St. Louis MO

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Many local officials across Missouri were declining to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples Thursday, saying a court ruling invalidating the state’s gay marriage ban applies only to St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A judge in St. Louis on Wednesday ruled that Missouri’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, setting off a rush among some same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses.

ST. LOUIS — An assistant Missouri attorney general argued Monday in a St. Louis courtroom that state law, backed by a vote of the people, makes it clear that marriage is defined as between a man and a woman. But St. Louis City Counselor Winston Calvert countered that the state has no business treating same-sex couples as “second-class citizens.”

ST. LOUIS — Some graduates of a suburban St. Louis Catholic school are upset the school asked two female teachers to resign after they were married in New York. Olivia Reichert and Christina Gambaro say Cor Jesu Academy officials asked them to quit in late July after the school received a copy of a mortgage application with the couple’s names. The all-girls Catholic high school…

French Village, Mo., is a unique setting for a gay bar. The hour drive down Interstate 55 from St. Louis is a scenic trek – exiting on Highway Y, one must pass through the pastoral green and farmland along the hill-crowned blacktop to the entrance of Goose Creek Lake to reach their destination. Norma Jean’s opened its doors on Friday, July 18, 2014. It was a labor of love…

ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man is facing charges and will undergo a psychiatric exam after allegedly threatening to “exterminate” those involved with a magazine for LGBT people. Darryl L. Jackson, 40, is charged with harassment motivated by discrimination to frighten or disturb another person…

SAINT LOUIS — A one-time St. Louis police officer will spend a year on supervised probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for harassing and intimidating an LGBT couple. Jeffrey Michael Leveque, 45, was charged with felony harassment in January after police said he and another man parked outside the home of Meg Hensley, 27, and her transgender …

ST. LOUIS — The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis is condemning a city move challenging Missouri’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by issuing marriage licenses to four gay and lesbian couples. The diocese issued a written statement calling the city decision a violation of “the laws of our state (that) disregard(s) the laws of nature.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster says he personally supports marriage equality but will defend the state’s constitutional ban against same-sex marriage. Koster’s comments Thursday come a day after St. Louis officials issued marriage licenses to four same-sex couples.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay announced Thursday that marriage licenses were issued to four same-sex couples by St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter on Wednesday evening, coinciding with the one year anniversary of the Defense of Marriage Act being struck down. The four couples were then married at St. Louis City Hall.

ST. LOUIS — Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL, has been signed to a four-year, $2.65 million contract with St. Louis Rams. Fox Sports reports that the Rams announced on Thursday afternoon that they had signed all 11 of their picks from last month’s draft.

Michael Sam is confident he’ll be judged on performance. The first openly gay player drafted in the NFL said Friday there have been no issues fitting in with his St. Louis Rams teammates, no awkward moments in the locker room and that he was accepted right away. “They respect me as a human being,” he said.

NEW YORK — In St. Louis, Michael Sam might have found the perfect spot to pursue an NFL career and try to become the league’s first openly gay player.

NEW YORK — Michael Sam waited and waited. Hours passed, rounds came and went, and eventually, there were only eight more picks left on the third and final day of the NFL draft.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Missouri’s Hispanic business community is coming out in support of a proposed statewide LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination bill.

HANNIBAL, Mo. — An honors-caliber college student says he was denied readmission to a northern Missouri Baptist school after he came out as gay in a Facebook post back in December.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The St. Louis public school system has implemented changes to their employment benefits to include coverage for married, same-sex spouses.

SAINT LOUIS — A one-time St. Louis police officer has been charged with a felony count of “harassment motivated by discrimination to frighten or disturb another person” stemming from an incident last month in which he allegedly harassed and intimidated an LGBT couple.

ST. LOUIS — A Roman Catholic priest in St. Louis has written a book about his life as a gay priest, a move that could risk his priesthood.

ST. LOUIS, Mo — The Human Rights Campaign awarded The Vital Voice magazine its first ever “Equality In Media” award during the HRC’s “Homecoming: The 20th Anniversary St. Louis Human Rights Campaign Dinner Gala” on Sept. 22.