News

PHILADELPHIA — A United Methodist pastor defrocked for officiating at his son’s same-sex wedding has appealed the decision, a move that offered the latest evidence of a split in the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination and came as yet another state legalized gay marriage.

OCALA, Fla. — The ACLU on Thursday sued a central Florida school district for the second time this year, claiming it is once again refusing to approve a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at a middle school.

SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Hundreds of students at Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish, Wash., walked out Thursday to protest the resignation of a vice principal they say was forced out because he recently married his same-sex partner.

THE HAUGE, Netherlands — The Netherlands has adopted landmark legislation banning forced sterilization and allowing transgender people to change their identity on official documents with the requirement of gender reassignment surgery.

NEW YORK — Can an experimental drug developed to treat epilepsy block the AIDS virus? A preliminary lab study suggests it’s possible, and researchers are eager to try it in people.

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico’s highest court has legalized same-sex marriage, declaring it is unconstitutional to deny a marriage license to gay and lesbian couples.

BATON ROUGE, La. — The A&E cable television network’s suspension of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson from the hit reality show has drawn criticism from the governor of his home state.

WASHINGTON — Defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is halting its donations to the Boy Scouts of America over the organization’s ban on gays serving as adult leaders.

MARTINEZ, Calif. — A 36-year-old Northern California man was convicted Wednesday of orchestrating the gang rape of a woman who was targeted in part because she is a lesbian.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — United Methodist church officials defrocked a pastor from central Pennsylvania on Thursday who violated religious doctrine by officiating his gay son’s wedding, and he later said he was shocked by their decision, calling his involvement in the wedding an “act of love.”