chance, after first mistaking him for a scarecrow,
but Shepard later died from his wounds without
regaining consciousness. Neither killer could be
prosecuted for hate crimes under federal or Wyo-
ming statutes. Though one of Shepard’s killers
could have faced the death penalty, Shepard’s
mother interceded, asking that the hatred stop, so
both Henderson and McKinney received two con-
current life sentences. Shepard’s death spurred
action groups to demand legislative action leading
to more inclusive hate crime laws, as the Hate
Crime Statistics Act that President George H. W.
Bush had signed in 1990 stipulated only studying
hate crimes against gays, not sanctions against their
killers.
Not all civil rights victories in the era stemmed
from tragedy. Some successes originated in the work
of activists throughout North America. For instance,
Nova Scotia added sexual orientation to its Human
Rights Act as early as 1991. New Brunswick and Brit-
ish Columbia followed suit in the following year, and
Saskatchewan in 1993. That year also marked comic
strip artist Lynn Johnston’s addition of a coming out
theme to her popular stripFor Better or For Worse.
Finally, in 1996, sexual orientation was added to the
Canadian Human Rights Act.
In the United States, numerous corporate entities
introduced domestic partner health benefits, includ-
ing those for same-sex domestic partners. In 1996,
the Southern Baptist Convention boycotted Disney
after it extended benefits to same-sex domestic part-
ners, but the boycott failed to affect the company fi-
nancially or otherwise. Disney’s move encouraged
other corporations to follow its lead. Throughout
the decade, states ratified constitutional amend-
ments prohibiting employment and housing dis-
crimination against homosexuals. Also, the Su-
preme Court ruled against a Colorado law that
would have prohibited gays and lesbians from legal
protections inRomer v. Evans(1996).
In the religious sector, some religions began ac-
cepting openly gay clergy, including Reform Juda-
ism, which in 1990 agreed to allow gay and lesbian
rabbis. Throughout the decade, celebrities came out
of the closet, including actress and comedian Ellen
DeGeneres and singers K. D. Lang and Melissa
Etheridge. Finally, some victories came in the health
arena: The 1994 discovery of protease inhibitors led
to a decrease of approximately 50 percent in AIDS
deaths.
Same-Sex Marriage The battle for gay and lesbian
rights in the 1990’s, in both Canada and the United
States, focused on the struggle to gain equal mar-
riage rights. Starting in 1990, Hawaii became the
center of the gay marriage controversy in the United
States. Ninia Baehr, her partner Genora Dancel, and
two other same-sex couples wished to marry, and
they had to go against a state law prohibiting same-
sex marriage. Their 1991 lawsuit,Baehr vs. Lewin
(later renamedBaehr vs. Miike), argued that the state
constitution’s due process and equal protection
clauses made the law prohibiting same-sex marriage
unconstitutional. The Hawaii Supreme Court sup-
ported the couples, and they issued a legal challenge
against the law.
In 1996, Judge Kevin Chang ruled that the cou-
ples could marry. However, the historic decision did
not precipitate a tide of same-sex weddings. Indeed,
Hawaiian public opinion was fairly antigay, and state
voters amended the constitution in 1998 to prohibit
same-sex marriage. The state had already issued an
appeal against Chang’s 1996 ruling, so when the
constitution changed, the Supreme Court had to
overturn the decision and prohibit the weddings.
Nationally, antigay backlash reigned as well.
When Chang’s ruling made gay marriage possible in
Hawaii, if only for a short while, conservative House
Speaker Newt Gingrich introduced the Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage as be-
tween one man and one woman. The bill passed the
House of Representatives by a vote of 346 to 67 and
the Senate by 85 to 14. Moreover, President Clinton
agreed to sign it. The act was aimed at discouraging
other states from legalizing gay marriage. While it
did not prohibit states from doing so, it announced
that other states were not required to recognize such
unions. The Religious Right controlled the national
discussion, with Gingrich and other majority leaders
proclaiming same-sex marriages a threat to “tradi-
tional” family values.
However, same-sex couples challenged this posi-
tion. In 1998, Alaskan courts ruled that the state’s
constitution did not prohibit gay marriage, but the
legislature quickly added a constitutional amend-
ment prohibiting same-sex unions. By 1999, the
backlash was decreasing, and some states began ac-
cepting the notion of gay legal unions. In 1999, the
Vermont Supreme Court determined that the state’s
constitution ensured same-sex and opposite-sex
couples the same protections. The following year,432 Homosexuality and gay rights The Nineties in America