LOS ANGELES (AP) – Elizabeth Taylor is lending her timeless style to a fashion show that raises money and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

The 77-year-old actress says she plans to attend the Macy’s Passport fundraiser Thursday in Santa Monica to show support for the event she helped establish 27 years ago.

Though she makes few public appearances, Taylor says she wants to remind people not to become complacent about HIV and AIDS because the virus is “still in the foreground and very much in our consciousness.”

The event, which is open to the public, has raised more than $28 million for HIV/AIDS research, treatment and prevention.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A new poll shows Iowans are divided on whether they would vote for or against a constitutional amendment to end same-sex marriage in Iowa.

The Iowa Poll by The Des Moines Register shows 41 percent say they would vote for a ban and 40 percent say they would vote to continue same-sex marriage. The rest either would not vote or say they are not sure.

The survey in Monday’s edition is the first Iowa Poll to examine opinions since the Iowa Supreme Court in April overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The telephone poll of 803 Iowans ages 18 and older was conducted Sept. 14 to 16 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. It claims a possible margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Prosecutors say an Essex man who allegedly posed online as a lesbian stricken with cancer to entice teenage girls into relationships has been indicted on child pornography charges.

A Baltimore federal grand jury indicted 38-year-old Douglas Patrick on Thursday for possession of child pornography and coercing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce child pornography.

Federal prosecutors said Patrick pretended to be a cancer-stricken 18-year-old girl on social networking sites, where he solicited the girls to send him pictures of their genitalia.

Patrick is being held on related state charges.

BOSTON (AP) – The Justice Department has asked a Boston judge to dismiss a lawsuit that claims a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit claims the act wrongly denies gay couples access to federal benefits given to other married couples.

In court documents filed Friday, the Justice Department makes it clear the Obama administration thinks the law is discriminatory and should be repealed. But the department said it was defending the statute because the law is “constitutionally permissible.”

The 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act bars federal recognition of gay unions and denies gay couples access to pensions, health insurance and other government benefits.

Seven gay couples and three widowers from Massachusetts filed the challenge to the law earlier this year.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A Milwaukee-based charity that hosts camp for children with HIV or AIDS says it will hold sessions this fall for the 88 campers who had a summer session in Minnesota canceled due to the swine flu.

One Heartland had to cancel its July session of Camp Heartland in eastern Minnesota’s Willow River because two volunteer staff members were diagnosed with the swine flu virus. None of the children had the virus.

But the charity said Thursday it has raised enough money to reschedule the sessions for October and November. Information about the new sessions has already been sent out to families.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – A center that provides free testing for sexually transmitted diseases met its three-year goal of helping 1,500 St. Louis-area youth in less than a year.

The center is called Supporting Positive Opportunities for and with Teens. It’s more commonly called ``The Spot.’’

The drop-in center opened a year ago, offering HIV and STD testing for anyone 13 to 24 years old.

Seventeen young people were to be recognized at an event Thursday afternoon for completing a leadership training program at the center.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A gay porn actor has pleaded guilty to committing in rooftop burglaries in Philadelphia with his twin brother and sometime co-star.

Twenty-seven-year-old Keyontyli Goffney, of Arlington, N.J., pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal conspiracy on Thursday and was sentenced to time served.

Goffney’s twin brother Taleon pleaded guilty to the same crimes in July but was sentenced to at least three years in prison because of previous arrests. Police say he once swam across a lake while handcuffed to evade officers.

The twins were arrested during a February 2008 burglary. Authorities say Keyontyli Goffney acted as a lookout while his brother cut holes through the roofs of businesses.

The brothers appeared in movies such as “Marc and the Twins.” Keyontyli Goffney says he continues to work as a model.

COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont Congressman Peter Welch says it’s time to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Welch says defining marriage should be left to the states.

He says repealing the Defense of Marriage Act will allow same sex couples to receive federal benefits in states that recognize same-sex marriage.

Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

Vermont is one of four states that allows same sex marriage.

Welch tells Vermont Public Radio same sex couples in those states are entitled to state marriage, but not federal benefits.

Welch says repealing the act won’t affect states that choose not to recognize same sex marriage.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new test from Abbott Laboratories that detects both types of the virus that causes AIDS.

The FDA says the company’s Abbott Prism HIV O Plus test can detect HIV types 1 and 2.

HIV type 2 is mostly found in West Africa, while HIV type 1 consists of various subgroups found in both the U.S. and West Africa.

The test runs on North Chicago, Ill.-based Abbott’s Prism system, an automated instrument also used to test blood for hepatitis.

The new test will be used to screen for HIV in blood and organ donations.

HIV attacks the body’s immune system, eventually causing AIDS. Just over 1.1 million Americans are estimated to have HIV and 232,000 do not know it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty Sept. 17 to misdemeanor assault in a beating death case that has sparked outrage in the gay community.

Robert Hannah has admitted punching Tony Hunter on Sept. 7, 2008, while Hunter was on his way to a gay bar, but claims he did so because Hunter touched him inappropriately. Hunter died a year ago Sept. 17 from head wounds he received after he fell backward from the blow.

In exchange for Hannah’s plea in D.C. Superior Court, prosecutors have agreed to drop a shoplifting case against him.

Many gay activists say they do not believe the attack was provoked and say a misdemeanor is inadequate. Prosecutors initially sought manslaughter charges, but a grand jury indicted Hannah only for assault.

Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty of 180 days in jail at sentencing Oct. 14.

Defense attorney Joseph P. Caleb acknowledged that Hannah can’t claim self-defense in the incident, but claimed Hunter’s alleged harassment should be seen as a mitigating circumstance.

“He was offended by the way the victim touched him,” Caleb said. “He responded in sort of a knee-jerk reaction.”

A group called Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence has spoken out against the way the case has been handled. Leaders say they don’t believe Hunter did anything to provoke the attack. Witnesses interviewed by police gave differing accounts.

In a letter to prosecutors last week, Phil Mendelson, chairman of the D.C. Council’s public safety committee, said he shared the view “that the victim did not provoke his demise.” He expressed dismay that prosecutors were discussing a plea deal, saying a trial would allow the full story to be known.

Prosecutors say a memorandum they plan to file before sentencing will help explain why they were only able to obtain a misdemeanor conviction in Hunter’s death.