Michael Cooper

The Supreme Court announced this week they will hear multiple cases concerning civil rights laws and anti-LGBTQ discrimination. These will be heard as part of their October 2019 term, with the decisions being released next year. Two cases revolve around discrimination based on sexual orientation and one around gender identity. Both are significant for the LGBTQ community as the decisions made could have a long-lasting impact on our everyday lives. The fact that the court is currently (and unfairly) stacked with conservative judges obviously doesn't bode well for gay rights, but time will tell....

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg made history on Sunday, April 14, when he became the first openly LGBTQ presidential candidate in the United States. "It's time to walk away from the politics of the past, and toward something totally different," he said in his campaign announcement, before kissing his husband, teacher Chasten Buttigieg. Mayor Pete is currently polling third among Democratic voters and, hours after his campaign announcement, had raised over $1 million from supporters....

Last week, the small Asian country of Brunei enacted a penal code where people who have sex with someone of the same gender can be stoned to death. Many other outrageous "punishments" also were instituted. The man behind these insane laws is the dictatorial Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who may be a religious extremist but hasn't shied away from profiting off the Western, secular world....

Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it in dew, cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The touring cast of Broadway's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would want you to believe that they do and, to a certain extent, they may be right....