News (USA)

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee this week signed off on the final installment of a six-year effort to make language in Washington state’s copious laws gender-neutral.

SALEM, Ore. — A federal appellate judge ruled this week the judiciary must grant health care benefits to the same-sex spouse of a federal public defender in Portland, and ruled that Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban, enacted by voters in 2004, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act are both unconstitutional.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Several Republican lawmakers filed a bill Thursday seeking an exemption to the state’s anti-discrimination laws just weeks after legal action was taken against a Richland florist who denied service to a gay couple for their upcoming wedding.

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Coeur d’Alene officials are considering joining three other Idaho cities in outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation.

SALINA, Kan. — Six months after residents in Salina, Kan., voted to repeal anti-discrimination protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation, the city’s new mayor has joined a national group of mayors who support same-sex marriage.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia city council on Thursday approved a landmark LGBT equality bill that provides tax incentives to private employers who extend insurance to the same-sex partners of their employees, and strengthens legal rights and protections for LGBT citizens.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Mormon church says it welcomes the Boy Scouts of America’s latest proposal to lift the gay ban for youth members but continue to exclude gays as adult leaders.

YORK, Pa. — Prom court voting is over, and with prom night just days away, one senior at Red Lion Area Senior High School in York, Pa., is angry over an arbitrary decision by the school’s principal that left him excluded from the prom court election.

KENT, Wash. — Police in Kent, Wash., say they have arrested a man who used popular gay dating and cell phone apps to set up dates with gay men at remote locations and then robbed them at gunpoint.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An Orono, Minn., businessman angling to be the next governor of Minnesota, says he supports civil unions for gay couples but wouldn’t back same-sex marriage if faced with a bill legalizing it.