SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Imperial County officials want to join the sponsors of California’s gay marriage ban in defending Proposition 8 during an upcoming trial.

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of an emergency motion Tuesday to intervene in the case. Supervisors say the county’s participation is needed because Attorney General Jerry Brown supports overturning the voter-approved measure, while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken a neutral position on it.

The case is scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 11. A final pretrial hearing is scheduled in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The papers filed by the county say that 70 percent of Imperial’s voters supported Proposition

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – A Fresno hospital has agreed to make a change in its visitation policies after civil rights groups complained when a lesbian briefly was barred from visiting her sick partner.

Kristin Orbin went into an epileptic seizure on May 30 after walking 14 miles in the ``Meet in the Middle 4 Equality’’ march in support of same-sex marriage.

She was taken to Fresno’s Community Regional Medical Center, where she says employees kept her partner from seeing her in the emergency room, and ignored her requests to talk to a doctor about Orbin’s medical history.

In a letter sent to the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Lesbian Rights last month, the nonprofit that runs the hospital said staff would be trained to ensure the rights of gay and transgender patients and their families are respected.

CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) – A man known to police as ``Spider-Man’’ for his daring escapes and who starred in gay porn videos with his twin brother has been sentenced to three years in prison for burglary in New Jersey.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Taleon Goffney received the sentence Monday after striking a plea deal with prosecutors in Camden.

Authorities say he sawed through the roofs of businesses and scaled wires to get out. Police also say Goffney once broke out of a police car and swam across a pond in handcuffs to avoid being caught.

The 27-year-old is serving prison time in Pennsylvania, and has resolved charges in Florida, Alabama and Delaware.

His twin brother, Keyontyli, is free after being sentenced in September to time served in New Jersey.

NEW YORK (AP) – New York is extending anti-discrimination protections to transgender state employees.

Gov. David Paterson was scheduled to sign an executive order Wednesday at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Manhattan.

A number of cities, including New York, Albany and Rochester, already prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

The state Assembly has passed more comprehensive legislation to outlaw discrimination based on gender identity. It awaits action in the Senate.

NEW YORK (AP) – New York has extended anti-discrimination protections to transgender state employees.

Gov. David Paterson signed an executive order Wednesday at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Manhattan.

Paterson said anti-discrimination practices are important tools to attract and retain good employees.

A number of cities, including New York, Albany and Rochester, already prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

The state Assembly has passed more comprehensive legislation to outlaw discrimination based on gender identity. It awaits action in the Senate.

NEW YORK (AP) – Dennis deLeon, who served as the president of the Latino Commission on AIDS and as the New York City human rights commissioner, has died. He was 61.

Latino Commission spokesman Oscar Lopez says deLeon died Dec. 14 of heart failure in Manhattan.

DeLeon was one of the first New York City officials to reveal that he had HIV. In a 1993 op-ed piece in The New York Times he said he had long feared discrimination if he disclosed his condition.

DeLeon was president of the Latino Commission from 1994 until last month, and oversaw its expansion. He served as human rights commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins, and also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and as deputy borough president for Manhattan.

He is survived by his partner of more than 30 years, Bruce Kiernan.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina’s largest county will offer domestic partner benefits to employees in same-sex relationships beginning in 2011.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Mecklenburg County becomes the seventh local government in North Carolina to extend the benefits of married, heterosexual couples.

County commissioners voted 6-3 on Tuesday night to let employees sign up during the next open enrollment period in fall 2010. It’s unknown how many would do so.

Human Resources director Chris Peek said 1 percent participation would cost $400,000.

The vote fell along party lines.

Mecklenburg County follows Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham, Greensboro and Durham and Orange counties. Four of those also offer the benefits to unmarried heterosexual couples.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Authorities say a 64-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly not telling his sex partner that he is HIV positive.

Oklahoma City police arrested Conrad Billett Saturday on a complaint of engaging in conduct reasonably likely to transmit AIDS or HIV.

Master Sgt. Gary Knight said Monday that Billett asked police to help to remove a woman from his home. Knight says the woman told officers she had been in a sexual relationship with Billett but he hadn’t told her of his HIV status.

Knight says officers arrested Billett after interviewing him and determining there was probable cause that he had sex with someone without disclosing his medical condition.

Jailers didn’t know if Billett had an attorney.

Billett remained at the Oklahoma County jail with bail set at $5,000.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The Salt Lake County Council has given initial approval to two ordinances aimed at protecting gay residents from discrimination.

The Deseret News reported on its Web site Monday that the council unanimously voted in favor of the measures to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification in employment and housing matters.

The measures mirror two ordinances signed by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker last month. The ordinances were unanimously approved by the City Council after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came out in support of the twin measures.

The county council will give the ordinances a final vote in January.

Earlier this year the county council approved an ordinance extending insurance benefits to nontraditional partners.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – Same-sex weddings in Washington could generate at least $5 million and perhaps as much as $22 million over the next three years.

That’s according to a city analysis obtained by The Washington Post.

Washington’s City Council voted Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage, though the law still has several hurdles before couples can marry.

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer analysis estimates more than 10,000 same-sex couples from across the country could get married in the District over three years.

It suggests the bulk of the weddings would probably involve couples who live outside the District, but about 2,000 gay couples who are city residents will marry shortly after the law takes effect.