On this day in queerstory: fighting abuse of religious freedom laws

March 23 is one of those dates where queer history moves through institutions — courts, parliaments, and cultural platforms — while, as ever, the real momentum builds in the background through activism and visibility.

A key legal milestone connected to this date comes from the United States. On March 23, 2015, the state of Indiana saw intensifying debate around proposed “religious freedom” legislation that would soon become the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. LGBTQ advocacy groups, businesses, and civil rights organisations quickly raised concerns that the law could be used to justify discrimination against queer people.

Protests, boycotts, and national media attention followed. Companies threatened to withdraw investment, and activists organised demonstrations in Indianapolis and beyond. Within days of the bill’s passage later that month, lawmakers were forced to amend it to clarify that it could not be used to deny services based on sexual orientation. The episode became a defining example of how quickly public opinion — and corporate pressure — could mobilise in defence of LGBTQ rights.

March 23 also connects to one of the most significant moments in global queer political recognition. On this day in 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council continued discussions that would lead, later that year, to the first-ever UN resolution affirming the rights of LGBTQ people. The resolution, formally adopted in June 2011, marked the first time the United Nations explicitly recognised sexual orientation and gender identity as matters of international human rights.

The groundwork for that resolution was laid through months of debate, advocacy, and diplomatic negotiation — much of it happening in early 2011. Activists and NGOs worked behind the scenes to persuade member states, while protests and public campaigns highlighted violence and discrimination faced by LGBTQ people worldwide.

Culturally, March 23 has also played a role in the rise of queer television in the streaming era. In 2018, the second season of Queer Eye was released on Netflix, cementing the show’s status as a global phenomenon. Featuring Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, and Bobby Berk, the series expanded its reach beyond the United States, bringing queer narratives of care, identity, and self-acceptance into living rooms around the world.

The show’s success reflected a broader shift. Queer representation was no longer confined to niche programming or coded characters — it had become central to mainstream entertainment, with openly LGBTQ hosts leading a format built on empathy and emotional connection.

March 23 also falls within the cultural orbit of queer cinema. In 1990, the documentary Paris Is Burning, directed by Jennie Livingston, was continuing its festival and early theatrical run, introducing wider audiences to the ballroom culture of New York City.

The film documented the lives of Black and Latinx drag performers and trans women navigating poverty, racism, and marginalisation while building vibrant chosen families through ballroom “houses.” It became one of the most influential queer documentaries ever made, shaping how drag, voguing, and ballroom culture were understood — and later appropriated — by mainstream audiences.

Meanwhile, March 23 has often been a day of protest and visibility in parts of Eastern Europe. Throughout the 2010s, activists in cities like Moscow, Kyiv, and Warsaw organised demonstrations around this time of year to challenge anti-LGBTQ legislation and restrictions on public assembly.

These protests were frequently met with hostility, both from authorities and counter-demonstrators. But they persisted. March after March, activists showed up — sometimes in large numbers, sometimes in small, determined groups — insisting on visibility in places where it was often actively discouraged.

And then, as always, there’s the quieter record. Flyers and listings show March 23 as a regular fixture for queer nightlife: drag shows, club nights, community fundraisers in cities like Berlin, Toronto, and Madrid.

These spaces rarely make headlines, but they’re where culture is created in real time — where new performers emerge, where activists meet, where communities sustain themselves.

March 23, then, is about pressure and presence. Legal battles, international recognition, cultural breakthroughs — all moving forward at once, pushed along by people who refused to stay invisible.

History, on this day, looks less like a single moment and more like a steady, collective insistence: we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.