This week, the judge in the federal discrimination case in which the local Boy Scouts chapter is suing the city publicly disclosed that he had been a Scouting official in the early 1980s, just after he was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas.

Many are closely watching the debate over same-sex marriage right now, particularly last week’s defeat of a marriage-equality bill in the New Jersey Senate and the start of the Proposition 8 trial this week in California.

Over the past week, the LGBT community witnessed several key events: Houston swore in a lesbian mayor — her partner at her side; same-sex marriages went into effect in New Hampshire; Salt Lake City swore it its first openly gay councilman; and the first transgender individual presidentially appointed to an executive branch position started work.

Carol: To do more volunteering with animal shelters and adoption agencies.