On April 19, 2016 the retail store Target announced that it would provide gender neutral bathrooms and also allow men and women to use the same fitting rooms. The following day, nearly one million people protested the decision, pledging to boycott the store. The store’s new policy is part of a trend spreading across the country to accommodate 1 percent of the population. Starbucks and Barnes and Noble have also announced that their customers may use the bathrooms according to the gender of their choice.
In 1244, devout citizens of Florence, Italy founded the Confraternity of Mercy in their beloved city. They dedicated themselves to bringing the sick to hospitals, collecting charity for orphaned children, burying the dead and providing assistance to those in need. The confraternity still exists today. Its members offer medical care and supply ambulances, continuing the very same mission of mercy as in the Middle Ages.
In the 19th century, before the age of television, oratory was an extremely popular form of entertainment. During those golden years of public speaking, one of the most noted speakers was American lawyer and political leader Robert Ingersoll. He captivated his audiences, sometimes with speeches lasting three hours as he lectured on almost any subject. But, his most frequent theme was agnosticism.