Don’t you just hate it when the law actually protects the people you want to discriminate against? For those of you who believe that it’s only a cake and we (the gays) should just go to another bakery, understand this: it’s not about the cake. This has nothing to do with the cake. This is about living in a country where people are still under the assumption that they were given — by their God — the right, and the responsibility, to discriminate against another human being.

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia House measure that would allow student clubs at Virginia’s public colleges and universities to discriminate in their policies and membership was passed the state Senate Monday on a 21-18 vote.

HONOLULU — The state House Judiciary Committee has decided not to schedule a hearing for a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Hawaii, likely leaving the measure tabled tabled for this legislative session.

PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament has approved a sweeping bill to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and activist Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” project, joined a chorus of LGBT advocates from across the country in condemning a group of students and parents in Sullivan, Ind., who met Sunday to discuss plans for a high school prom that would exclude gay and lesbian students.

Tracey Hepner, co-founder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition, a support group for LGBT military partners and their families, has been selected to sit with first lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Mat Staver and Matt Barber were discussing the two amicus briefs that Liberty Counsel has filed with the Supreme Court for the hearings on the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, claiming that it is “absurd” to think that the Constitution guarantees any right to same-sex marriage because at the time the Constitution was written, homosexuality was widely considered to be a “crime against nature.”

NEW YORK — DC Comics has come under fire from LGBT fans and advocates for hiring anti-gay activist and novelist Orson Scott Card to write for their new digital “Adventures of Superman.”

A lesbian couple who were denied a wedding cake by a Gresham, Ore., bakery because they are gay, have accepted an offer by Baltimore pastry chef Duff Goldman, star of Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes,” to bake and deliver a free wedding cake.

SALEM, Ore. — Supporters of same-sex marriage said Monday they’re aiming at a vote next year to reverse Oregon’s ban on gay marriage, which was approved in 2004.

The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy has long been an opponent to LGBT equality. Even before Pope Benedict came on the scene, the Vatican was employing the phrase “intrinsically disordered” to refer to LGBT people. In the 2012 election, Roman Catholic bishops led the opposition to marriage equality in Minnesota, Maryland, Washington, and Maine, pouring energy and money into campaigns that ultimately ended in defeat for the anti-gay coalitions. Is it likely that the cardinals will choose a pro-LGBT pope? Everything is possible, but this seems highly unlikely. The hierarchy tends to reward and promote those who have been particularly successful at opposing LGBT equality.

WASHINGTON — The White House is said to be reviewing whether President Barack Obama should issue an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

VATICAN CITY — Declaring that he lacks the strength to do his job, Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday he will resign Feb. 28 — becoming the first pontiff to step down in 600 years. His decision sets the stage for a mid-March conclave to elect a new leader for a Catholic Church in deep turmoil.

CINCINNATI — An assistant principal at a Catholic school in Cincinnati has been fired over a blog post he wrote in support of same-sex marriage.

DENVER — Civil unions for same-sex Colorado couples have cleared the state Senate for a third and possibly final time.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Monday announced he will extend to nearly the full extent permitted under current law the benefits available to gay and lesbian service members and their families.

SULLIVAN, Ind. — A group of high school students and parents rallied Sunday at a local church in Sullivan, Ind., calling for a “traditional” high school prom that bans gay students from attending.

Sean Karson, a junior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-captain of the Engineers baseball team, took a deep breath, and told his coaches and teammates this week that he is gay.

MEDFORD, Mass. — An openly gay Massachusetts state lawmaker has announced plans to seek a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives should U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D) be successful in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry.

Charlie Morgan, a Chief Warrant Officer of the New Hampshire National Guard and a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act, died Sunday after a long battle with breast cancer, according to a statement by OutServe-SLDN.