The first openly gay Eagle Scout turned 18 this week which means, according to Boy Scouts policy, he'll have to leave the organization he's been a part of for 13 years.

In an open letter to BSA president Robert Gates in Time magazine, Pascal Tessier of Maryland wrote:

I am hoping that you, Mr. Gates, will let me convince you to stop the sacrifices… Every day that you do nothing, more boys and parents struggle with their place in Scouting, in their communities and in their families.”

Openly gay adults will eventually be allowed in Scouting, Mr. Gates. As support for equality continues to grow, Americans will soon demand it,” the letter concluded. “The question before you, then, is not whether the ban should end, but how many more young people like me will be a victim of your failed leadership if you do nothing.

The Scouts lifted their ban on gay youth members on January 1, but still currently prohibit openly LGBT adults.

The state refuses to recognize her name change because it would mean recognizing her same-sex marriage, conducted in Iowa.

Stroesser’s married name appearson her Social Security card, her passport, her credit cards and even her health-care license, but Nebraska insists she pay the costs to have her name changed legally in Nebraska.

No such burden exists for heterosexual women who marry men and change their name.

"There’s too many people not being treated because of false rumours,” the former president said at the Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC. “We need to redouble our efforts to combat stigma and prejudice—unbelievably stigma is on the rise in some places.”

While Bush did urge for more access to treatment for HIV-positive women, he made no mention of the rampant homophobia in African countries that can keep LGBT patients from seeking care.

While president, Bush allocated more than $15 billion to African countries to prevent the spread of the virus, but required countries to promote abstinence over condom use.

Benny Longoria, 40, was discovered by a friend in his Tulsa, Oklahoma, home on June 20, but police there allegedly failed to notify his family for more than a month.

No autopsy was performed and Longoria’s body was immediately cremated at the request of police, because he was HIV-positive.

Requests for an investigation have been denied by Tulsa Police Sgt. Dave Walker, who insists Longoria died of natural causes.

“Mr. Longoria’s death was not suspicious in nature therefore it was not further investigated," said a police spokesperson. "The Tulsa Police Department does not investigate deaths in which there are no signs of foul play and the individual’s attending physician will sign the death certificate."

LGBT activist C.D. Kirvin told the Dallas Voice she has obtained a copy of Longoria’s death certificate, but that it has not been signed by any doctor.  Kirven says Walker told her  "the Longoria family can get a lawyer or whatever else they want to do — he doesn’t care. And he will never allow Benny Longoria’s death to be investigated."

When Kirven mentioned that no autopsy had been conducted, and that Benny Longoria’s doctor did not support the police department’s statements on cause of death, "Sgt. Walker hung up on me."

A representative from Walker's apartment complex allegedly told the Longoria family that the police burned all of Benny’s belongings because he was HIV-positive and there was blood everywhere.

Kirven is helping the Longoria family file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department alleging a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Tulsa Police Department maintains the information in the Voice  article is false.

But it's rising rents, not lack of business, that's leading to the West Village institution's shuttering "On the weekends, it gets so packed in here, you actually have to turn people away," bartender Danny Garcia said. "It's ridiculous, it's bad for business."

Ron Silver opened the bar in 1974 with the owner of Ty's, another Christopher Street gay bar down the street. "[People] said, 'This won't last more than two years,'" Silver's wife Jerri recalled. "People would say, 'The gay community is fickle.'"

Silver is looking for a new home, but has made no announcements yet.