As the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, open Thursday, the games are mired in the controversy surrounding Russia’s anti-gay laws. While these laws are certainly not something to condone, the Olympics shouldn’t be about politics, and the U.S.’s decision not to boycott the Olympics is the right one.

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.

Al Fischer, a music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School and partner of Charlie Robin, the executive director of Washington University’s Edison Theatre, was fired Feb. 17 after the couple’s plans to get married in New York were overhead by a representative of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

A domestic partnership registry approved in Clayton last week has been greeted with tepid response from the local community. The legislation passed by the city’s board of aldermen on Wednesday entitles monogamous partners, regardless of sexual orientation, to the same rights as married couples at all city-owned facilities.

With 6144 students, the undergraduate population of Wash. U. represents a sizable voting block with the ability to influence electoral outcomes in the surrounding legislative districts and statewide.

Co-founded by senior David Dresner, The Right Side of History seeks equality for the LGBT community by engaging straight youth. Over the next two years, Dresner hopes to jump-start a national movement by applying new strategies to gain equal rights for the LGBT community.

Over the next 26 months David Dresner hopes to jump start a national movement by applying new strategies to gain equal rights for the LGBT community.

As some of you already know, and all of you are going to find out, Wash. U. exists in a bubble—a bubble where people can be comfortable and be respected for who they are.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage starting in November 2003. Connecticut came next in October 2008. Iowa and Vermont quickly followed this past month. The new ruling for Iowa and Vermont will become effective starting April 27 and September 1, respectively.