Although annual pride parades hosted in cities worldwide manage to draw larger crowds each year in celebration and support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, this year’s fell at particularly ideal timing for those in the U.S.—just one day after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. In downtown St. Louis on June 27 and 28, crowds in unprecedented numbers filled the sides of Market Street to watch this year’s impressive collection of floats, dance performances and musical acts move through the parade.

Washington University’s first ally-donation blood drive, which encouraged men who were ineligible to donate due to their sexual history to partner with an ally to donate in their places, took place Thursday at four locations on campus.

A diverse panel of local community members and queer activists met Tuesday night to discuss the intersection of Ferguson with the rights and acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people involved in the protests and in the surrounding communities.

Proud Connections, a new professional group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, held its first event—a talk by author and former CEO Bill Donius about succeeding in the workplace as an LGBT person—Thursday night.

A day after midterm elections drastically altered the makeup of the national legislature, a substantial judicial decision hit Missouri: St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, adding to a wave of similar rulings nationwide.

Missouri’s own Michael Sam is a 6-foot-2, 255 pound lineman with a fierce first step off the line and brutal closing speed as he chases down quarterbacks. His conference-leading 11.

On Friday, Oct. 11, Washington University and Pride Alliance celebrated National Coming Out Day with cake and button making. Not even two weeks before, on Oct.

Laverne Cox, a transgender actress starring in the Netflix original series “Orange Is The New Black,” will be speaking at November’s Trans* Awareness Week, pending final contracts being signed.

Athlete Ally, as stated on its website, is a “nonprofit organization focused on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports by educating allies in the athletic community and empowering them to take a stand.

In all levels of sports, an overwhelming theme surrounding discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity is no discussion at all. The Washington University Athletic Department assumed that its leaders’ silence signified a culture of acceptance. “What we’d chosen to do is that we just kind of ignored it,” Associate Athletic Director Joe Worlund said.