LOS ANGELES (AP) – State regulators have agreed to consider a request from an AIDS advocacy group calling for mandatory use of condoms in porn films.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation submitted the request Thursday at a meeting of the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board.

The advocacy group wants current rules requiring healthcare workers to wear gear that prevents the spread of disease to extend to adult film sets.

The Cal/OSHA board has 60 days to evaluate the petition and issue a response.

ATLANTA (AP) – As the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. prepares to take the helm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization co-founded by her famous father is embroiled in an internal investigation that is distracting leaders from the group’s mission.

A statement issued late Monday by an SCLC spokeswoman announced the removal of the SCLC’s chairman, the Rev. Raleigh Trammell, and its treasurer, the Rev. Spiver Gordon, pending an internal investigation into alleged mismanagement.

A telephone call Tuesday to Trammell in Dayton, Ohio was not answered. Gordon, of Alabama, did not immediately return a phone call.

The Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded by King and other civil rights leaders in 1957 with the mission to “save the soul of America.” Today, the group claims about 10,000 members in nearly 80 chapters in 17 states from Georgia to California.

In the years since King headed the group – which boasted as many as 100,000 members under his watch – the SCLC has lost influence, funding and membership, and infighting has led the group to stagnate.

The bickering and other issues have overshadowed signs of progress for SCLC that included paying off millions in debt and opening a $3 million headquarters in downtown Atlanta.

In October, King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, was elected the eighth president of the SCLC and has pledged to be a bridge between the civil rights and hip-hop generations. A date for her installation has not been set.

In June, a former SCLC board member asked for a federal investigation into the alleged disappearance of more than $1.4 million in SCLC funds. And last year, the group clashed with the president of its Los Angeles chapter over his support for gay marriage in California.

The statement released Monday in the name of the SCLC board said the investigation was launched in October concerning mismanagement of organization funds. The SCLC says a personnel matter involving an Ohio employee also is being investigated.

The release stated that the SCLC board named the Rev. Sylvia Tucker as acting chairman and attorney Randall Gaines as interim treasurer.

SCLC compliance officer Bill Shanklin said Tuesday that the press release was premature.

“It is categorically ungodlike for those persons who have released without the authority of the board of directors these kinds of irresponsible statements,” Shanklin said. “It is not becoming conduct of a Christian or a person who has concern for the welfare of the organization.”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minneapolis assistant police Chief Sharon Lubinski has become the first openly gay U.S. marshal.

The U.S. Senate last week confirmed the Green Bay, Wis. native to be the U.S. marshal for the Minnesota district. The decision also makes her the first female marshal in the state.

Lubinski has served a number of roles with the Minneapolis Police. She was also a sheriff’s deputy in Wisconsin’s Dane County for eight years.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar recommended Lubinski to President Barack Obama, who formally nominated her to the marshal post in October.

The Democratic senator said Monday Lubinski’s breadth of experience makes her a highly qualified candidate.

U.S. marshals oversee federal courthouse security, witness protection and the apprehension of federal fugitives.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – A bill that would provide affordable housing protection for more people living with HIV/AIDS in New York City is getting support from both chambers of the state legislature.

The measure would allow the city’s HIV/AIDS Services Administration to extend a cap on rent contributions to all of its approximately 31,000 clients. The cap at 30 percent of their income is designed to help clients maintain stable homes and continue to afford basic necessities. About 11,000 don’t qualify now.

Opponents argue it’s too expensive at a time government is struggling and it wouldn’t provide equal housing help for people with other income and health issues.

The bill already passed the Senate, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he supports it. Gov. David Paterson won’t say yet whether he’d sign it.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Top Rhode Island lawmakers have not decided whether they will try to overturn the governor’s veto of legislation that would allow same-sex couples to plan the funerals of their late partners.

House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, a Democrat, said Wednesday that he personally supports the bill. He said he still needs to meet with Senate leaders before deciding whether to override a veto from Republican Gov. Don Carcieri (kuh-CHEHR’-ee) when lawmakers return Jan. 5.

A spokesman for Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, a Democrat, also said no decision had been reached. The bill received near-unanimous support in both chambers.

Members of Queer Action Rhode Island gave the lawmakers petitions, signed by 425 people, in support of the legislation.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to a year behind bars for beating a gay man in Salt Lake City last year.

Third District Judge Deno Himonas imposed the sentence on Fa Junior Moi Moi, who pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault with deadly force.

In exchange for his plea, charges of aggravated assault and simple assault were dropped.

Police say Moi Moi and several of his friends met an 18-year-old man in August 2008.

Moi Moi is accused of assaulting the man after learning he was gay. The victim ended up with several broken facial bones.

Moi Moi also was placed on probation for 36 months and ordered to pay restitution of more than $36,000 and perform 200 hours of community service.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The District of Columbia is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit by opponents of same-sex marriage.

The plaintiffs, led by local pastor Bishop Harry Jackson, are seeking to get their proposed ban on gay marriage on the ballot. They are suing after the Board of Elections and Ethics turned them down.

City lawyers filed a response Friday. They say the ballot initiative would violate the city’s Human Rights Act because it seeks to deny benefits on the basis of sexual orientation.

A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed a bill legalizing gay marriage on Friday, and the measure is expected to pass congressional review.