The National Park Service released a study recently on National Coming Out Day that surveys historic sites in the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer rights for potential preservation and protections. This report marks the first step in potentially recognizing significant sites in the history of LGBTQ rights in the National Historic Read More

  Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Obergefell v. Hodges, individuals in every single state are allowed to marry one another regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This ruling impacted not only a couple’s ability to hold themselves out as legally married in the name of love, but also enables a couple to Read More

People have been adopting children in our country since before we were a country. Adoption then was a very different process from adoption today. In large part, prior to 1851, adoption was less focused on child rearing than it was the burden to adults. In the mid 1800’s however, Massachusetts passed the 1851 Adoption of Read More

When our grandchildren look back on the year 2016 in their history classes, they may very well find it under a chapter titled something like “2016 Controversies: A Year of Elections, Olympics, and Bathroom-Related Lawsuits.” Although the first two subjects only really demand our undivided attention every four years, the ongoing disagreements over bathroom laws Read More

The Fair Housing Act was enacted by Congress in 1968 as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act.  The Fair Housing Act was promulgated in response to the civil rights movement and originally mandated that neither landlords nor sellers could discriminate against renters or potential buyers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or Read More

Do you remember middle school or high school? Many of us have strong memories associated with our adolescent years and oftentimes they are not great. Teen years can be difficult; you are going through changes and trying to figure out who you are. This transitional period can be particularly difficult for teens struggling with their Read More

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was created over 100 years ago. It began as a combination of several other groups and quickly grew to become the largest youth organization in our country for a time. Throughout its tenure, the BSA has faced its share of conflict. For example, in the segregated south, many Boy Read More