News

OAKLAND, Calif. — A 16-year-old teen has been charged as an adult in an alleged hate crime against an agender victim whose skirt was set on fire while sleeping on a city bus.

INDIANAPOLIS -— Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is joining the campaign against writing Indiana’s gay marriage ban into the state constitution.

HONOLULU — The Hawaii House of Representatives passed a special session bill on Friday night that would make Hawaii the 16th U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage, setting up a final approval by the state Senate before it’s sent to Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his signature.

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge on Friday upheld a New Jersey law barring therapists from trying to turn gay youth straight.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The board for a Baptist-affiliated agency that serves abused children in Kentucky has voted against a proposal to hire gay employees.

DUBLIN — The Irish government announced Thursday that it has set May 2015 as the date for a public referendum on same-sex marriage.

The Rev. Frank Schaefer officiated his son’s same-sex marriage “because I love him so much and didn’t want to deny him that joy,” but his decision to flout Methodist law could cost him his pastor’s credentials in the latest flashpoint of a debate roiling the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The nation’s highest court is being asked to overturn a New Mexico ruling that an Albuquerque business owned by gay marriage opponents violated a state anti-discrimination law in refusing to photograph a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony.

BOISE, Idaho — Four Idaho couples are suing the state in federal court to challenge laws banning same-sex marriage and denying recognition to same-sex couples who married in other states.

INDIANAPOLIS — Opponents of a push to amend Indiana’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage say Illinois lawmakers’ approval of marriage equality is a big victory that could help their cause.