Dear Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors: Next week, at the bi-annual Boy Scouts national board meeting, you will have to make the most important decision your organization has faced in years. You will have to take a vote on a proposed motion to end your decades-long ban on gay scouts and scoutmasters.

On Nov. 27, the Human Rights Campaign released the Municipal Equality Index (MEI), which rates a selection of 137 U.S. cities on the policy and community accommodations offered to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Focusing on nondiscrimination laws and accessible public programs and services available for the LGBT community, the MEI ranked St.

[media-credit name="All photos courtesy of Leland Bobbé" align="aligncenter" width="620"][/media-credit] Sitting against a grey background, half a man’s bearded face juxtaposes the unexpected: half a face clad in overdone eyeliner, lip liner, false eyelashes, costume jewelry and topped with voluminous hair.

The buttons cost a dollar, but not all of the giveaways on the table by the entrance of the Danforth University Center were available for purchase. “True or false: 36.5 percent of LGBT youth grades 9 through 12 have attempted suicide. 20.5 percent of those attempts resulted in medical care.” The answer: true.

“The more the merrier” should be the unofficial subtitle of That Uppity Theater Company’s new theater festival “Briefs,” which will be premiering in St. Louis this weekend. “Briefs” is a collection of eight short plays that focus on topics important to members of the LGBT community, and the double entendre in the name is a nice touch as well.

Washington University received a top rating in the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index for the second year in a row. The Index is intended to set a standard for improving the quality of life for LGBT students at college campuses across the country. It assesses campuses’ LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices and rates schools on a five-star scale.

There are many who arrived at this school on their first days as wide-eyed freshmen, without a single day of formalized education in one vital subject.

I’m glad to see the nation taking action on the issue of LGBT issues and bullying in general. I find it odd, however, that there has been little awareness of another similarity between these men, one that caused their deaths as surely as bullying did: they all had hidden battles with depression, a secret that eventually led to their suicides.

Students gathered Thursday night, October 21, for the Vigil of Awakening in remembrance of the recent suicides of students who had been targeted for being gay and in support of all the LGBTQIA youth who have been bullied. Members of the LGBT community and a large number of allies attended the vigil, as well as several community members.

Tyler Clementi’s death was just one of several suicides by gay students in this past month alone. LGBT rights and acceptance has been, and continues to be, an extremely important issue on campuses. Here at Wash. U. we have a very active student body, and LGBT rights remains one of the most important issues for students on campus.