LGBT Issues

St. Louis Protesters Rally Against Allowing Gay Boy Scouts: "We Are Not Out To Discriminate"

Protesters are staging a rally in St. Louis today urging the Boy Scouts of America to reject a policy change that would allow openly gay members. Linda Briggs-Harty, a Brentwood mother who will be attending the rally, tells Daily RFT, "We are not out to discriminate." She says, "We are talking a ... More >>

Father Gary Meier, St. Louis Catholic Priest, Announces He is Gay

In 2011, a slender book came out called Hidden Voices: Reflections of a Gay, Catholic Priest. The author was "Anonymous." "This book is for all of those who are being or have been driven away," reads the introduction. "And that's not just the gay population; it's all of those who have accepted a me ... More >>

LGBT Bullying: Why Does Rep. Sue Allen Oppose Specific Protections for Gay Students?

An anti-bullying bill at the Missouri legislature has died -- and Representative Sue Allen, the sponsor of the proposal, is now casting blame on openly gay lawmakers. At the center of the fight is a debate around specified protections for LGBT students, which Allen opposes. "These are people who t ... More >>

Mark Kirk of Illinois Second GOP Senator to Back Gay Marriage, Week After Claire McCaskill

Missouri Democratic Governor Jay Nixon may not want to talk about gay marriage right now -- but Mark Kirk, Republican Senator from Illinois, is not shying away from the topic. Just a little over a week after Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, expressed her support for marriage equality for the fi ... More >>

Timothy Dolan: Church Should Be Welcoming to Gay People (But Not With Marriage Equality)

Over the last week, gay marriage has been all over the news -- even in Missouri. Senator Claire McCaskill for the first time expressed her support for marriage equality, Governor Jay Nixon dodged questions on the matter and Anheuser-Busch inspired homophobic beer drinkers to weigh in on Facebook. ... More >>

Gay Marriage: Governor Jay Nixon Doesn't Want to Talk About it Right Now

With the United States Supreme Court considering gay marriage this week, people across the country are talking about the issue of marriage equality. But not Governor Jay Nixon. Questioned about it at a press conference yesterday -- just two days after Senator Claire McCaskill publicly stated her su ... More >>

[UPDATE] Will Illinois Legalize Gay Marriage During This Week's Lame Duck Session?

Update January 3, 2:15 p.m.: The same-sex marriage bill will not be heard by the state senate until next week, Illinois Senate Democrats said in a statement this afternoon. Several senators whose "yay" votes are considered necessary for the bill to pass are currently away from Springfield due to fam ... More >>

Gateway Pundit Says Westboro Baptist Church is "Left-Wing." So What Are His Views On Gays?

Over the past week, St. Louis-based political blogger Jim Hoft, a.k.a. Gateway Pundit, has caused a bit of an Internet stir by referring to Fred Phelps and his batshit-insane Westboro Baptist Church as a "left-wing cult."Left-wing? How could you possibly label a gay-bashing, abortion-hating, Obama-l ... More >>

St. Louis One of Nation's Most LGBT-Friendly Cities

The Human Rights Campaign unveiled yesterday its Municipal Equality Index (MEI), which rates the public policies and legal rights of LGBT citizens in 137 U.S. cities -- and it turns out that, in terms of LGBT legislation, St. Louis is one of the most progressive cities in the country. Yes, it's tru ... More >>

St. Louis County Approves Protections for LGBT Residents

By a vote of 4-3 the St. Louis County Council last night approved adding sexual orientation and gender identity to its non-discrimination ordinance. The measure makes it illegal to fire an employee based on his or her sexuality as well as deny members of the LGBT community from housing and use of pu ... More >>

Game Changer: Chris Kluwe is prying open America's last closet: major league sports

LGBT Missourians Are Less Likely to Receive Medical Care

Remember when someone asked T.I. what he thought about gay marriage and he said, "Why would you be so against it if it doesn't affect you or your lifestyle?" That was nice, and a common sentiment among gay marriage supporters. So what if denying homosexuals the right to marry not only affects the ... More >>

Anti-Gay Chick-fil-A Ditched By Muppets, Humans, You? Vote Here!

It's never been a secret that Chick-fil-A, a fast food chain that is closed on Sundays and has previously spouted an anti-gay agenda, lacks a certain separation of church and chicken. We've shared our views on the company's politics before, as have many, and now it seems the rest of the world is tak ... More >>

The Gay Selma: Schools ignore gay bullying at their own peril

Bill Would Outlaw Homosexual Discussion in Missouri Schools

A Missouri legislator from near the Arkansas border is pushing a bill that would severly restrict conversations about sexual orientation in Missouri schools.State Rep. Steve Cookson's HB 2051 is backed by 19 co-sponsors who helped push the legislation last week to the House Elementary and Secondary ... More >>

Wishin' and Hopin' and Still Comin' Out

ACLU Sues Missouri School District for Blocking Student Access to LGBT Websites

​Last week we told you about how Internet software used by dozens of school districts in Missouri blocked student access to websites dealing with gay, lesbian and transgender issues. Now the ACLU of Eastern Missouri has sued one of those districts, which it says refuses to lift the block for its s ... More >>

LGBT Protections, Domestic Partnership Registry on the Books in Olivette

​Last night, Olivette city council passed two measures that solidify the suburb as a welcoming place for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.The Vital Voice reports that the council unanimously passed bills 2672 and 2677. The bills create a domestic partnership registry and criminaliz ... More >>

St. Louis Mayor Wants Missouri to Allow Civil Unions

Slay in a No Hate promo.​Francis Slay used his blog yesterday to call on state legislators to pass a law allowing gay couples in Missouri to commit to civil unions. The St. Louis Mayor writes that Illinois' recently enacted law allowing civil unions has made him realize the need for such a law in ... More >>

Gay Old Times: It's LGBT history to us. To them, it was life.

Same-Sex Couples Snap Up Civil Union Licenses In U. City

Already today, three U. City couples have formalized their domestic partnerships at City Hall.​Margaret Johnson laughed on the phone this morning with Daily RFT as she discussed her newly granted civil union license. Johnson and her partner arrived at the clerk's office in University City ten ... More >>

Akin's Letter Helps Halt Same-Sex Civil Unions on Navy Bases

You should have stuck to your guns, Rear Admiral Tidd!​The Navy has reversed course on its momentous decision to allow same-sex civil unions to be performed by chaplains on bases. And it's thanks in part to Missouri's own U.S. representatives Todd Akin and Vicky Hartlzer, plus 61 of their colleagu ... More >>

Todd Akin Outraged With Plan for Navy Chaplains to Oversee Gay Weddings

The Navy is "Akin" for a fight, says congressman.​Missouri Congressman Todd Akin (R - Town & Country) released a letter yesterday he sent to the Secretary of the Navy, demanding that the Navy abolish plans to allow its chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. The Navy is considering the issue ... More >>

Homophobic Activist Converts, Admits Same-Sex Civil Marriage Should Be a Universal Right

This man has changed his mind.​Remember when the Summer of Marriage tour stopped in St. Louis back in August?(To refresh your memory: the National Organization for Marriage, a homophobic group espousing "traditional" values, came to town to rally against same-sex marriage. People in support of sam ... More >>

Survey Seeks Input from Trans Folks in Missouri

​If you're transgender in this country, there's a 41 percent chance you've attempted to kill yourself. And if you happen to live in Missouri, it's 50 percent -- half of trans people in Missouri reported suicide attempts.This chilling fact sits among other appalling metrics for transgendered people ... More >>

"America's Finest News Source" Weighs in On Iowa Same-Sex Marriage

theonion.comDavenport descends into post-gay hell, as imagined by The Onion.​Our neighbors in Iowa have enjoyed the right to same-sex marriage since 2009, but it hasn't been without controversy. This November, for instance, three state Supreme Court justices who helped strike down the state's proh ... More >>

What Does Gay Marriage and the Economy Have In Common?

Ministers, justices of the peace, cake bakers, license clerks: A few folks who could see job growth.​In a move heralded by same-sex couples across the nation, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder informed Congress yesterday that the Obama administration would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage ... More >>

Same-Sex Unions Now Law of the Land of Lincoln

​As expected, Illinois governor Pat Quinn yesterday signed off on a bill legalizing civil unions in that state.Two month ago, the measure passed in both houses."We believe in civil rights, and we believe in civil unions," Quinn said at a signing ceremony at the Chicago Cultural Center. "We believe ... More >>

Happy Big 3-0, St. Louis LGBT Media!

​For three decades, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in St. Louis has had a voice in print. Several evolutions from its beginnings, Vital VOICE Magazine is celebrating 30 years of LGBT media, and it's shaping up to be quite the party."We have really grown and showcased how grea ... More >>

Missouri Author Wins Award For Transgender Teen Fiction

​Brian Katcher's 2009 novel, Almost Perfect, has been grabbing attention and awards -- it just snagged the 2011 Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award, for which he'll be recognized at June's American Library Association Annual Conference. The book, Katcher's second novel, delves in ... More >>

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Is Dead. How Did Our Congresspeople Vote?

​Unless you've been hiding out under a rock, you probably heard that Saturday, the Senate followed the House in voting to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." DADT, signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, was meant to be a compromise on allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual soldiers to serve in ... More >>

Same-sex couples in St. Louis can get married in Iowa. They just can't ever get divorced.

Weston, MO Townsfolk Block Phelps Hate-Fest

Weston isn't having this trash in their town​Anti-gay hate mongers from Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church were repulsed from a funeral by about half the small town of Weston in Platte County on Saturday.The people in the town got wind of the Westboro hate group's plan to protest the funeral of ... More >>

Iowa Judges Booted for Supporting Same-Sex Marriage

​Three Iowa Supreme Court judges yesterday lost their seats in the wake of a concerted effort by out-of-state anti-LGBT activists who opposed the Court's unanimous 2009 decision allowing marriage for same-sex couples in that state.Since 1962, Iowa Supreme Court justices, who are appointed, have fa ... More >>

New Supports For LGBT Caregivers

​It's hard enough caring for a loved one fading into dementia. When issues surrounding sexual identity are at play, things can get downright complicated.So, to that end, a new support group for caregivers is forming as a collaborative effort between the Alzheimer's Association and SAGE Metro St. L ... More >>

Aging LGBT Folks Get Federal Boost

​Yesterday, the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging launched with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It's the first group of its kind: a federally funded/administered assistance-and-advocacy support network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans as they ... More >>

LGBT Stakeholders Critical to Neighborhoods

​Tomorrow night, City Affair will hold its monthly salon discussion of the St. Louis social and urban landscape. This month's discussion focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens and how they anchor and improve neighborhoods, including what St. Louis is doing to attract and suppor ... More >>

Gay Marriage Foes Pick a Great Time to Visit St. Louis

Tonight, St. Louis gets a long-scheduled visit from the National Organization for Marriage -- the anti-gay marriage folks behind this much-parodied gem, the famously and hilariously fear-mongering "Gathering Storm" YouTube clip.These people are scared shitless of gays and lesbians marrying each ot ... More >>

"Homophobic Remarks" Prompt Protest Outside Ike Skelton's District Office Today

Ike Skelton: Defender of Family Values​A group of gay-rights activists plans to protest outside U.S. Congressman Ike Skelton's district office in Jefferson City this morning. Members of the LGBT organizations GetEqual and Show Me No Hate say they will drop off a petition with 3,000-plus signatures ... More >>

LGBT Organizations Demand Apology From Congressman Ike Skelton

Skelton: Say you're sorry!​GetEQUAL, a national LGBT organization and Show Me No Hate, a Missouri LGBT rights group, are demanding a public apology from Ike Skelton, the Democratic House Representative from Missouri's 4th district, who last week stated he didn't want to change the military's "Don ... More >>

Mayor Francis Slay Urges LGBT Couples to Come Out and Be Counted in 2010 Census

MayorSlay.com​The United States census form does not always keep up with the times. On this year's form, for instance, people still have the option to identify themselves as "Negro," a term that all but disappeared in the late 1960s. The Census Bureau defended its decision by claiming that m ... More >>

Protesters Will Return to Cathedral Basilica Sunday, This Time Without The Police Hassle

The past four Sundays hundreds of people have gathered in front of the Cathedral Basilica in the Central West End to protest St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson's $10,000 contribution to a political campaign that helped repeal Maine's recently enacted gay marriage law.Last weekend the protesters, wh ... More >>

Babe 'n Arms: Tom was a hot-tempered cross-dresser with a garage full of guns — and then he became Rachel

Forty Years On

Middlesex

Pray the Gay Away

Pastor Jim Venice says he can turn homos into heteros. Credit cards welcome.

Pride and Prejudice

A ruckus rocks the gay community over a Log Cabin Republican's college scholarship

What a Difference a Gay Makes

Jade Esteban Estrada tells the tales you won't find in textbooks

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Despite glowing coverage of local gay events in the Post-Dispatch, bigotry is alive and well

New Scout Motto: Be Prepared For Bigotry