CONWAY, Ark. (AP) – State Sen. Gilbert Baker says he does not think the Arkansas GOP chair should be raising a state lawmaker’s homosexuality as an issue during party appearances.

State Republican Party Chair Doyle Webb when criticizing Democrats has reportedly mentioned the fact that state Rep. Kathy Webb of Little Rock is a lesbian.

Baker is a former state GOP chair and he co-chairs the Joint Budget Committee. Baker didn’t elaborate on why he doesn’t think it is proper for Doyle Webb to mention Kathy Webb’s sexuality. But Baker praised Kathy Webb’s work as a member of the joint budget panel.

VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union says it has reached a settlement with the Vallejo public school district over a lesbian student’s claims she was taunted by teachers and other staff members.

Sixteen-year-old Rochelle Hamilton alleged that during her sophomore year at Jesse Bethel High School she was required to attend a counseling group for gay students. Hamilton says the counselor tried to persuade participants they had chosen their sexual orientations.

As part of the settlement announced Monday, the Vallejo Unified School District agreed to pay Hamilton $25,000 and to institute mandatory training on eliminating discrimination against gays.

Spokesperson Jason Hodge says the district’s investigation didn’t support the teenager’s allegations but officials agreed their policies could be strengthened.

ATLANTA (AP) – The world’s governments and industries are “ignoring reality” when it comes to the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS, singer Elton John told an international biotechnology conference Tuesday.

Organizations fighting the AIDS epidemic – such as the 17-year-old Elton John AIDS Foundation – are battling the stigma of the disease as much as they are the virus itself, John said.

“There are long-standing stereotypes and prejudices that inhibit our efforts to combat AIDS,” the legendary performer told thousands gathered at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta for the 2009 BIO International Convention. “I am asking you for leadership.”

He cited grim statistics:

• More than 1 million Americans have the HIV virus, and thousands more have gone undiagnosed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Internationally, 33 million people are living with HIV and nearly 3 million become infected each year with the virus across the globe, according to the United Nations.

• One in every three new HIV cases is diagnosed in someone younger than 30, according to the CDC.

“It is unfathomable and unconscionable that we are not making a bigger effort to educate this demographic about HIV/AIDS with creative materials and up-to-date information,” John said. “Our failure to do so is costing lives.”

John’s foundation has raised more than $150 million to support programs in 55 countries, including needle exchanges, condom distribution and sex education in schools. He began the foundation in the United States in 1992 and in the United Kingdom a year later after watching dozens of his close friends die from the disease.

He called his organization “truly the David of nonprofits fighting the Goliath of diseases.”

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa City may be marching down the aisle toward becoming a destination for same-sex couples looking to get hitched.

An Iowa Supreme Court decision last month legalized same-sex marriages in the state, and now an informal committee is working to market Iowa City for same-sex weddings.

The committee is made up of tourism officials, wedding service providers and hotel operators.

Josh Schamberger, the president of the Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the court’s ruling provides an opportunity for economic development through tourism, and he says the Iowa City area is poised to capitalize on that opportunity.

“I think Iowa City and Coralville, above all other communities in the state, is welcoming to the gay and lesbian community,” Schamberger said.

Earlier this month, 17 gay and lesbian couples traveled from Missouri to Iowa City to get married.

One aspect of the marketing campaign will be compiling a list of gay friendly wedding service providers that will be posted on the convention bureau’s Web site and in its marketing materials.

Mark Ginsberg, owner of M.C. Ginsberg Jewelers, said his business has been marketed toward same-sex couples for 25 years. He said supporting the ruling is a natural for his business.

“I would like to see everybody in this county jump on board and say we tolerate everybody,” Ginsberg said.

He said getting the word out about the welcoming nature of the area is a good way to “respond before everyone else does.”

Chris Okiishi of the City Circle Acting Company, said he has been able to provide contacts to alternative publications in cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago. He said advertising in those publications could help attract same-sex weddings and boost the local economy.

Okiishi also said that Iowa City has a progressive clergy and plenty of wedding venues for same-sex couples.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – Maine election officials have drafted the question that will appear on the state referendum ballot if opponents of the recently enacted same-sex marriage bill collect enough signatures.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said Tuesday the question that will appear on petitions is as follows:

“Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?”

Dunlap said the petitioners have until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns to collect 55,087 signatures. His office then has 30 days to certify the signatures and determine whether to hold up the law until a statewide vote.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – The Maine Human Rights Commission says a restaurant discriminated against a transgender woman by asking her to use the men’s room until she had sex reassignment surgery.

The manager of a Denny’s restaurant in Auburn made the request of Brianna Freeman of Lewiston after a female customer complained of having to share a restroom with “a man.” Chad Cloutier, a lawyer representing the restaurant, says the woman threatened to call police.

After being banned from the ladies room, Freeman filed a complaint with the commission last year.

The commission ruled 3-2 in favor of Freeman. Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine, told the Bangor Daily News it wouldn’t be safe for Freeman to use the men’s room. The Maine Civil Liberties Union hailed the decision as a civil rights victory.

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) – A Massachusetts man has been charged with a hate crime after police say he beat up a woman while screaming anti-homosexual language on a crowded street in Provincetown.

Twenty-year-old Eric Patten of Winthrop was arrested shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday.

Police say Patten approached two women in front of a café on Commercial Street, called one of them an offensive name referring to gay men and pushed one of them into a café window, which broke.

Authorities say Patten was drunk and thought the two women were gay men.

Police say both women were treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Patten faces several charges, including assault and battery under the state hate crime law. He posted bail Tuesday, which was set at $1,000 in Orleans District Court. Patten also was ordered to stay out of Provincetown.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The definition of a hate crime in Michigan would be expanded through legislation approved by the state House.

The Democrat-led chamber approved the bills by 66-43 votes May 20 mostly along party lines. The legislation now goes to the Republican-led Senate, where a similar House-approved measure died last year.

The legislation would make penalties stiffer if crimes were motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation, disability or status as a military veteran. It would add to Michigan’s current law covering crimes sparked by gender, national origin, race and religion.

The American Family Association of Michigan is lobbying against including the sexual orientation provision. The group says it would give gays protections not provided to most other citizens.

NEW YORK (AP) – Clay Aiken says blood didn’t truly pour forth from his ears when he heard runner-up Adam Lambert sing “Ring of Fire” – and hey, he’s sorry for his “colorful choice of words.”

The former Idol contestant writes in a blog on his Web site dated Friday that “I obviously meant it as a colorful statement to imply that I did not enjoy what I heard.” He also says he didn’t mean it as “a ‘slam’ on Adam as a person.”

He had blasted Lambert’s take on the classic Johnny Cash tune as “contrived,” “awful” and “slightly frightening.” Aiken says he hopes Lambert can forgive him – but adds Lambert probably doesn’t care about what he said.

Aiken lost out to Ruben Studdard in 2003. He’s since released several albums, appeared on Broadway and publicly confirmed he’s gay.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – An endowed scholarship fund has been established in honor of former professor Louis Crompton at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

It pays tribute to Crompton, a longtime English professor at UNL and an early leader in gay and lesbian studies.

In 1970, he initiated one of the nation’s first interdisciplinary courses about the gay and lesbian community.

For 20 years, Crompton was adviser to the earliest gay student organization at UNL.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A state senator says he will introduce a measure to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Republican Sen. John Eichelberger of Blair County said he will hold a press conference Tuesday in Hollidaysburg to announce the bill’s introduction.

Similar measures in the last two sessions of the state Legislature have failed.

Pennsylvania law already defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

But Eichelberger and other proponents of the amendment say writing the ban into the Constitution would prevent a judge from overturning the law.

Opponents say the measure would enshrine discrimination into the Constitution.

Amending the Constitution requires approval from both the House and Senate in two consecutive two-year sessions before the measure must go to voters for final approval in a statewide referendum.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Gay rights advocates are protesting the exclusion of gay and lesbian relationships from a South Carolina bill meant to curb teen dating violence.

Democratic Reps. Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg and Ken Kennedy of Greeleyville are among those criticizing last week’s vote in the House to bar any mention of gays from the proposed program for middle and high school students.

Harriet Hancock of the Columbia charter of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays said Tuesday the amended bill sends a message to gay students they’re not worthy of being protected. The advocates urged senators to remove the amendment.

Republican Greg Delleney of Chester said he pushed for the change because he believes it would lead to school officials teaching children about same-sex relationships.