LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – An Arkansas judge says a lawsuit can go forward challenging the state’s ban on unmarried couples adopting children.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled Tuesday that issues the lawsuit raises are important enough to go to trial.

The Arkansas attorney general’s office had sought a dismissal, saying no one had been directly affected by the ban.

The voter-approved ban went into effect Jan. 1. It prohibits unmarried couples who live together from adopting or fostering children. Its authors acknowledge it was aimed at homosexuals.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit on behalf of more than a dozen families. They argue that the act violates their rights and that its language was misleading to voters.

DENVER (AP) – The Colorado Senate has given initial backing to a bill making it easier for gays and lesbians to leave property to their partners.

The Senate voted Friday.

House Bill 1260 would apply to any two unmarried people, not just same-sex couples. They could file a designated beneficiary document with county clerks giving them rights such as making funeral arrangements and receiving death benefits in addition to automatically inheriting property.

Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg says the bill blurs the line between marriage and civil union. He tried but failed to change the bill to cover married couples.

Democratic Sen. Jennifer Veiga says married couples are already protected and adding another layer of rights would be confusing.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A federal judge gives Louisiana 15 days to add the names of both fathers to the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted by a same-sex couple from out-of-state.

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell says he will appeal Wednesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey.

Caldwell says the judge significantly misinterpreted Louisiana law, and is forcing the state to adopt another state’s laws.

The judge refused a request for a full trial. He said what goes onto an adopted child’s birth certificate depends on adoption law in the state where the child was adopted – not where the baby was born.

A bill prefiled Tuesday would make it illegal to revise birth certificates for people who would not qualify as adoptive parents in Louisiana. That includes same-sex couples.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – Leaders of a clergy group that supports a same-sex marriage bill in Maine hosted a breakfast with lawmakers to make their case for what they see as an equality measure.

About 30 lawmakers attended Tuesday’s gathering at an Augusta hotel. Rev. Mark Worth of the Castine Unitarian-Universalist Church said the legislators included some supporters, some undecided and some opponents.

Worth is a member of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry, which includes more than 150 clergy members from 14 faiths. Worth says he’s cautiously optimistic that the same-sex marriage bill will pass.

The Maine Family Policy Council, formerly the Christian Civic League of Maine, the Catholic Diocese of Portland and other groups oppose the bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton.

BOSTON (AP) – Sen. John Kerry has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to grant asylum to a Brazilian gay man who’s married to an American man still living in Massachusetts where they wed.

Genesio “Junior” Oliveira was forced to return to Brazil in August 2007, when his application for asylum was denied. The Associated Press does not typically name rape victims, but Oliveira allows his name to be used. He has been married to Haverhill businessman Tim Coco since 2005.

The 28-year-old requested U.S. asylum because he was raped as a teenager. Rape of a man is not a crime in Brazil.

In his letter, Kerry says a judge ruled Oliveira never was physically harmed by the rape. He calls that claim “outrageous.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A group of Minnesota religious leaders say they’re supporting another push at the state Capitol for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the state.

The Minnesota Family Council and various Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders held a news conference Tuesday, saying they’re also concerned about several pending bills that could allow same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

They say those bills show the need to defend current laws that specify marriage as between a man and a woman.

Sen. John Marty, a Roseville Democrat who authored a bill to allow same-sex marriage, says he still hopes to get a hearing on the legislation, even if there isn’t time to pass it this year.

STOCKTON, Mo. (AP) – A mother and her son face charges in an arson fire that destroyed three businesses and an empty store in a strip mall in the small southwest Missouri town of Stockton.

Jacob T. Smith, 18, and Dina R. Larson, 39, both of Stockton, were charged Thursday in Cedar County with counts including second-degree burglary and second-degree arson.

A third person is in custody but not yet charged in the blaze Wednesday that gutted a tobacco store, pizza shop and a video store.

A probable cause statement says Smith and Larson admitted in separate interviews that they broke into stores at the mall, stole items and set the fire.

The statement does not mention whether the fire was a hate crime. Investigators have said that graffiti painted at the scene was derogatory toward gays; the owner is openly gay.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A New Hampshire House panel has deadlocked on whether to support same-sex marriage.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 10-10 on a bill that would make the state the third to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Tuesday’s split decision means that the bill goes to the whole House next week for a debate and vote without any recommendation from the committee.

The Legislature passed a civil unions bill for same-sex couples two years ago, and the state began issuing civil unions last year.

The committee also deadlocked on an anti-discrimination bill that would extend legal protections to transsexuals. Opponents called it the “bathroom bill” based on their argument it will open all bathrooms to both men and women.

NEW YORK (AP) – A lesbian facing a second trial for attacking a man in New York City for making sexual advances has pleaded guilty to gang assault.

Renata Hill, of Newark, N.J., pleaded guilty in exchange for a 3 1/2-year sentence. She must surrender at the prison in Bedford Hills, N.Y. on April 30.

Hill and three other lesbians were convicted in April 2007 of assaulting Dwayne Buckle after he made provocative sexual comments. He was stabbed during the attack.

A state appeals court threw out the convictions of three of the women, dismissing the charges against one and ordering new trials for Hill and another.

Prosecutors had said they would retry Hill and the other woman.

The appeals court reduced the sentence of the fourth woman.

NEW YORK (AP) – Two men have plead not guilty in the hate-crime killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant on a Brooklyn street.

Hakim Scott and Keith Phoenix were arraigned on an indictment that includes second-degree murder as a hate crime. They could face 78 years in prison if convicted.

Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother were attacked Dec. 7 as they walked arm-in-arm to keep warm. The attackers shouted anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs.

On Friday, the judge issued an order of protection for the surviving brother, Romel Sucuzhanay.

He and a third brother, Diego, were present but did not comment.

Supporters for the defendants also were in court. As Phoenix was led away, one of them yelled: “Beautiful boy!”

NEW YORK (AP) – A Brooklyn teenager has been convicted of stabbing a 20-year-old man to death in an attack prosecutors originally called an anti-gay hate crime.

Brooklyn prosecutors say Omar Willock was found guilty of second-degree murder late Wednesday in Roberto Duncanson’s 2007 killing. Before jurors began deliberating, a judge dismissed a charge of second-degree murder as a hate crime.

Willock, 18, faces up to 25 years to life in prison. His sentencing is set for May 4.

Willock’s lawyer, Benjamin Heinrich, didn’t immediately return a telephone call Thursday.

Prosecutors said Willock accused Duncanson of flirting with him before Willock made anti-gay slurs, started a fist fight and stabbed the victim four times in the back.