VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school – factors the family claims led to the death.

The parents and brother of 15-year-old Larry King of Oxnard filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages for not enforcing the dress code.

King, an eighth-grader at E.O. Green Junior High School, was shot in February. Classmate Brandon McInerney pleaded not guilty to the shooting last week. He was charged as an adult and also faces a charge of a committing a hate crime.

The family’s claim, filed last week in Ventura County Superior Court, said administrators and teachers failed to enforce the school’s dress code when King wore feminine clothing and makeup to school.

His parents, Dawn and Gregory King, said faculty members knew their son had “unique vulnerabilities” and was subject to abuse because of his sexual orientation.

King was a ward of the court and living at a shelter for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children at the time of the shooting.

A call for comment to district Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg was not immediately returned.

State law requires individuals to file a claim before proceeding with a lawsuit against a public agency.

RIO LINDA, CA – A small group of demonstrators handed out leaflets in front of Rio Linda High School Aug. 14 in support of Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California.

The student protesters were with the group Save Biblical Marriage, which is upset the California Teachers Association has donated $250,000 to an effort to defeat the proposition.

Rio Linda High School’s principal says she doesn’t know why the group picked her school to picket, since the school is not affiliated with the CTA.

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) – The Aspen Skiing Co. will start offering benefits to employees’ domestic partners this fall, matching policies at other major Colorado resorts.

By the time ski season starts, health insurance and ski passes will be available to employees’ domestic partners, whether they are of the same or opposite sex, said Jim Laing, vice president of human resources.

“Is it the right thing to do? Yes,” Laing said. “The timing seemed appropriate.”

He said outside factors didn’t influence the decision.

Bryan Gonzales, executive director of the Roaring Fork Gay & Lesbian Community Fund, said it was a “nice surprise” to hear about the company’s change in policy.

The 31st annual Aspen Gay Ski Week is scheduled for January.

Vail Resorts Inc., which operates Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone, and Intrawest ULC already offer domestic partner benefits. Intrawest’s coverage is available to partners of employees at Copper Mountain, Steamboat and Winter Park in Colorado.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge to the Oregon domestic partnership law approved by the Legislature last year.

Opponents had tried to collect enough initiative signatures to put the issue to a statewide vote. But Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury ruled they did not get enough.

His ruling was challenged in federal court, but a judge upheld Bradbury’s decision.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also affirmed the secretary of state’s ruling Aug. 14.

The ruling supports the statistical sampling method of checking initiative petitions to make sure enough valid signatures have been submitted.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A former priest who was HIV positive and accused of sexually abusing minors in Texas and Rhode Island has died, the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth announced Aug. 13.

Philip Anthony Magaldi died Aug. 12 in a North Texas health care facility. Earlier this year, the 72-year-old Magaldi told officials in the diocese he was HIV positive.

Magaldi was removed as a priest in 1999 amid claims of sexual misconduct in Rhode Island, where he served from 1960-90. Other claims were made in the Fort Worth area, where he served from 1990-92 and 1993-99.

Overall, he was accused of sexually abusing at least five minors in two states. Magaldi was never charged and always maintained his innocence.

He was out of the ministry while serving a brief stint in prison in 1992 after embezzling about $200,000 from his Rhode Island parish, officials said.

Magaldi is one of six priests in the Fort Worth diocese who was accused of abusing minors, according to files released last year that were part of a sexual abuse lawsuit.

The bishop in the Fort Worth diocese flew to Rome earlier this year to ask the Vatican to expedite the process of having Magaldi defrocked, which would remove him from clerical status.

In a statement, officials in the Fort Worth diocese said they will “pray for the repose of his soul.”

Magaldi will be cremated and buried with his parents in Florida.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A gay Mormon support group wants The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to become a safe, supportive place for its gay members.

Directors of Affirmation said Monday that the church’s lay leaders need better training so that the treatment of gays is more consistent.

Affirmation leaders substituted a news conference at the Utah Pride Center for a planned meeting with Fred C. Riley, outgoing commissioner of the church social service agency, LDS Family Services.

In a letter last month, Riley said the meeting needed to be postponed until his successor is chosen. That might not happen until next year.

Mormons are taught that gay sex is a sin and that traditional marriage is ordained by God. Gays can remain active in the church and hold church callings if they remain celibate.

Affirmation leaders say they had six priority topics and requests on their agenda, including asking for a meeting with church President Thomas S. Monson or another senior church leader. Other requests include a speech to women in the church during the faith’s twice-yearly conference that clears mothers of blame for gay children and the development of better church publications addressing the issues that affect gay families.

Affirmation also wants a senior church leader to speak at Affirmation’s annual conference when the event comes to Salt Lake City next year.

In a statement Monday, church spokeswoman Kim Farah said the church is sincere in its desire to have an open and honest discussion with Affirmation. Farah said the church had proposed an earlier meeting date, but deferred to Affirmation’s request for an Aug. 11 meeting.

“The Church asked for the same courtesy as it hires a new director of Family Services, a position crucial to this conversation,” Farah said. “The issues surrounding same-gender attraction deserve careful attention not public posturing. It appears from Affirmation’s actions today that it has opted for a public rather than a private exchange.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court will not revisit a case in which an attorney was ordered to pay more than $87,000 for bringing a frivolous lawsuit against a gay rights group.

The court unanimously rejected Milwaukee attorney James Donohoo’s argument that Justice Louis Butler should not have participated in the June ruling because he accepted campaign donations from board members of the group being sued.

The Supreme Court said in its ruling last week that the law did not require Butler to step aside in the 4-3 opinion. Butler ruled in the majority against Donohoo and did not participate in the latest ruling.

Donohoo represented New Orleans preacher and gay rights opponent Grant E. Storms in the case against Action Wisconsin.