Ten years ago, Smith was held hostage by an armed killer. Now, she tells his mother "a hug is in order."

When my cancer-stricken, elderly father passed away at home with family by his side, I grieved and wept, but my grief was gentle because my dad had lived a very full and rich life. I can tell you the experience of losing my 27-year-old son on April 5, 2013 to suicide was not at all the same.

The rhetoric of religious freedom and the 'war on Christianity' -- so often used as a justification for discrimination against LGBTQ people -- has nothing to do with religion or faith.

Those of us with our eyes hopeful on the Supreme Court today must realize that the future of LGBTQ rights is bound up with the civil rights and human rights of all people, across town and across the globe.