MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) – The city of Miami Beach is hosting its first official gay Pride parade.

The fact that there hasn’t ever been one there is perhaps the most striking thing about it. The area has a long history as a gay-friendly destination, with rainbow-flagged sections of beach and more than a half-dozen bars for gays and lesbians.

Singer Patti LaBelle and designer Richie Rich are parade grand marshals. A festival Saturday and Sunday will feature business and community booths, kiosks and a stage with several performers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Legislature has again blocked debate over issues linked to same-sex marriage, which was legalized earlier this month by the Iowa Supreme Court.

The Senate was debating a routine measure dealing with county recorders on Tuesday, when Sen. Merlin Bartz, R-Grafton offered an amendment allowing county recorders to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The “conscience clause” would have allowed recorders to refuse to issue the licenses if they object to same-sex marriage.

Senate leaders ruled the issue out of order and there was no debate.

Earlier, Senate Democrats rejected Republican requests to join in a bill to oppose same-sex marriage and a resolution in the House calling for a constitutional amendment banning it also failed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An openly gay state senator has received a death threat.

Public safety officials say Sen. Matt McCoy, a Des Moines Democrat, received the threat by telephone on Monday.

The threat was made as opponents of same-sex marriage continue to pressure lawmakers to take steps against a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriages in Iowa.

McCoy confirmed it was a death threat, but declined to talk about details.

Courtney Greene of the Iowa Department of Public Safety says McCoy met with state troopers at the Capitol, but because the threat wasn’t received at the Capitol, it was referred to Des Moines police.

Greene says the patrol has received information that a number of lawmakers have been receiving “troubling” calls and e-mails.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley says conservatives opposed to the Iowa Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling should focus on long-term planning.

Grassley acknowledged he’s taking a lower profile on the issue than some Republicans, but he says that’s because a bipartisan approach is needed.

Speaking Thursday night during a taping of the public television program “Iowa Press,” Grassley argued same-sex marriage opponents should look toward the next election and future legislative sessions.

Democratic leaders in the Legislature have opposed beginning the process of amending the Iowa Constitution to overrule the state Supreme Court’s April 3 decision.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Four sex-related books will remain on the shelves at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

The Board of Trustees voted 7-3 Thursday night to keep Sex for Busy People, The Lesbian Kama Sutra, The Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex on the library’s shelves. The board passed an amended version of a recommendation from Gina Millsap, the library’s executive director.

The amendment directs library staff members to post a public-service statement explaining the controversy on the library’s Web site and possibly on a bulletin board at the library. The statement would inform parents that sexual health information is available at the library.

Last year, Kim Borchers of Kansans for Common Sense Policy submitted a statement of concern to the library saying the books were harmful to minors under Kansas law.

BANGOR, Maine (AP) – Nine men who said they were with a Pennsylvania-based group were in Bangor over the weekend protesting a same-sex marriage bill that has been proposed in the Maine Legislature.

The men stood at a busy intersection near the Bangor Mall on Saturday carrying signs and chanting slogans in support of traditional family values. The men told the Bangor Daily News they were members of the group American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.

The group travels to states where same-sex marriage legislation is being considered, and made stops in Maine, in Portland, Augusta and Bangor.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — The mother of an 11-year-old Massachusetts boy who killed himself after enduring anti-gay bullying at school is calling on schools to end such harassment.

Sirdeaner Walker told WCVB television in Boston that school officials shouldn’t tolerate bullying. Walker’s son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, died April 6 after hanging himself with an extension cord.

“I just want to help some other child,” she told the station. “I know there are other kids being picked on, and it’s day in and day out.”

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, supported Walker’s call for action.

“As we mourn yet another tragedy involving bullying at school, we must heed Ms. Walker’s urgent call for real, systemic, effective responses to the endemic problem of bullying and harassment,” she said. Byard noted that students who don’t identify as gay, such as Walker-Hoover, continue to face such bullying.

“From their earliest years on the school playground,” she said, “students learn to use anti-LGBT language as the ultimate weapon to degrade their peers.”

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – A Duluth city councilmember says he’ll introduce an ordinance to allow same-sex couples to register as domestic partners with city hall.

Councilmember Jeff Anderson says it would be a mostly symbolic move, but says it would help committed same-sex couples more easily sign up for domestic partner benefits from employers that offer them.

Anderson is Duluth’s first openly gay city councilmember. He says it can be difficult for companies to know whether someone’s domestic partnership is legitimate.

Couples applying for the city registry would have to pay $20 or $25 for a certificate and attest that they “are as committed to one another as married persons are traditionally committed.”

About 70 cities around the country have similar registries, including Minneapolis.

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates is urging caution about potential changes to the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy governing the openness of gay troops.

Speaking at the Army War College, Gates stressed he is not yet taking a position about whether gay troops should be open about their sexuality. That could lead to their discharge under current policy dating to the Clinton administration.

President Barack Obama committed during the 2008 presidential campaign to moving to end the policy. But Gates notes that it took five years for the U.S. armed forces to integrate during the Truman administration.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – The Episcopal Church has filed a lawsuit seeking to regain control of church property from the breakaway Diocese of Fort Worth.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Tarrant County District Court. The list of defendants includes Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker, who led the conservative movement to split from the national church over issues including gay clergy and women in the priesthood.

The Iker-led group voted last year to join a more conservative province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Episcopal Church maintains that its rules prohibit dioceses from breaking away and that church properties are held in trust for the denomination.

Iker wrote in an e-mail to the Dallas Morning News late Tuesday that the move was expected.

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) – Organizers say a lack of awareness on the unique health care needs of transgender and transsexual patients led to this week’s conference at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Janelle Fischer of La Crosse says she began her transition from living as a man to a woman about three years ago. She says it was difficult finding local doctors who could help her through the process.

Madison physician Paul Wertsch is with the American Medical Association’s Advisory Committee for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues. He says the AMA is surveying medical schools to learn how their curriculum teaches gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues.

Wertsch says the best teaching practices can then be passed on to other schools.