NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) – A Newport Beach parish that cut ties with the national Episcopal Church has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a property dispute.

St. James Anglican Church, which cut ties to its parent church five years ago over the ordination of a gay bishop and biblical doctrines, requested Wednesday that the high court decide who owns the parish property.

In January, the California Supreme Court said St. James had the right to disaffiliate with the larger church but could not take parish property with it, even though the parish has held the deed to the church for decades.

St. James says the ruling violates the parish’s right to freedom of religious expression and gives preference to hierarchical faiths.

The U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether to hear the case as early as October.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The chief of the nation’s second-largest school district is fuming over comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s magazine photo shoot with high school football players.

Los Angeles Superintendent Ramon Cortines isn’t amused by the GQ magazine photos shot at Birmingham High School that feature the Borat star in his new incarnation as gay Austrian fashionista “Bruno.”

The GQ cover story features pictures of Cohen wearing shoulder pads, tight red shorts, an athletic cup and little else as he poses with football players at the school in the San Fernando Valley.

Cortines says the district has “allowed our students to be used.”

Local district superintendent Jean Brown said she’s trying to determine who was responsible.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Authorities are trying to determine who set fire to a large, fabric pink triangle constructed each year as part of San Francisco’s Pride celebration.

San Francisco police say road flares were used to char a section of the triangle.

A pink triangle is an important symbol of the gay rights movement – it was originally used in Nazi concentration camps to identify gay men during World War II.

The pink triangle is perched atop of Twin Peaks, the highest point in San Francisco, every year during Pride weekend.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Two gay rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union are backing a federal lawsuit seeking to restore same-sex marriage in California.

In legal documents filed June 25, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU said they agree that California’s ban on same-sex weddings violates federal anti-discrimination practices.

ACLU attorney Matt Coles said the groups filed their arguments reluctantly because they still believe federal court is the wrong forum for their fight. He said they filed their arguments to help bolster a case that will get litigated whether or not they opposed filing it.

“Just because something is unjust doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get a court order,” Coles said. “You have to lay the legal and political groundwork.”

Some gay rights activists are concerned that a conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court could broadly rule against same-sex marriages.

The lesbian center, Lambda Legal and ACLU now say they support the legal arguments of former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson and David Boies, who filed the federal challenge to California’s same-sex-marriage ban in May.

CHICAGO (AP) – Tens of thousands of people, including the state’s top leaders, participated in and attended Chicago’s Gay Pride Parade.

Revelers rang bells, sang and danced in celebration in Sunday’s event, which featured 250 entrants.

The parade ran through the city’s North Side. In years past, the event has attracted more than 400,000 people. Exact crowd estimates for Sunday were not immediately available.

Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Roland Burris were among politicians who participated in the festivities.

Actor and activist Alexandra Billings was the parade’s grand marshal.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) – A Kalamazoo official says the city is on the verge of approving a gay rights bill, while opponents say they’re ready to try to overturn the law.

City Commissioner David Anderson says an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against GLBT people will be approved Monday night, perhaps unanimously.

American Family Association of Michigan President Gary Glenn told the Kalamazoo Gazette petitions to put the gay rights law to a referendum will be on the streets Tuesday.

The commission approved a gay rights law Dec. 1, then repealed it Jan. 12 after the American Family Association submitted petitions to force a public vote. There are about 72,000 residents in the southwestern Michigan city.

MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. (AP) – Police on eastern Long Island say they have arrested three people on aggravated harassment charges after they kicked and hit a victim while uttering anti-gay remarks.

Authorities say 21-year-old Nora Mitzner, 25-year-old Lindsay McBeth and 20-year-old Selwyn Icangelo were awaiting arraignment in 1st District Court in Central Islip. It was not immediately known if they were represented by attorneys.

Suffolk County Police say they responded to a 911 call of a fight Monday night in Mastic Beach. They say the trio kicked, hit and pushed the unidentified woman while making remarks about her sexual orientation.

A police spokesperson said the victim’s injuries were not serious enough to merit assault as hate crime charges.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – A hearing is under way in upstate New York for an Army National Guard officer who publicly announced he was gay to protest the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

A military board in Syracuse could decide if Lt. Dan Choi should be the first New York National Guard member discharged for violating the military’s policy against homosexual conduct.

The hearing is being held Tuesday morning in Syracuse because it’s the headquarters of the 27th Brigade Combat Team, which oversees the 28-year-old’s National Guard unit.

Choi, a 2003 West Point graduate, announced in March that he is gay. The California native served in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum.

NEW YORK (AP) – Just days after his feud with musicians the Black Eyed Peas, Perez Hilton has found himself on the defensive again, this time for a posting on his Web site about Michael Jackson.

After the first reports about Jackson’s failing health, Hilton wrote that he doubted Jackson had gone into cardiac arrest. In a post that has since been removed from PerezHilton.com, the celebrity blogger speculated that Jackson was pulling a stunt to get out of his upcoming concerts in London.

Hilton’s skepticism, of course, proved unfounded – and many have called for a boycott of the blogger. Hundreds of users on Twitter have urged others to “unfollow” Hilton on the microblogging service. Pete Wentz of the band Fall Out Boy was among the celebrities who chastised Hilton.

Hilton (real name: Mario Lavandeira) didn’t return e-mails requesting comment.

He did, though, tweet many times about the situation, claiming that he was owning up to his mistake and that he was “genuinely feeling sorry that he died and sorry for his kids.”

On Thursday, Hilton apologized for using a gay slur during a nightclub altercation Monday with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am. The altercation resulted in the band’s tour manager being charged with assault for allegedly punching Hilton.

Hilton apologized after the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation pressed him to apologize.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – State health officials say one in three Nebraskans with HIV/AIDS doesn’t know he or she has been infected.

Nebraska’s chief medical officer, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control, says that translates to 800 more cases. And that means there’s still work to do in spreading word about the importance of getting tested.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is promoting HIV Testing Week, which kicked off Saturday and will run through July 4. Saturday also is National HIV Testing Day.

Health officials hope to use the week to draw attention to sites across the state that offer free testing, including some that will expand their hours or make other accommodations over the next week.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Rhode Island seems likely to remain the only New England state that does not recognize same-sex marriage after the state’s General Assembly wrapped up its session.

House Speaker William Murphy sent lawmakers home early Saturday morning. They will return for at least one day in July and possibly in September to take care of minor unfinished business. The state Senate plans to meet again this week, although a day has not been set.

This year, lawmakers did not advance any bills legalizing or forbidding same-sex marriage.

Traditionally, both chambers end their year during the last week in June.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont’s incoming same-sex marriage law doesn’t appear to be generating a lot of new marriage business for the state parks.

The law will take effect Sept. 1.

Forest and Parks Commissioner Jason Gibbs says the state isn’t anticipating any significant increase in the same-sex marriage business, but he’d welcome it.

Gibbs says weddings remain a steady form of business for the state park system.

The same-sex marriage law was passed by the Legislature over the veto of Gov. Jim Douglas. But now that it is to be state law, Douglas says he’ll welcome the business.

The Barre Montpelier Times Argus says the state decided not to direct advertisements toward same-sex couples looking for a place to get married.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A group of large corporations says it will help Washington fight the spread of HIV and AIDS with campaigns that include appearances by professional basketball players.

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced Thursday that D.C., New York and Oakland, Calif., will be able to use the marketing savvy of its members to form campaigns promoting AIDS prevention and treatment.

The coalition includes Pfizer, the National Basketball Association, Facebook, Nike, Nokia and others.

The three cities were picked because they are among those with the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the United States. Also, the corporate coalition has a relationship with the cities’ officials.

The coalition intends to expand the program to other cities.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration is not going to fight a nearly $500,000 judgment for a Library of Congress hiree who lost the job while undergoing a gender change from a man to a woman.

The Justice Department let the deadline to appeal the decision pass Tuesday, a day after President Barack Obama hosted gay supporters at the White House and promised to be their “champion.” Some activists have complained he has not led on their causes, including ending the ban on gays in the military.

Diane Schroer, a retired Army Special Forces commander from Alexandria, Va., had been offered a job at the Library of Congress when he was a man, David Schroer. The job was rescinded the day after Schroer told a library official he was going to have an operation to become a woman.