SANTA ANA (AP) - A lesbian high school student lost her federal lawsuit against an Orange County school district and her principal for telling her mother she was gay.

A federal judge ruled Charlene Nguon was treated no differently from straight students and her rights weren’t violated.

Nguon had also claimed she was singled out and punished by Santiago High School officials for hugging and kissing her girlfriend on campus. The suit noted heterosexual couples engaging in similar behavior weren’t disciplined.

But the Santa Ana federal judge says her sexual orientation had nothing to do with her punishment.

Garden Grove Unified School District attorney Dennis Walsh says the district will now seek nearly $400,000 in legal fees.

Denver (AP) – Two women were arrested for trespassing after they were denied a marriage license and refused to leave the city clerk and recorder’s office. Kate Burns and Sheila Schroeder said they expected to be denied a license and staged a sit-in protest, contending they should be entitled to the same benefits as heterosexual couples. In November, state voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage and rejected civil unions for same-sex couples.

CHICAGO (AP) – Three women claimed Thursday in a federal lawsuit that an off-duty Chicago police officer roughed them up and called them names because of their sexual orientation after this year’s Pride parade.

“This case is another example of the corruption, cover-up and brutality that is festering inside the Chicago police department,” said attorney Dana Kurtz, who filed the suit for damages on behalf of the three women.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit filed on behalf of Kelly Fuery, 36, Debra Sciortino, 32, and Nicole Tomaskovic, 25, were the police department, officer William Szura and two Illinois state troopers.

According to the lawsuit, the incident began when a vehicle driven by Fuery came upon a car moving at 30 mph in the left lane of Interstate 55 after the June 24 parade.

Fuery beeped her horn and Szura responded by slamming on his breaks, speeding up and switching lanes, making it impossible to pass, the lawsuit said.

Fuery was forced to the shoulder, where Szura screamed words such as “dyke” and spit at her, according to the lawsuit. The women claim he stuck a gun in Fuery’s abdomen, “causing her to fear for her life.”

When Sciortino tried to step in, Szura shoved her and she fell, the lawsuit said. When Tomaskovic drove up in another car and tried to help, Szura allegedly placed her in a choke hold.

A few minutes later, two state troopers arrived and when Szura identified himself as a police officer the three women were arrested and charged with battery. Kurtz said the battery charges are pending.

It was not immediately clear if Szura had an attorney and his telephone was unlisted. Police spokesperson Monique Bond said the matter was under investigation.

Illinois State Police spokesperson Master Sgt. Brian Ley said that since the investigation was pending there would be no comment.

Besides unspecified money damages, the suit asks the court to issue an injunction barring any further such behavior.

NEW YORK (AP) – A gay police officer has filed a discrimination suit against the city and the New York Police Department, saying he was threatened with violence, called vulgar names and treated unfairly by supervisors because of his sexuality.

The lawsuit was filed by Michael Harrington, 30, who claims his superior officers failed to take proper action when he told them about the malicious and discriminatory mistreatment he suffered.

“The hell he’s gone through is heart wrenching,” said Harrington’s lawyer, George D. Rosenbaum.

Connie Pankratz, spokesperson for the city’s Law Department, said the city had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

Harrington says in court papers that his trouble with co-workers started in February 2003, when he told another officer at the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn that he was gay.

Harrington, of Brooklyn, said in the suit that within months he overheard an officer in the men’s room referring to him as a “faggot.” Harrington spoke to the officer who said he would hurt Harrington if he confronted the officer again.

Court papers say Harrington also repeatedly sought a transfer from the 75th Precinct but his written applications “kept getting lost.” He was told that after he finally transferred, that someone posted obscene drawings of him in a sex act, the lawsuit alleges.

While working at the 79th Precinct in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Harrington brought his domestic partner to the station house Christmas party. Upon introducing his partner, another officer spit out his drink and began laughing.

Harrington says he complained to a supervisor about being mistreated and the supervisor said he was going to transfer him to the Sixth Precinct in Greenwich Village “so plaintiff could be with his people,” the suit said.

At the Sixth Precinct, court papers say, a co-worker told Harrington in December 2006 that “all faggots should be shot.”

According to the suit, the stress, harassment and a hostile work environment caused Harrington to develop stomach cramps and nausea.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday at a state court in Manhattan, asked for unspecified money damages.

NEW YORK (AP) – T.R. Knight says he has evolved as a person since announcing last October that he’s gay.

“I feel I’ve learned so much this past year, so I’m grateful for that – so, yeah, that changes you,” the 34-year-old actor said Thursday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Knight, who plays Dr. George O’Malley on the hit medical drama, “Grey’s Anatomy,” announced that he’s gay after it surfaced that Isaiah Washington had used an anti-gay slur against him during an on-set clash with a co-star.

Washington, 44, was booted from his role as a surgeon on the show after he used an anti-gay epithet backstage at the Golden Globe Awards in January while denying he had used it previously on the set against Knight.

He publicly apologized and tried to make amends by meeting with gay-rights organizations and filming a public-service announcement calling for tolerance.

Knight said telling the world you’re gay is not an easy thing to do.

“Everyone has their own path,” he said. “You just have to respect that. I know a lot of people who make statements but you have to do it when it’s right for you.”

Knight joked that he’s dating someone very close to “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star Katherine Heigl.

“Recently Kate and her fiance, Josh Kelley, and me and her mom went out to dinner ... and it was reported that it was with me and my new boyfriend. But that was really her mom,” he told DeGeneres.

“So I guess I’m dating Katherine’s mom right now,” he quipped.

PROVIDENCE (AP) – Dozens of same-sex marriage supporters met at the Statehouse to mark the one-year anniversary of a court decision that allowed them to marry in Massachusetts, and to ask for the same right in Rhode Island.

About 60 people posed for a group photo in front of the Statehouse.

Last year, a Superior Court judge in Massachusetts ruled that nothing in that state’s laws prevents same-sex couples in Rhode Island from marrying across the border.

Lawyers have said it remains unclear what those unions are legally worth in Rhode Island, where lawmakers have not approved same-sex marriage.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican Mitt Romney criticized his Democratic rivals Thursday for not rejecting the inclusion of gay-related issues in sex education for second-graders.

“Last night’s debate was just the latest example of how out of touch the Democratic presidential candidates are with the American people,” Romney said in a statement released by his campaign. “Not one candidate was uncomfortable with young children learning about same-sex marriage in the second grade.”

“This is a subject that should be left to parents, not public school teachers,” he said.

The Democrats were asked during a debate Wednesday night whether they would be comfortable with having a story about same-sex marriage read to their children as part of their school curriculum, as a second-grade teacher did last year in Lexington, Mass.

The top-tier Democratic candidates – Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards – generally said they favor teaching children tolerance for others, including gays and lesbians. They did not expressly embrace or reject including the same-sex marriage as part of a second-grade curriculum.

Edwards, who has a 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, said he wants his children “to understand everything about the difficulties that gay and lesbian couples are faced with every day,” but added that teaching such issues might be “a little tough.”

Obama, who has daughters ages 6 and 9, said his wife has discussed same-sex marriage with their children and urged them “not to be afraid of people who are different.”

Clinton said, “With respect to your individual children, that is such a matter of parental discretion.”

In July, Romney criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for supporting age-appropriate sex education for children as young as kindergartners.

Meanwhile, governor of Mass-achusetts, Romney funded abstinence education rather than family planning and abortion services. But in 2002, he also checked “yes” in a Planned Parenthood questionnaire that asked: “Do you support the teaching of responsible, age-appropriate, factually accurate health and sexuality education, including information about both abstinence and contraception, in public schools?”

Romney opposes same-sex marriage. He has been questioned about his record on gay rights. Romney challenged Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy in 1994, and in a letter he promised a gay Republican group he would be a stronger advocate for gays than his

rival.