked about in American media.
snip
10. Diane Schroer
Col. Diane Schroer was denied employment by the Library of Congress in an obvious case of transphobic bias, and she went to court and fought. The court eventually decided that discrimination based on gender identity was literally the equivalent of sex discrimination. She was awarded half a million dollars in May and testified for the ENDA later in the year.
3. Chaz Bono
When Chaz Bono, who most Americans knew as Sonny and Cher's little girl, announced he was transitioning, he became the most famous transgender person in America. He started a deeply personal process on the national stage, and he immediately became the subject of attacks from both the right and other, assorted, uneducated Americans. He's the first person that I know of, though, to explain the difference between sex and gender on Good Morning America. He never shied from LGBT causes in the past, and I'm sure he'll keep on leading America through Transgender 101 well into 2010