THE YEAR IN REVIEW

2024 was a challenging year in many ways, with communities around the world experiencing war crimes, climate crises, hate-fuelled political campaigns and more. The news cycles and social media feeds that we consume daily often reflect this, making it difficult to remain optimistic. However, it is important to take time to acknowledge the accomplishments that take place amid the hardships. Joy is a form of resistance that can be used to sustain activism. It fuels an emotional response, creating momentum that propels movements. We celebrate to acknowledge why it’s worth fighting and encourage others to join in.

With that in mind, we have gone through all of the articles published by GCN in 2024 and pulled out some of the best news stories to lift our spirits as we enter the new year. This is just a selection of our community’s amazing achievements over the last 12 months, and we look forward to seeing what more we can accomplish in 2025.

January

7th Rebecca Tallon de Havilland becomes the first openly trans person in Ireland to host their own TV series

8th RuPaul wins a historic eighth consecutive Emmy for hosting Drag Race

9th Gabriel Attal makes history as France’s first openly gay Prime Minister

13th Huang Jie becomes Taiwan’s first openly LGBTQ+ legislator

22nd David Norris, Ireland’s longest-serving senator, officially retires after 36 years

24th Lucy Clark makes history as the first trans manager in the top five divisions of English women’s football

26th Amber Glenn becomes the first out queer woman to win the US Figure Skating Championship

February

3rd Andrew Muir becomes Northern Ireland’s first openly gay Minister in the Executive, while John Blair becomes the first openly gay Deputy Speaker in the Assembly

6th The UK Parliament hosts its first all-trans panel about transgender experiences in school

7th A landmark ruling in Japan allows a trans man to change his legal gender without undergoing mandatory surgery

15th Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage

16th Klub Kwén, the Midlands’ first LGBTQ+ club night, launches in Athlone

March

1st Grace Wilson makes history as the first professional Australian footballer to come out as non-binary

7th Disrupt, Ireland’s first annual disability arts festival, begins

10th Billie Eilish makes history as the youngest ever person to win two Oscars

14th Pride Vibes wins the Audio for Change Award at the Irish Audio Awards

22nd New South Wales becomes the fourth Australian state to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’

25th Katie-George Dunlevy sets a new Irish sprint record at the Para-cycling Track World Championships

April

1st US immigration introduces an ‘X’ gender option for citizenship applications

1st Scotland’s new hate crime law comes into effect

4th The UN adopts a historic resolution addressing discrimination and violence against intersex people

12th Germany passes a law making legal gender change easier

12th Disability rights activists celebrate as Green Paper proposals in Ireland are scrapped

13th Cork Women’s Fun Weekend celebrates its 40th anniversary

14th Jessica Andrade, a lesbian MMA fighter, sets a new record for most wins in women’s UFC history

14th India Willoughby makes history as the first trans patron of a pro sports club

17th Sweden lowers the age requirement for legal gender change to 16

22nd Dominica decriminalises same-sex activity between consenting adults

24th Cork’s Gay Project celebrates its 40th anniversary

May

9th Czechia’s top court strikes down a law that previously required trans people to undergo surgery to legally change their gender

16th Liechtenstein legalises same-sex marriage with a near-unanimous vote

16th Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners celebrates the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Pits and Perverts Ball

29th The Assisted Human Reproduction Bill passes the final stage of the Dáil

June

3rd Micky Murray becomes the first out gay mayor of Belfast and Pete Byrne becomes the first openly LGBTQ+ Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down Council

8th Mermaids House, Northern Ireland’s first community space for trans, non-binary and genderdiverse youth, opens in Belfast

9th Balbriggan Pride hosts its first-ever festival

9th Declan Meehan makes history as Donegal’s first out gay elected councillor

15th Longford Pride hosts its first-ever parade

15th Kyiv Pride takes place for the first time since the Russian invasion

18th Thailand becomes the first Southeast Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage

21st The Namibia High Court overturns the country’s ban on same-sex activity

24th The first audible Pride flag releases for blind and partially sighted people

26th US veterans who were convicted under a law banning same-sex relationships in the military are pardoned

28th The Stonewall National Monument Visitors Center opens on the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

30th The Istanbul Pride parade takes place despite a ban

30th The Lavender and Green Alliance celebrates its 30th anniversary at the New York City Pride Parade

July

3rd The Irish Gay Rights Movement celebrates its 50th anniversary

6th Donegal Bay Pride hosts its first-ever parade in Bundoran

18th The South Korea Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples can benefit from the same insurance plans as heterosexual couples

23rd Michigan becomes the 20th US state to ban the ‘gay or trans panic’ defence

26th Faoin Tuath launches to connect LGBTQ+ people in rural Ireland

31st The Nepalese Supreme Court rules that a trans woman can have her gender legally recognised without having to submit medical verification

August

4th Cindy Ngamba, an LGBTQ+ boxer, makes history as the first-ever medallist for the Refugee Olympic Team

10th Galway Pride celebrates its 35th anniversary with a week-long festival

12th Ireland’s first Gaeltacht camp for LGBTQ+ adults begins

23rd Roscommon Pride hosts its inaugural festival

26th Jonathan Berry makes history as the first gay Indigenous man to win Mr Universe

30th Newry Pride makes a triumphant return with its first celebration in five years

September

2nd Valentina Petrillo makes history as the first trans Paralympian

3rd Charra Tea, a Belfat drag queen, is announced among the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 6

4th Katie-George Dunlevy wins gold in the women’s time trial B event at the Paralympic Games

6th Fermanagh Pride hosts its first-ever celebration

12th Malta enacts a new law introducing a non-binary option on birth certificates

18th Trans+ Library launches as the world’s largest free mental health resource for trans people

26th Blood on the Dance Floor, a podcast about the murder of gay Northern Irish police officer Darren Bradshaw, wins the True Crime and Best Documentary prizes at the British Documentary Awards

October

3rd The Council of Europe adopts the first-ever resolution addressing the rights of lesbian, bisexual and queer women

9th Gay Project purchases a new community centre building in Cork

13th Dima Hamdan, a Palestinian filmmaker, wins the world’s largest LGBTQ+ short film prize

15th John Mangru designs for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, which also features trans models for the first time ever

20th Drag Race South Africa gets greenlit, marking the series’ first African spin-off

21st Coimisiún na Meán introduces new rules to protect Irish social media users from incitement to violence and hatred

23rd Transgender men meet with Pope Francis to discuss LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church

29th The Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024 is signed by President of Ireland Michael D Higgins

29th Na Gaeil Aeracha makes history as the first explicitly LGBTQ+-inclusive team to win a GAA cup final

30th Agatha All Along makes history with Marvel’s first on-screen lesbian kiss between superpowered characters

30th The Tokyo High Court finds Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional

November

1st ‘Brat’ is crowned Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2024

6th Irish LGBTQ+ organisations launch a first-of-itskind manifesto ahead of the general election

9th Shamrock Síoga and Dykesketball compete in Ireland’s first-ever LGBTQ+ basketball tournament

11th Cork City Council becomes the first to pass a motion tackling misinformation following Belong To’s #CheckTheFacts campaign

12th New York’s Staten Island St Patrick’s Day Parade lifts a 60-year ban on LGBTQ+ groups

18th Ali Bromley makes history as the first lesbian winner of Big Brother UK

27th The US Department of Health and Human Services introduces a new rule allowing liver and kidney transplants between HIV positive donors and patients

28th Mildmay Mission Hospital, which has a legacy of HIV/AIDS care, has a London Overground line renamed after it

December

1st Belgium becomes the first country to grant employment rights to sex workers

1st The White House displays the AIDS Memorial Quilt for the first time

2nd Alex Consani makes history as the first trans person to win Model of the Year at The Fashion Awards

3rd Fórsa Trade Union establishes its first-ever LGBTQ+ network

4th Chase Stangio makes history as the first openly trans lawyer to present before the US Supreme Court