News

WASHINGTON — House Republicans raised the white flag Thursday on extending domestic violence protections to gays, lesbians and transsexuals after months of resisting an expansion of the Violence Against Women Act.

SAN FRANCISCO — A record 61 percent of Californians now approve of allowing same-sex couples to marry, according to a poll released Thursday.

The next phase of President Barack Obama’s evolving position on gay marriage may come Thursday, the deadline for his administration to weigh in on a landmark Supreme Court case that could determine whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Brown University poll finds 60 percent of those surveyed support legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.

LOS ANGELES — An estimated 37 percent of LGBT Americans have had a child, meaning as many as six million American children and adults have an LGBT parent, according to findings from a national study released Wednesday by Williams Institute Distinguished Scholar, Gary J. Gates.

BATESVILLE, Miss. — Hundreds of angry parents and citizens have joined a Facebook “prayer” page after a high school student in northern Mississippi came out as transgender.

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi mayoral candidate was found dead Wednesday and the case is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said.

BOSTON — Nearly 300 corporations, cities, and other organizations filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, encouraging it to overturn a section of the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits and recognition to same-sex couples.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case that could allow same-sex partners of state employees to receive death benefits from the state’s pension system.

GUANGZHOU, China — A PFLAG chapter in China has sent an open letter to delegates of China’s National People’s Congress demanding marriage equality for their children.