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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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Rep. Sue Allen.

An anti-bullying bill at the Missouri legislature has died -- and Representative Sue Allen, the sponsor of the proposal, is now casting blame on openly gay lawmakers.

At the center of the fight is a debate around specified protections for LGBT students, which Allen opposes. "These are people who think everything is about that issue," Allen, a Republican, tells Daily RFT, referring to LGBT issues. "Because they want sexual orientation added, they are keeping all children from being protected."

LGBT advocates and lawmakers -- who want schools to have the opportunity to outline protections for gay students in their policies -- see it very differently and argue that Allen's stubbornness on this is offensive and backwards.

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via mutigers.com

Athletic Director Mike Alden.

If you're a Tiger, you're a Tiger -- and if you can play, you can play!

Such is the message of a newly released promotional video from the University of Missouri's Athletic Department, promoting LGBT rights and diversity on their sports teams.

"The Mizzou Athletics Department strives to provide a safe environment for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student athletes," Mike Alden, director of athletics, says in the video. "No individual shall be judged on the court, in the locker room or amongst each other based on their sexual orientation and their gender identification."

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Slay in a No Hate promo.

It is officially official. After beating his challenger Lewis Reed in the March primary, winning against no one on the April 2 Election Day and going through his formal inauguration ceremony yesterday, Mayor Francis Slay has begun his fourth term -- making him the first mayor in St. Louis history to achieve this long of a run.

What's he going to do with four more years? (And maybe four more!)

One of his promises that caught our attention was his statement of a commitment to LGBT issues in St. Louis. How?

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Via Facebook

Gorley (right) and Mansell.

A change.org petition is in the works as angry comments continue to accumulate on the Facebook page for Research Medical Center in suburban Kansas City.

Yesterday news broke that hospital security forced a gay man from the bedside of his sick partner. In an interview with FOX 4 News, Roger Gorley says that he was visiting his partner, Allen Mansell, on Tuesday when one of Mansell's relatives asked that he be removed. When Gorley didn't budge, hospital security forcibly removed him in handcuffs. Gorley says a restraining order has since been filed against him barring him from visiting his partner.

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Senator Mark Kirk.

Missouri Democratic Governor Jay Nixon may not want to talk about gay marriage right now -- but Mark Kirk, Republican Senator from Illinois, is not shying away from the topic. Just a little over a week after Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, expressed her support for marriage equality for the first time, Kirk has announced today that he too supports same-sex marriages.

His statement makes him the second GOP Republican senator in the country to back gay marriage, one week after Rob Portman, R-Ohio, declared his support -- sparking a series of endorsements from members of both parties as the Supreme Court last week took up historic cases on the matter.

"When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others," Kirk wrote on his blog today.

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via cbsnews.com

Not evolving on gay marriage.

Throughout the last week, gay marriage has been all over the news -- even in Missouri. Senator Claire McCaskill for the first time expressed her support for marriage equality, Governor Jay Nixon dodged questions on the matter and Anheuser-Busch inspired homophobic beer drinkers to weigh in on Facebook.

And now we have for you the commentary of an influential St. Louisan who still very much does not support gay marriage -- but who doesn't want to attack gay people, either!

Cardinal Timothy Dolan made headlines over the weekend for fresh comments on same-sex marriage. Has his stance changed at all? Check out video footage below.

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