This issue in This Day in History, we'll be focusing on a range of days in mid-April rather than just one day. As we travel throughout time, many of the events highlighted will vary from being frustrating to triumphant. Please keep this in mind before reading as if you are not in the headspace to read some of the more unfortunate actions throughout history against the LGBTQ+ community, this may not be the right article for you. However, I hope you enjoy the other articles in this issue if that is the case and that you stay tuned for future installments of This Day in History. Let's jump right in!

April 19th
We start off with a bit of a tragedy. On this day in 1989, the U.S. Navy experienced a gun turret explosion on the U.S. battleship Iowa, killing nearly fifty crew members. The blame was placed on Clayton Hartwig, with the Navy suspecting he was having a homosexual affair with a fellow sailor, Kendall Truitt, and that Hartwig was suicidal at the conclusion of this affair. Later, the suspicions were revised to say that Hartwig was not homosexual and that the cause of the accident was unknown. In lighter news, on this day in 2000, the state of Vermont made a momentous decision to allow same-sex unions and award these couples the same benefits that heterosexual couples receive in being married.

April 20th
In 1962, the state of Illinois became the first in the United States to make it no longer illegal for two adults to engage in homosexual acts within their home. However, in 1977, the state of Nevada maintained these acts as criminal and added a clause to prohibit parole for individuals convicted of this with some small exceptions. In 2001 in China, new classifications of mental disorders removed homosexuality from the list, making it no longer viewed as a mental illness in the country. In 2005, Connecticut passed new legislature to allow same-sex marriages.

April 21st
In 1981, two gay men kissed each other goodbye in Fort Lauderdale Airport. Upon a policeman seeing this, the two were arrested for this simple act. In 1990, students at the University of Massachusetts hosted a "Straight Pride" rally against homosexual individuals. In 2005, clergyman Ken Hutcherson threatened Microsoft with a boycott lest they stop their support for a bill. The bill was aimed towards making it illegal for companies to fire employees based on sexual orientation. Microsoft ended up giving in to the threats, unfortunately. In 2011, a Montana judge ruled against same-sex couples being able to have the same marriage benefits as heterosexual couples stating the state's legislature supported the ruling.

April 22nd
Revisiting our brief mention of Microsoft from April 21st, the bill that was originally supported by the company that would have made it illegal for companies to fire based on sexual orientation was just barely defeated.

April 23rd
In 1967, a student group of Columbia University, the Student Homophile League, interrupted a group of psychiatrists having a panel on homosexuality. This organization was one of the first gay student associations in the United States, and was formed in 1966. They sought equal rights for people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender.

This issue, we'll be covering LGBTQ+ News from across the world! Not all of it is positive, but such is life. Let's dive right in.

First off, the president of Uganda has sent a bill back to parliament after refusing to sign it, though the president seems to support it with a few alterations. The law would impose the death penalty for homosexuality while currently, homosexuality is punishable by life in prison. If the president sends it back to parliament a second time, it may be passed without his acceptance. There is more to the bill than just sentencing all homosexual people to death, such as allowing those who seek rehabilitation to avoid the death penalty, but it is still incredibly harsh. Either way, this bill is very threatening to the LGBTQ+ community, but it seems it will still be passed in some form. If the death penalty is put in place for homosexuality, there's no telling what may come from that but it certainly can't be good, especially for those living in Uganda.

Moving to California, let's focus on some good news. San Diego is looking to open a homeless shelter for queer youth. This incentive not only seeks to help those who are unhoused due to poverty, but also because of being rejected from their family due to their identity. Those who run the shelter do so with the intent to be supportive of the youth that live there, especially because many will go through life wondering who is an ally and who is not. They are looking to implement some interim locations in the next few months, and I am so excited to see so many LGBTQ+ youths being supported by this new shelter.

Now, let's move to Japan. LGBTQ+ groups are looking to the government to finally legalize same-sex marriages and to bring forth legislation against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. This comes as Japan will be hosting a Group of Seven summit in May. For those of you, like me, who aren't familiar with Group of Seven, it includes the seven nations with the largest advanced economies. These seven are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States, as well as the European Union. Japan is currently the only of these seven nations to not have same-sex marriage legalized and LGBTQ+ groups see them hosting the summit as an opportunity to change this. Japan's Prime Minister and other people have pushed back on this, but that has not discouraged the efforts. We will have to wait and see what happens, but I truly hope for the best.

This is only a small piece of what is happening in our world currently. It's uplifting to see lots of good things happening across the world, though there are still many deep-rooted issues mixed in. I continue to look forward to more positive news in the future, especially with Pride month and all of the celebrations that come with it coming up in June. Until next time!