California

With just days left before the U.S. Supreme Court rules on Proposition 8, the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) has compiled this look back at the last three years of working to overturn California's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

SACRAMENTO -- A California Senate committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would require public schools to respect a transgender student’s gender identity in all school programs, activities, and facilities. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Planning a party for thousands of people would be a challenge under the best of circumstances. Now imagine trying to pull off such a gathering without knowing what day it should happen or if there even will be cause for celebration. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO — Organizers of San Francisco's annual gay pride celebration have confirmed that the U.S. soldier who has acknowledged providing classified documents to WikiLeaks will not be honored during this month's celebration. [ Read more → ]

LOS ANGELES -- While the U.S. Supreme Court prepares its decision on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, a new poll finds that a majority of California voters now support marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. [ Read more → ]

Support for same-sex marriage has reached a record high in California, while a majority of voters support laws to prohibit anti-gay discrimination, according to various state and national polls released this week. [ Read more → ]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California state Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would use the state's tax policy in an attempt to pressure the Boy Scouts of America into fully accepting gay members. [ Read more → ]

Today is “Harvey Milk Day,” a day of honor for the slain gay rights activist, which is officially recognized by the State of California and celebrated worldwide. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO -- California education officials took the first step this week toward complying with a law that requires public schools to include prominent gay people and gay rights' milestones in the curriculum, adopting a set of classroom material guidelines that prohibit "pejorative descriptions" based on sexual orientation and gender identity. [ Read more → ]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Transgender students would have the right to use public school restrooms and participate on sports teams that correspond with their expressed genders under a bill approved Thursday in the California Assembly. [ Read more → ]

With Rhode Island poised to become the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage following a key vote in the state’s General Assembly scheduled for Thursday, supporters of marriage equality are shifting their focus to other states. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO — Racing to stanch a flow of criticism, the president of San Francisco's annual gay pride celebration said Friday night that the U.S. Army private charged in a massive leak of U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks website will not be an honorary grand marshal after all. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Army private charged in a massive leak of U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks website has been named as a grand marshal of San Francisco's annual gay rights parade, a choice that was immediately condemned by several groups representing gay and lesbian service members. [ Read more → ]

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles scout leaders say the Boy Scouts of America's proposal to lift the ban for gay youth members, but continue to exclude gays as adult leaders, does not go far enough. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court is to hear arguments Wednesday on whether a first-of-its-kind law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals in California from offering therapies aimed at making gay and lesbian teenagers straight violates the civil rights of practitioners and parents. [ Read more → ]

LOS ANGELES -- The brother of Brett Shaad, the 33-year-old West Hollywood man who died Saturday after contracting a deadly strain of bacterial meningitis, is lashing out over media coverage of his brother's death. [ Read more → ]

LOS ANGELES — A 33-year-old West Hollywood man who felt sickened by bacterial meningitis earlier this week has been declared brain dead amid warnings to sexually active gay men about the deadly strain of illness, officials said. [ Read more → ]

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Officials warned sexually active gay men on Friday to beware of a potentially deadly health threat after a case of bacterial meningitis was detected in Los Angeles County. [ Read more → ]

LONG BEACH, Calif. — A former Marine accused in the beating of a man outside a Long Beach gay bar will be extradited from Illinois to face felony hate crime charges. [ Read more → ]

SAN FRANCISCO — A bill aimed at pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay members by making the organization ineligible for nonprofit tax breaks cleared its first vote on Wednesday in the California Legislature. [ Read more → ]