LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is political grand marshal for the 26th annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade.

Long Beach Pride administrative director Carl Highshaw says Newsom was picked for his efforts at getting same-sex marriage on the national stage.

The parade is May 17, at 10:30 a.m.

Robin Tyler and Dianne Olson, the first lesbian couple to bring a legal challenge to the state’s same-sex marriage ban, are parade grand marshals.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) – A former nurse accused of stealing pain medication intended for surgical patients has been tested for HIV and hepatitis after telling authorities he sometimes used dirty needles on patients.

The Daily Camera newspaper reports that the former nurse at Boulder Community Hospital – 27-year-old Ashton Paul Daigle – told police in a taped interview about using dirty needles to replace the drug fentanyl with a saline solution.

The tape was played for victims. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver confirmed to the newspaper that Daigle has been tested for HIV and hepatitis and that the tests came back negative.

Still, the office notified the patients thought to have been affected. Daigle faces life in prison if convicted.

LAKE WORTH, Fla. (AP) – The former Largo city manager who was fired after her plans to have a sex change became public is a finalist for the city manager’s job in Lake Worth.

Susan Stanton – formerly known as Steven – was fired by the Largo City Commission in early 2007 after working for the city for more than 16 years. Later that year, Stanton was a finalist for a city manager position in Sarasota but did not ultimately get the job.

Lake Worth commissioners listed Stanton as a finalist at a meeting March 12. She and several over candidates are scheduled to be interviewed early next month.

A final decision by commissioners is scheduled for April 7.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – An Ada County grand jury has charged a man with seven counts of knowingly transferring the HIV virus, and it’s not the first time he has been charged with the crime.

Kerry Steven Thomas, 45, is also charged with being a persistent violator because he has been convicted of two prior felonies. In 1996, he was convicted of knowingly transferring the HIV virus and sentenced to at least seven years in prison. In 1990, he plead guilty to rape and was sentenced to serve at least three years in prison.

If convicted, Thomas faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of knowingly transferring HIV and up to life in prison for being a persistent violator.

LEBANON, Ind. (AP) – The Lebanon school district has reversed its policy that barred a female student from wearing a tuxedo to her school’s prom.

The unidentified 17-year-old Lebanon High School senior filed a lawsuit last week. Court filings said she is a lesbian and does not wear dresses because she believes they represent a sexual identity she rejects.

Superintendent Robert L. Taylor said formal attire will be required at the prom, but the requirements won’t be “gender-based.” He said the School Board would have to vote Tuesday to accept the agreement.

American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana legal director Ken Falk, who was the girl’s attorney, told the Indianapolis Star that the teen is pleased with the decision and will attend the April prom in a tuxedo.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – A majority of Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation leaders in central and eastern Kentucky have voted to overturn a national ban on gay ministers.

The measure would have to be approved by a majority of the nation’s 173 presbyteries to take effect, a move that would make it possible for gays and lesbians to become pastors, elders and deacons.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that commissioners of the Presbytery of Transylvania voted 83-61 Tuesday to approve the amendment. The presbytery includes 56 Kentucky counties.

The church has considered such amendments several times since 1996, but all have failed. A close vote is expected this year.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – The author of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine says more than 60 legislators from both parties have signed on as co-sponsors.

Democratic Sen. Dennis Damon of Trenton said those lining up in support of his bill include representatives from Maine’s smallest towns and its largest cities.

He said many legislators sought to have their names associated with the bill, prompting leadership to open it up to unlimited sponsorship. Normally, no more than 10 lawmakers can be listed as co-sponsors of a bill.

The bill would make Maine the third state, after Massachusetts and Connecticut, to allow same-sex marriage. Maine law currently defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A Native American youth theater group performs Friday in Minneapolis to mark a national day focused on HIV and AIDS among Native Americans.

The performance by the Ogitchi-dag (oh-git-CHEE’-dah) Players from the Indigenous Peoples Task Force takes place at the Minneapolis American Indian Center.

American Indians have the third-highest rate of HIV and AIDS among all ethnic groups.

State officials say there have been 193 cases of HIV infection and 81 deaths among Native Americans in Minnesota since the AIDS epidemic began.

Currently, about 100 HIV-infected American Indians live in the state.

State minority health office director Mitchell Davis Jr. is urging frequent HIV testing and safe-sex practices and warning against sharing needles used for drug use or body art.

NEW YORK (AP) – A Brooklyn jury is deliberating in the trial of a teenager accused of stabbing a man to death.

Eighteen-year-old Omar Willock is charged with fatally stabbing 20-year-old Roberto Duncanson in May 2007 on a street in the Crown Heights neighborhood.

Willock had been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

But defense lawyer Benjamin Heinrich says the judge last Thursday granted his motion to toss out that charge.

The jury will resume considering second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter charges tomorrow.

Prosecutors said Willock accused the victim of flirting with him before making anti-gay slurs, starting a fist fight and eventually stabbing him four times in the back.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A western Pennsylvania prosecutor says no charges will be filed in the death of an Ohio man at a private Pittsburgh health club geared toward gay men.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. says tests showed 31-year-old Cleophus Pettway, of Youngstown, had cocaine in his system and chemicals from a solvent used to blow dust from electronic equipment that the club sold.

Pettway was found in a private room at Club Pittsburgh on Jan. 3. Zappala says it’s more likely he died from cocaine than the solvent.

The club sold the solvent to patrons, who would use it to get high. Zappala says the solvent’s ingredients aren’t covered under inhalant abuse laws.

The club has been told to no longer sell the solvent.