MOBILE, Ala. (AP) – A jury has convicted a man of murder in the death of a man described during the trial as a transvestite, although no motive was made clear.

Samuel Lamar Moore, 23, was convicted in the October 2006 shooting death of Marco “Coco” Little, 31, in Little’s home. Circuit Judge Rick Stout ordered Moore held, last Wednesday, to await sentencing April 24, when he could face a maximum of life in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Jill Phillips suggested that Moore and Little were romantically involved, but she fell short of providing a motive for the slaying.

Defense attorney Claude Patton said Little was a trangender drug dealer, an occupation he described as hazardous. He suggested any number of people could have killed him.

He emphasized the state’s lack of a motive.

Phillips said the state wasn’t required to come up with a motive. She noted that Little was shot twice in the head.

“You shoot someone two times in the head because you want him dead,” Phillips said.

Key prosecution witnesses, including a male friend and a girlfriend of Moore’s, testified that Moore involved them in transporting Little’s gold Cadillac to what Phillips described as a dirt road in Prichard, where Moore torched the car. Patton questioned the state basing much of its case on the word of two people – one he described as a homosexual and the other a girl Moore dated for four days.

PHOENIX (AP) – A bill aimed at blocking a move to allow unmarried domestic partners to get coverage as dependents under state employee and retiree benefits is dead in the water at the Legislature.

The Senate voted 16-14 against the bill after the sponsor switched her vote to position herself to ask for a future re-vote. It would define “dependent” as a spouse or unmarried child of an employee or retiree.

That’s counter to a rule change made by the Department of Administration and awaiting clearance from a state regulatory review council.

The change is supported by gay rights advocates and opposed by social conservatives.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – The nominee to replace a breakaway bishop ousted by Episcopal leaders is meeting with San Joaquin Valley congregations ahead of an upcoming vote.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the head of national church, has recommended Jerry A. Lamb to serve as the new bishop for the Diocese of San Joaquin.

National church leaders on Wednesday removed Bishop John-David Schofield as the head of the Fresno-based diocese, which seceded, last December over the Episcopal Church’s ordination of women and gays.

Lamb, a past bishop of the Sacramento-based Diocese of Northern California, met with church members in Fresno on Friday and in Stockton on Saturday.

Members of the Diocese of San Joaquin are slated to meet at the end of the month to confirm Lamb’s nomination.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – A lesbian married in Massachusetts has filed for an annulment from her partner in Missouri, a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage.

Charisse Y. Sparks went to the 5th Circuit Judicial Court in October asking for an annulment to her marriage with Janet Y. Peters-Mauceri-Sparks. The two women were married in Boston three years ago, less than a year after Massachusetts became the first – and only – state to legalized same-sex unions.

Judge Daniel Kellogg said he has taken the matter into consideration and is treating it as an annulment, not a divorce. He has scheduled a hearing for April 2.

Sparks, a doctor for Heartland Health in St. Joseph, married Peters-Mauceri-Sparks in Boston in 2005. They moved to Missouri not long after the ceremony. Sparks has asked for an annulment, saying in a court petition that she does not recognize the marriage.

Her attorney, William Bird, asked in court documents that the marriage be declared invalid because Missouri does not recognize same-sex marriages.

Sparks has referred all media requests to Bird. A receptionist at his law firm said he is not commenting on the case.

Kay Madden, attorney for Peters-Mauceri-Sparks, countered that the union is legal because Missouri courts have long held that out-of-state marriages should be respected in Missouri as long as the marriage was legal in the state it was performed.

She did not return a call seeking comment.

The case could have future ramifications, possibly setting a precedent for same-sex cases in Missouri. The state overwhelmingly voted four years ago to limit marriage to unions between one man and one woman.

It’s not the first time a same-sex couple has tried to dissolve a marriage performed in another state. The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled in December that a lesbian couple married in nearby Massachusetts could not get a divorce in their home state.

The Rhode Island court said the state’s family court does not have the authority to grant the divorce of same-sex couples because Rhode Island lawmakers have not defined marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman.

Rhode Island House Majority Leader Gordon Fox said last month he would introduce legislation allowing married same-sex couples to get divorced in the state.

At least nine states have approved spousal rights of some form for same-sex couples.

NEW YORK – Definitive information is currently lacking on whether gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons die by suicide more frequently than heterosexuals. However, research from several different countries does indicate that GLBT individuals have elevated rates of suicide attempts, as well as higher rates of depression and other factors that suggest increased suicide risk. Less well understood are the reasons underlying these higher rates, or how GLBT suicide in adolescents, adults and older adults can be effectively prevented.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), along with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, addressed these issues at a national conference on GLBT suicide held last November in Chicago. Additionally, AFSP and its partner organizations are developing recommendations to address the need for professional and public education on these topics as well as treatment and suicide prevention initiatives specifically targeting GLBT persons. AFSP is also currently funding two research projects related to suicide in GLBT youth, and is committed to supporting further research on suicide and suicide risk in GLBT populations across the lifespan.

In June 2008, the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walks will take place in New York City and Seattle. Needed research and prevention initiatives that address GLBT suicide will be supported by funds raised from the Overnight Walks. For more information or to get involved, call 888-The Overnight or visit www.theovernight.org.