Gays

TRENTON - Democratic leaders in the Legislature have agreed to try to override Gov. Christie's gay-marriage veto and are open for the first time to putting the question to voters in November if the override attempt fails. Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D., Mercer), one of two openly gay state lawmakers, said Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly agreed to renew the push for marriage equality during a meeting Thursday. The strategy could include putting the question to voters in November with Christie on the ballot.

NASHVILLE, TENN. - The nation's largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay Scouts and leaders when it votes in May. The executive committee of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention passed the resolution Tuesday, stating that a proposal to alter the ban would "place the Boy Scouts organization at odds with a consistent biblical worldview on matters of...

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is quietly considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage, a step that would mark a political victory for advocates of same-sex unions and a deepening commitment by President Obama to rights for gay couples. Obama raised expectations among opponents of the Proposition 8 ban when he declared in last month's inaugural address that gays and lesbians must be "treated like anyone else under the law. " The administration has until Feb. 28 to intervene in the case by filing a "friend of the court" brief.

NASHVILLE - The nation's largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay scouts and leaders when it votes in May. The executive committee of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention passed the resolution Tuesday, stating that a proposal to alter the ban would "place the Boy Scouts organization at odds with a consistent biblical worldview on matters of human sexuality, making...

A WEST Conshohocken steelworker has sued his employer and the board of trustees of the Steelworkers Health and Welfare Fund for denying insurance coverage to the his husband. The same-sex couple filed the suit in federal court Monday against the board and ArcelorMittal USA, a Chicago-based company that operates the Conshohocken steel mill where Bryce Ginther works as an industrial electrician. Ginther, 54, married his partner of seven years, Kit Kineef, on May 15 in New York.

"EVERYBODY knows what happened to Marvin," acknowledged Zeola Gaye, speaking of her masterful musician brother Marvin Gaye. "Or at least, they think they know . . . " Motown Records's first solo superstar and major force for social reform, Gaye was abruptly killed at age 45 on April 1, 1984, by his father's hand, after a brutal argument and several attempts by the younger Gaye to take his own life. The tragedy cut short a career landmarked by masterworks such as Gaye's self-penned "What's Going On" and super-bold (for its time)

IRVING, Texas - Caught in an ideological crossfire, the Boy Scouts of America is retreating until May from a decision about whether to ease its policy of excluding gays. Whatever the organization eventually does, it's likely to anger major constituencies and worsen schisms within Scouting. The delay, which the Scouts attributed to "the complexity of this issue," was announced Wednesday after closed-door deliberations by the BSA's national executive board. Under consideration was a proposal to ease the long-standing ban on gays by allowing sponsors of local troops to decide for themselves on the membership of gay Scouts and adult leaders.

WASHINGTON - President Obama said Sunday that the threat of concussions for football players means that everything possible should be done to improve their safety - especially players from youth football leagues through college. He said in an interview on CBS during Sunday's Super Bowl pregame show that he was not as worried about pro football players, because they are adults who know the risks and are well compensated. Obama, who has two daughters, reiterated his position that, if he had a son, he would have to think about whether he would let him play football.

NEW YORK - The Boy Scouts of America faces intensifying criticism from the left and right over a proposal to move away from a mandatory no-gays membership policy and to allow troop sponsors to decide the matter for themselves. The Human Rights Campaign, a major gay-rights group that initially welcomed the BSA's possible shift, said Thursday that it was inadequate, and demanded that the Scouts adopt a nationwide policy to accept gays as Scouts and adult leaders. The HRC said that corporations that continued to donate funds to the Scouts if any troops were allowed to discriminate would lose points in an annual evaluation of how major employers deal with gay-related workplace issues.