ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) – Alameda school officials are expected to approve this week new anti-bullying lessons for elementary school students.

Members of the Alameda Unified School District are set to discuss Tuesday new instructional materials for students in grades 3-5 that will address bullying.

The materials would include a list of to-be-drafted books intended to tackle bullying issues based on race and ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, nationality and sexual orientation.

The proposed book list could come before the board in February, with teacher guides for the books to be determined during the spring.

The expanded lessons come after school officials in May approved instructions meant to address anti-gay bullying issues.

VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) – Vallejo’s mayor is apologizing for comments he made to The New York Times that gays and lesbians will not go to heaven.

Mayor Osby Davis’ remarks were published Nov. 27 in an article about the divide between the city’s gay and evangelical Christian residents.

Davis issued a prepared statement Tuesday saying he seeks to represent all city residents, not just a faction.

The mayor, an evangelical, told the newspaper that gays are “committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven.”

In his statement, Davis says the remarks were taken out of context and that he won’t use his position to espouse his personal beliefs.

Davis defeated an openly gay candidate for mayor by two votes in the 2007 election.

BALTIMORE (AP) – A preliminary report commissioned by U.S. Roman Catholic bishops finds no evidence that gay priests are more likely to abuse children.

Researcher Margaret Smith from John Jay College of Criminal Justice said the study so far has found no connection between being gay and an increased likelihood of abuse.

Questions about any link had been raised widely in the church because most of the known victims were boys.

Gay advocates and many experts on child sex abuse have long held that there is no link.

The preliminary findings were released Tuesday at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Baltimore.

The study is looking at what led to the clergy sex abuse crisis. The final report is expected at the end of next year.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – A bill legalizing same-sex marriages in New Jersey comes up for debate.

Sen. Paul Sarlo says he’s honoring a pledge to gay rights activists by posting the bill in the Judiciary Committee. But the committee chairman says he won’t support the legislation, underscoring its uncertain future.

Proponents have a sense of urgency with Gov.-elect Chris Christie assuming office in January. Christie has said he would veto the bill. Gov. Jon Corzine would sign it.

The bill needs 7 votes to clear the committee and 21 to win approval in the Senate.

Senate President Richard Codey says the bill could go before the full Senate Thursday if it clears committee.

The Assembly hasn’t yet considered it.

Thirty-one states have voted down gay marriage. A handful allow it.

ALBANY, New York (AP) – New York lawmakers have rejected a bill to legalize gay marriage.

The Senate decision Wednesday comes after months of delays and arm twisting of lawmakers sympathetic to the bill but representing conservative districts. It follows a referendum in Maine earlier this month that struck down a gay marriage law before it took effect.

Advocates say they aren’t surprised by the decision. Most, including Gov. David Paterson, say they at least wanted a floor debate and vote.

Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. A New Hampshire law takes effect Jan. 1.

DENTON, Texas (AP) – A referendum has been voted down that would have allowed same-sex couples at the University of North Texas in Denton to be elected as the school’s homecoming court next year.

The University of North Texas Student Government Association released the results Monday on its Web site. The referendum was defeated by a vote of 2,836 to 2,059, with 13.5 percent of the student body casting ballots.

If it had passed, UNT would have become one of the first universities in the country to allow same-sex couples to run for homecoming court.

The SGA senate voted to allow students to decide the issue after the university drew national attention earlier this year when the SGA rejected a bill to allow same-sex couples to run for homecoming.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The public policy director of a Utah gay rights organization is resigning to take a new job.

Will Carlson is leaving Equality Utah for a position with the Salt Lake City prosecutor’s office.

Carlson says he’ll continue to serve on Equality Utah’s legal panel and as a volunteer for the group.

Carlson helped advocate for Equality Utah’s “Common Ground Initiative,” a package of gay rights bills, during the last legislative session.

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) – Gay, lesbian and transgender students now will be protected from discrimination at Southern Utah University.

The school’s board of trustees unanimously voted Friday to amend its anti-discrimination policy to include protection for those with an alternative sexual orientation.

SUU and Brigham Young University were the only two institutions of higher education in the state without such a policy.

SUU Student Body President Cody Alderson praised the board’s action, saying it will help ensure a safe and friendly campus atmosphere for everyone regardless of their sexual orientation.

The Student Senate on Nov. 4 passed a resolution that endorsed the policy change.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The governors of Virginia and Maryland say it would be wrong for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to quit providing social services if the District of Columbia approves same-sex marriage.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley are both Catholics. They criticized the church’s position on the district’s same-sex marriage proposal Nov. 24 during a joint appearance on WTOP radio in Washington.

The D.C. council is expected to approve gay marriage next month. If that happens, the archdiocese says it may end contracts with the city to run homeless shelters and provide other social services.

Kaine and O’Malley both said they disagree with that response.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – The Washington Blade may have been shuttered, but the staff behind the oldest U.S. newspaper for gays and lesbians is still hard at work.

On Nov. 20, they relaunched their publication as D.C. Agenda. The eight-page newsletter’s top headline is “Our mission continues.”

The staff is worked on a 16-page edition on newsprint for Dec. 4. They got zero severance pay after Window Media abruptly closed the Blade and gay publications in Atlanta and Miami last month. Donations are keeping them going.

Editor Kevin Naff spent the day delivering the new publication to news stands.

Publisher Lynne Brown is reorganizing the newspaper, possibly as an employee-owned company, with free help from lawyers. They hope to reclaim the Blade archives in bankruptcy court.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court will decide whether a California law school must force a Christian group to admit gays, lesbians and nonbelievers to gain stature as an official campus organization.

The high court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from a chapter of the Christian Legal Society at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law. A federal judge had turned aside the group’s attempt to force the school to give it campus funding and other benefits without opening its membership to gays, lesbians and nonbelievers – a requirement of the San Francisco school.

The 30-member Hastings group was told in 2004 that it was being denied recognition, including university funding and benefits, because of its policy of exclusion.