ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The St. Louis public school system has implemented changes to their employment benefits to include coverage for married, same-sex spouses.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – More than 450 Missouri-based companies from across the state, including two of the Fortune 500, are now voicing their support for the LGBT-inclusive Missouri Non-discrimination Act (MONA), which was introduced in both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly in February.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Missouri’s Hispanic business community is coming out in support of a proposed statewide LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination bill.

ST. LOUIS – Military diversity will be front and center again at this year’s St. Louis PrideFest and at events around the bi-state. 

ST. LOUIS – The Civil Courts building will be ablaze in rainbow lighting once again this year for St. Louis PrideFest thanks to the support of a local foundation.

ST. LOUIS – Community leaders, politicians and other dignitaries were on hand as hundreds attended last night's official Pride St. Louis kickoff party at The Stage at KDHX in Grand Center. PrideFest 2014 will be held at Soldier’s Memorial downtown, June 28-29, 2014.

ST. LOUIS – Out In The Park is a private LGBT Saturday night charity event featuring unlimited riding of Six Flags St. Louis amazing thrill rides with little to no lines! Imagine the park being closed to the general public at 9PM and then being surrounded by thousands of friends, family and supporters and partying in the park until Midnight. Imagine no more, Out In The Park St. Louis is happening in 2014!

ST. LOUIS – Get set for the 35^th annual St. Louis PrideFest celebration, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 28-29, 2014. For the second consecutive year, PrideFest organizers are proud to announce that the festival will take place in the heart of Downtown St. Louis, at Soldiers Memorial Park and in surrounding areas. Pride St. Louis, Inc. is also excited to partner with stl250, the organization responsible for planning and executing events in celebration of the 250^th birthday of St. Louis.

BELLEVILLE, IL - Hundreds of pride goers attended the 7^th annual Metro East PrideFest celebration in downtown Belleville, Ill. on Saturday, June 21 where the highlight of the day was the same-sex marriage ceremony held at the Main Stage.

ST. LOUIS, MO – The first of the Gateway City's PrideFest lighting came online tonight as the Civil Courts building and the top portion of Soldier’s Memorial were illuminated in glorious rainbow hues.

ST. LOUIS, MO – St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay announced that marriage licenses were issued to four same-sex couples by St. Louis Recorder of Deeds, Sharon Carpenter, June 25, coinciding with the one year anniversary of the Defense of Marriage Act being struck down. The weddings were performed at the St. Louis City Hall.

ST. LOUIS, MO – A challenge to Missouri's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was brought by St. Louis city officials after issuing marriage licenses to four same-sex couples last night.

ST. LOUIS — The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis has condemned a move by the city to challenge Missouri’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage after issuing marriage licenses to four same-sex couples late Wednesday.

ST. LOUIS, MO – St. Louis PrideFest 2014 kicked off on Saturday, June 28 with the 11 a.m. wreath laying ceremony on the steps of Soldier’s Memorial at the heart of festival. 

ST. LOUIS, MO – Thousands of pride goers descended on downtown for the 35^th anniversary St. Louis PrideFest. The June 28-29 event celebrating the LGBT community came on the heels of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announcing the marriage of four same sex couples at City Hall on Wednesday.

ST. LOUIS – The second Tower Grove Pride was held on Saturday, June 28. The event kicked off with a morning picnic at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market in Tower Grove Park before crowds descended on the festival at Grand and Hartford.

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL – The extended Independence Day weekend was an explosion of fairs, fireworks, pool parties and back yard barbecues for many in our area. It also included the much anticipated marriage of one of our community’s most celebrated couples.

Almost one month following the City of St. Louis issuing marriage licenses to four same-sex couples, the community gathered at Just John nightclub in the Grove, July 14, in both celebration and for the creation of history. 

ST. LOUIS – Fresh off winning best overall parade entry at this year’s PrideFest, around 30 members and supporters of the St. Louis Balloon Brigade were on hand at Meyer’s Grove, July 11, for the presentation of a $6,000 donation to PAWS St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS — The Metro Trans Umbrella Group (MTUG) has weighed in following yesterday’s sentencing of a one-time St. Louis police officer for harassing and intimidating Meg Hensley and her transgender partner Kandan Elliot late last year.

ST. LOUIS, MO – The St. Louis Black Gay & Lesbian Pride Committee has announced that the organization will not be producing its weekend of Black Pride events this year.

ST. LOUIS – Wet your whistle for a good cause at the 9^th annual “Thirst For Life” taking place throughout the city as close for 40 area bars, nightclubs, coffee houses and craft cocktail centric locations participate in the annual PAWS St. Louis fundraiser by donating 30-100-percent of beverage sales on Aug. 28, 2014.

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis County Human Relations Commission has been presented with an award from the St. Louis Jewish Communities PRIDE Coalition. 

ST. LOUIS, MO - #ShowMeMarriage announced today that a Sept. 29, 2014 hearing has been set for Missouri v Sharon Quigley Carpenter, the case pertaining to the issuance of marriage licenses to four St. Louis same-sex couples by the former St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds.

ST. LOUIS, MO ­ PROMO, Missouri's statewide LGBT advocacy organization, in concert with its peer statewide groups, released a statement, Aug. 15, about the racially charged shooting of Ferguson teen Michael Brown and the nights of unrest that have followed.

Out in the Park sponsor Ketel One has selected four area LGBT establishments for Four Fridays of Fun in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS – Among the many side stories that emerged from the coverage of the unrest following the racially charged shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson was the bizarre behavior of St. Louis County Officer Dan Page.

GLENDALE, Mo. – Matthew Pappert, an officer with the Glendale police department since 2008, was fired on Friday for what his chief called “very concerning and inappropriate” comments made on social media.

ST. LOUIS – ShowMeNoHate will be holding a rally at Cor Jesu Friday morning at 7:45 a.m. outside the Academy’s doors at Gravois and South Laclede Station Roads.

ST. LOUIS – Around 50 people participated in a rally held at Cor Jesu Academy in Affton, Sept. 5, following news reports detailing the termination of two gay faculty members at the all-girls Catholic school.

FERGUSON, MO –  A month to the day after unarmed black teenager Mike Brown was gunned down by a white police officer, LGBT activists with FCKH8.com and children from the very neighborhood that was ground zero for America’s largest racial tension flare-up in decades marked the day with the release of a mockingly funny and slickly produced Internet video.

ST. LOUIS - A new study authored by Williams Distinguished Scholar, M.V. Lee Badgett; Williams Gleason Kettel Summer Fellow, Justin M. O’Neill; and Williams Senior Counsel, Christy Mallory; states that extending marriages to same-sex Missouri couples could generate 36 million dollars in revenue for Missouri’s economy. As it stands, same-sex Missouri couples are traveling to other states that do not have a marriage ban for same-sex couples.

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church and current fellow at the Center for American Progress will be in St. Louis Saturday September 27-28 to teach, preach and lead conversations on the current state of marriage equality in America and LGBT inclusion in the church.

ST. LOUIS – Clementines, the city’s oldest gay bar, will close on Sept. 29, 2014.

ST. LOUIS - A total of 75 faith and clergy leaders in Missouri have come together to say, “I support the marriage of ALL Missourians.” The 75 clergy and faith leaders represent a wide range of denominations from across the state of Missouri.

ST. LOUIS – Marriage Equality was again before a Missouri court today as St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison heard arguments on the constitutionality of Missouri’s ban on same-sex marriage.

ST. LOUIS –Show Me Marriage, a grassroots public education campaign to show all Missourians that Missouri is ready for marriage equality, is creating a list of LGBT-inclusive wedding vendors.

On Sunday, November 2nd, the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater Saint Louis will welcome Maryville University Photo Media artist and Professor Scott Lawrence Angus as he presents: Transgender Heroes.  Angus explores the American Civil War through the untold stories of female “Forgotten Heroes” who fought several different battles during this time as men. Angus has discovered eight portraits of extraordinary women who lived, dressed and fought as men in the war. These portraits put a face and a story to the early pioneers of the feminist, gay and lesbian, and transgender equal rights movements.

ST. LOUIS – ChoiceArt has emerged as one of the most anticipated arts events in the Gateway City having raised more than $100,000 for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri since its founding in 2010. Hosted by friendsbychoice, this year's fall fundraiser will be held on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 at the always innovative Contemporary Art Museum (3750 Washington Blvd., 63108).

ST. LOUIS, MO - St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison, today, ruled that Missouri’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional paving the way for marriage equality to go forward in the Gateway City and possibly other areas of the state.

KANSAS CITY - Today, U.S. District Court Judge Otrie D. Smith ruled Missouri’s marriage ban unconstitutional. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who personally supports marriage equality, said he will appeal the ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

ST. LOUIS – The 31^st St. Louis Veteran’s Day Parade wound through the streets of St. Louis on Saturday afternoon. Thousands descended on downtown to celebrate “Heroes Remembered: Celebrating 250 Years as a City and All Who Served.”

ST. LOUIS – Over 3,100 petitions were delivered by community leaders, married same-sex couples and clergy to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s office at the Old Post Office downtown, Wednesday morning. The signatures from thousands of Missourians from across the state urged Koster to not appeal the federal marriage decision by U.S. District Court Judge Otrie D. Smith from Friday, November 7.

Missouri’s two largest cities have again earned perfect scores from The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

Capping off Transgender Awareness Month, and immediately following this week’s Transgender Day of Remembrance will be the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Transgender Spectrum Conference, Nov. 21-22, 2014.

The National LGBTQ Task Force describes the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo., officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown as "shocking and painful for millions."

Approximately 150 transgender activists, allies, and equality supporters marched in the Grove on a frigid Thanksgiving Eve for the annual Trans and Ally Rally/March organized by the Metro Trans Umbrella Group (MTUG).

ST. LOUIS – Over a dozen volunteers descended on an icy Art Hill in Forest Park at 1 a.m. this morning to spell out the word AIDS using tea light candles placed in bags.

CHARIS, The St. Louis Women’s Chorus is seeking applicants for a new Artistic Director (AD). The part-time paid position will begin on May 1, 2015.

ST. LOUIS – “The Gayborhood” radio show, which airs Monday-Friday on 1380 the X from 4-6 p.m., is returning to a Saturday only rotation.