News (USA)

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate, after an hour-long, soul-searching debate about equality, love and marriage passed a resolution late Monday repealing the state’s heterosexual definition of marriage, the first step in a long process to recognize gay marriage.

DOVER, Del. — The Delaware state House of Representatives on Tuesday is expected to consider a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island’s long-simmering debate on gay marriage will head to a pivotal vote Tuesday when a legislative committee decides whether to forward the legislation to the full Senate for a final vote.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin on Monday warned the Rhode Island state legislature that legalizing same-sex marriage would be a “grave risk to our spiritual well being and the common good.”

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona on Monday urged a Senate committee to expand its immigration reform bill to include a path to citizenship or permanent residency for immigrant same-sex partner partners, including his own.

WASHINGTON — Prosecutors say a Virginia man who planned a mass killing at the Washington headquarters of a conservative Christian lobbying group should spend 45 years in prison for his plot.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island state Senate will be considering a marriage equality bill when lawmakers return this week for the final work of their annual session.

Rob Portman, the first Republican U.S. Senator to endorse same-sex marriage has seen his approval rating dip slightly in the month since his announcement.

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia city council member wants to require new or renovated city-owned buildings to have gender-neutral restrooms in addition to men’s and women’s restrooms.

LOS ANGELES — A lesbian couple facing immigration troubles has the standing to challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act because it violates the constitutional rights of immigrants in same-sex marriages, a federal judge has ruled.