• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Zimmer Law Firm logo Zimmer Law Firm
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • Communities We Serve
      • Butler County
        • Fairfield
        • Hamilton
        • West Chester
      • Clermont County
        • Milford
      • Hamilton County
        • Blue Ash
        • Cincinnati
        • Loveland
        • Montgomery
        • Sharonville
      • Warren County
        • Mason
    • Our Client Care Program
  • Services
    • Estate Planning
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA Inheritance Planning
    • Legacy Wealth Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Medicaid Planning and Elder Law
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Young Adult Protection Plan
  • Live Events
    • Webinars
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Blue Ash
      • Cincinnati
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Fairfield
      • Hamilton
      • Loveland
      • Montgomery
      • Sharonville
      • West Chester
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate & Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Free Estate Planning Checklist
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Legacy Planning Definitions
      • Top 10 Estate Planning Techniques
    • FAQs
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Probate Resources
      • Blue Ash
      • Cincinnati
      • Hamilton
      • Loveland
      • Mason
      • Milford
      • Probate Checklist
      • Sharonville
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
      • West Chester
    • Presentations
  • Blog
  • Reviews
  • Contact

Zimmer Law Firm

Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorneys

513.721.1513
Request a Free Consultation
Request a Free Consultation

Google initial with star next to it

  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • Communities We Serve
      • Butler County
        • Fairfield
        • Hamilton
        • West Chester
      • Clermont County
        • Milford
      • Hamilton County
        • Blue Ash
        • Cincinnati
        • Loveland
        • Montgomery
        • Sharonville
      • Warren County
        • Mason
    • Our Client Care Program
  • Services
    • Estate Planning
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA Inheritance Planning
    • Legacy Wealth Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Medicaid Planning and Elder Law
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Young Adult Protection Plan
  • Live Events
    • Webinars
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Blue Ash
      • Cincinnati
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Fairfield
      • Hamilton
      • Loveland
      • Montgomery
      • Sharonville
      • West Chester
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate & Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Free Estate Planning Checklist
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Legacy Planning Definitions
      • Top 10 Estate Planning Techniques
    • FAQs
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Probate Resources
      • Blue Ash
      • Cincinnati
      • Hamilton
      • Loveland
      • Mason
      • Milford
      • Probate Checklist
      • Sharonville
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
      • West Chester
    • Presentations
  • Blog
  • Reviews
  • Contact

Home Our Blog Update Your Estate Plan for LGBT History Month

Update Your Estate Plan for LGBT History Month

By Barry Zimmer on October 4th, 2022 in Estate Planninng

Loveland estate planning attorney

Every year in October, the LGBT community and its supporters celebrate LGBT History Month.  If you will be among those who are celebrating the importance of LGBT history this October, this is also a great time to focus on your estate plan. LGBT History Month reminds us that while great strides have been made in the fight for equality, protecting yourself, your assets, and your loved ones through comprehensive estate planning remains essential. With that in mind, the Loveland area estate planning attorneys at Zimmer Law Firm urge you to update your estate plan for LGBT History Month.

LGBT History Month

In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to celebrating and teaching gay and lesbian history, so he gathered other teachers and community leaders together to create what would eventually become LGBT History Month. The idea garnered early support from organizations such as GLAAD, the National Education Association, and the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

October was chosen because public schools were in session and because the month already included the by-then well-established National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11th) as well as the anniversary of the first march on Washington by LGBT people in 1979 (Oct. 14th). The month now also includes Spirit Day on Oct. 20th, on which people around the country wear purple in support of LGBT youth; Ally Week, a week in which allies against LGBT bullying are celebrated; and the anniversary of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard’s murder on Oct. 12, 1998, which sparked the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

During the early years, the celebration was largely marked by a call to action and commemoration. But since then, LGBT History Month has blossomed into a nationally coordinated effort to highlight exemplary role models from the LGBT community. Since 2006, this push has so far been led by LGBT rights and education organization Equality Forum which assumed responsibility for providing content, promotion, and resources for LGBT History Month.  On the celebration’s website this year (and every year since they took charge), Equality Forum is highlighting a new LGBT icon every day with a video, biography, images and bibliography describing the person’s significance. So far, Kyle Allums — the first openly transgender athlete to play NCAA Division I college basketball — poetry great John Ashbery, and cartoonist Alison Bechdel — who won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book in 2007 — have been reviewed.  Over the years that Equality Forum has been doing this, they have amassed the biographies and stories of almost 200 LGBT people who have made a difference to the community and the world.

LGBTQ Estate Planning

After decades of fighting for the right to marry, the Supreme Court finally acknowledged the fundamental right of same-sex couples in the 2015 case of Obergefell v. Hodges.  Whether that historical decision truly ended the fight for LGBTQ equality remains to be seen. We do know that obstacles and hurdles remain.

For example, the law cannot force family members to accept your marriage or relationship. If your family does not respect your relationship, your partner/spouse could be excluded from the decision-making process in the event of your incapacity or death.

Fortunately, your estate plan can make your wishes clear and legally enforceable. Executing an advance directive, for instance, will give your partner/spouse the legal right to make healthcare decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. Appointing your partner/spouse as your Executor and/or Trustee will give him/her the legal authority to administer your estate and/or the trust you created. While the fight for complete LGBTQ equality continues in earnest, estate planning continues to protect LGBTQ rights in the meantime.

Contact a Loveland Area Estate Planning Attorney

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE webinar. If you have additional questions or concerns about LGBT estate planning, contact an experienced Loveland area estate planning attorney at Zimmer Law Firm by calling 513-721-1513 to schedule your appointment today.

Primary Sidebar

Request a Free Consultation

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

What Our Clients Say

Some years ago, Barry Zimmer suggested we do a basic estate plan for our son when he went to college. We had no idea how important it would be! In our son's freshman year, he ended up in the hospital, and we were able to get crucial information about his condition because we had a health care ...

Read All Testimonials

Zimmer Law Firm

9825 Kenwood Road
Suite 201
Cincinnati, OH 45242

Copyright © 2025 Zimmer Law Firm
Disclaimer Privacy Policy

 

Make a Payment