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Some good news today for LGBT employees at the University of Missouri: The board of curators has voted to expand health-care benefits to include same-sex partners, a change which advocates say is long overdue.

"They were at a distinct disadvantage in being able to recruit and retain staff and faculty," A.J. Bockelman, executive director of PROMO, Missouri's LGBT advocacy group, tells Daily RFT. "This has become fairly standard."

University officials and PROMO -- which has pushed for this extension in health-care benefits -- announced today that it is officially moving forward with the more inclusive plan.

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In Missouri, it's legal for employers to fire or refuse to hire individuals because they are gay. A majority of businesses, however, aren't even aware this is the case -- and when polled on the matter, agree the state needs a law preventing this kind of discrimination.

These are the findings of a new poll that PROMO, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, is touting this week -- on the heels of a failed legislative push to pass a non-discrimination law in the state.

"It's good public policy to have these basic protections," A.J. Bockelman, executive director of PROMO tells Daily RFT. "It shows the community doesn't tolerate discrimination."

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Jon Gitchoff for RFT

Banned!

No matter how much pride your pets have, they'll have to stay at home this year.

The organizers of PrideFest 2013 in St. Louis -- which will for the first time take place in downtown this year instead of Tower Grove -- have announced a new pet policy.

No pets allowed on festival grounds! Service animals, however, are permitted.

What's the reason for the change? The health and safety of the revelers -- and their pets.

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Courtesy Fr. Gary Meier

Father Gary Meier's decision to come out went viral last month.

When Father Gary Meier made the decision to go public with the fact that he is gay and the author of a book titled Hidden Voices: Reflections of a Gay, Catholic Priest, he says he didn't realize the announcement would go viral. Since claiming authorship of the book, previous attributed to "anonymous," The Advocate, Huffington Post, Think Progress and many other national outlets shared his story.

"It's amazing to me how much interest this has gotten," he says.

Last night, Meier made a new announcement on his Facebook page: The launch of a website called Rising Voices, an online forum for Catholics and other people of faith to express support for their LGBT peers.

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Alexis Hitt / RFT slideshow

PrideFest in Tower Grove last year.

Here in St. Louis, we get a little touchy when it comes to national rankings. In the area of crime, some say these so-called "experts" have no idea what they're talking about! Their numbers make no sense and their methodology is super shady, right?

But when it comes to being a gay city, well, we'll take what we can get! This week, St. Louis has, once again, been named a very gay-friendly city -- one of the best in the nation. Hooray!

Based on a "municipal equality" index, LGBT-related hate-crime data and stats on same-sex households, St. Louis beat out nearly 80 cities across the country to be ranked near the top in this latest list.

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Pat Whitaker.

After months of heated debate, the Boy Scouts of America's national council last week voted in favor of allowing openly gay youth to join the organization. Across the country, however, gay adults are still banned from being a part of the Boy Scouts, which means that gay members will have to step down once they turn eighteen.

To many LGBT rights advocates, this is still very much a discriminatory policy, even if it's a step in the right direction. One such critic is Pat Whitaker, founder and chairman of St. Louis architecture firm Arcturis, who will be resigning as a board member from the BSA's Greater St. Louis Area Council. The policy change, she says, just doesn't go far enough.

"I know they do not stand for discrimination and this is discrimination of the worst kind," Whitaker tells Daily RFT.

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Eric Jones in his scouting days.

Update: Eric Jones gives Daily RFT his reaction to yesterday's news.

Yesterday, the Boy Scouts of America's National Council voted to open its membership rolls to gay teenagers. Another way to read that: They will stop kicking gay scouts out.

"This policy change is effective Jan. 1, 2014," says a statement from the National Council, posted on the Greater St. Louis Area Council's website. "While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting."

This decision comes too late for former Eagle Scout Eric Jones, who was kicked out of the Scouts after telling his boss at a summer camp that he is gay. This week, secret footage of the moment the camp director tells Jones he's out of the program hit the web.

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Areas with a high concentration of N-word tweets.

Compared to many other states in the country, Missouri has a high concentration of racist, homophobic tweets that include offensive, hateful language. And the tweeters are located all over the state.

So says a neat new interactive map called the Geography of Hate, which analyzes geocoded tweets that use the N-word, "fag," "homo" and other "hate words" from June of last year through April of 2013.

In some categories, Missouri appears to be one of the worst in the country. Hooray!

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Courtesy Fr. Gary Meier

Father Gary M. Meier at a wedding he officiated in 2012.

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 member of their family, all of those who have allied as friends. They too have been silenced and shamed, ostracized by a Church teaching and hierarchal positioning that will not allow us to support, love, nurture and foster positive gay relationships in our Church."

Earlier this week, Father Gary Meier, most recently of Saints Teresa & Bridget Parish in north St. Louis, revealed that he is the author. Although he says he was never truly "in the closet," the announcement is a form of coming out.

"I know in my heart and my gut I need to stand in solidarity with those who're being fired from their jobs, denied sacrament, excommunicated," he tells Daily RFT.

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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 about open and avowed homosexuality and the risks that come with that kind of shift."

What are these "risks," and how is her cause not a discriminatory one?

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