This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1998.
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February
- 10 – Voters in the US state of Maine reject a law enacted in 1997 banning sexual orientation discrimination in the private sector with 51.5 percent against.[1]
November
- 3
- 20 – In the U.S. state of Texas, John Lawrence and Tyrone Garner are fined US$125 each after being arrested for having sex in their home. They refuse to pay the fine, resulting in a challenge of the Texas sodomy law which would eventually lead to the 2003 nationwide repeal of sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas.[13]
- 23 – The Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Georgia rules 6 to 1 to invalidate that state's sodomy law.[14]
- 28 – In Allston, Massachusetts, transgender woman of color Rita Hester is murdered. The ensuing candlelight vigil a few days later was attended by 250 people and inspired the Transgender Day of Remembrance, observed each Nov 20 worldwide.[15]
December
- 1 – Officials in Miami, Florida, vote 7–6 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and housing.[16]
- 18 – The Maryland Court of Appeals rules that a parent's access to his or her children cannot be restricted due to his or her sexual orientation.[17]
- 22 – In New Zealand, Minister of Immigration Tuariki Delamere announces equality for gay and lesbian couples applying for permanent residency, to take effect on March 29, 1999.
- October 12 – Matthew Shepard, 21, gay-bashing victim[5][6][8]
- November 28 – Rita Hester, transgender murder victim[15]
- November 30 – Simon Nkoli, South African gay-rights and anti-apartheid activist. He was one of the "first Black anti-apartheid activists to publicly identify as gay and HIV-positive".[18]
Mayhead and DeVore Marshall, p. 101
- Mayhead, Molly A. and Brenda DeVore Marshall (2005). Women's Political Discourse: A 21st-century Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-2909-6.