SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) – The suspect in an attack on a gay man in Santa Cruz that is being investigated as a hate crime has turned himself in.

Police say 24-year-old Cole White of Redwood City surrendered Wednesday afternoon to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department, a day after a judge signed a warrant for his arrest.

White is accused of beating the man early Sunday morning at the Blue Lagoon, a gay-friendly nightclub, and allegedly yelled gay slurs before the attack.

Police say a friend of White’s then stole the man’s cell phone because it had a photo of White. That person, who has not been identified, has also been arrested.

Police spokesman Zach Friend says the victim, a Santa Cruz man in his 30s, suffered bruises and cuts.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Health is reporting an increase in the number of HIV and AIDS diagnoses reported in the state.

Health department spokesman Jerry Harms says 70 HIV cases and 46 AIDS diagnoses were reported during the first half of 2009.

Harms says figures for the entire 2009 year won’t be available until March. He says the relatively small number of HIV/AIDS cases in Iowa makes it difficult to draw many conclusions about trend lines. However, Harms says it appears the trend is upward.

As of last June 30, there were 1,667 people, 1,314 males and 353 females, living in Iowa who had tested positive for HIV or AIDS.

Polk County had the highest number of residents diagnosed with HIV or AIDS with 470, followed by Scott County with 172.

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) – Bozeman city commissioners are considering a policy change that would prohibit discriminating against people because they are lesbian or gay.

If approved, the change would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the categories of people protected under the city’s anti-discrimination policy. The current policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, political ideas and disability.

Mayor Jeff Krauss says he hasn’t heard of any gay or lesbian discrimination issues with city workers, but said the policy change could save the city from future legal trouble.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – Gays in New Jersey say they’ll keep fighting for the right to marry after the state Senate voted down a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

Thursday’s 20-14 vote against the measure ended any chance of lawmakers passing a same-sex marriage bill anytime soon. Gov.-elect Chris Christie, who opposes gay marriage, takes office Jan. 19.

The bill’s defeat had been expected.

Nevertheless, Marty Finkle of South Orange says he’s angry that five senators did not vote and that several Democrats voted “no.”

He and others say they won’t stop pushing for gay marriage, though.

The gay rights group Garden State Equality says it intends to file a lawsuit on the issue, hoping to get the state’s courts to legalize gay nuptials.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Rep. Christine Johnson will serve an additional role when the Utah Legislature convenes this month. The lesbian lawmaker announced she’s a surrogate mother, carrying a baby for two gay men.

Johnson said she decided to become artificially impregnated with sperm from one of the men after the two close friends expressed frustration over the difficulty of adopting a child.

Utah law prohibits unmarried couples from adopting and does not recognize gay marriage.

Johnson, 41, who has a 17-year-old daughter from a two-year marriage, is four months pregnant and expecting on June 21.

“I can very much empathize with their desire to become parents and share their lives with and open their hearts to a child,” Johnson told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m immeasurably grateful to be a mother.”

Johnson offered to be a surrogate at no cost to save the men the prohibitive cost of hiring one – as much as $100,000.

The men, who were married in California when gay marriage was legal, will pick up the medical costs.

Johnson said she’s aware that many lawmakers in conservative Utah think a child does best with both a mother and a father. She predicts the men will be “wonderful parents.”

“Gender or sexual orientation is less important than children being welcomed into a supportive, loving home,” she told the Deseret News. “This child is going to have an amazing life.”

She has declined to identify the men.

Sen. Howard Stephenson said he thinks having both a mother and father in the home “is the optimum, and what every baby deserves.”

But he added: “I do respect any woman who will carry and bear a child for a childless couple ... It’s my responsibility to show respect and love for one of God’s daughters.”

House Speaker David Clark also a Mormon, agrees. “At the end of the day, it’s the gift of life” that is important, he said.

Johnson said the child will know her as the mother, but that she will have an “aunt-type relationship.”

The man whose sperm was used to impregnate Johnson will have the same rights to the child as any biological father. But under Utah law, his partner cannot be an adoptive parent.

Testing has shown the baby is free from genetic disorders that are more common with later pregnancies. The baby’s sex is still unknown.

Johnson was born on the East Coast and moved with her family to Provo when she was 8. She later left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Johnson said she doesn’t think her constituents will react negatively to her pregnancy. She plans to seek a third term this year.

BEDFORD, Va. (AP) – A Virginia court is ordering the birth mother of a 7-year-old Virginia girl to transfer custody of the child to the woman’s former lesbian partner.

The Bedford Juvenile and Domestic Relations court ordered Lisa Miller of Winchester to turn over daughter Isabella to Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven, Vt.

Jenkins’ attorney Sarah Star says the order filed Monday ensures a Vermont court order issued last week is enforceable in Virginia.

Miller’s whereabouts are unknown and her lawyer, Mathew Staver, has not commented on the case.

A Jan. 22 hearing has been set in Rutland, Vt., on Jenkins’ request to have Miller held in contempt. On Monday, her lawyer filed a motion seeking court sanctions and the assistance of law enforcement in locating Miller.

Miller and Jenkins were joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. Isabella was born to Miller through artificial insemination in 2002. The couple broke up in 2003, and Miller moved to Virginia, renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Opponents of a bill that would allow gay marriage in D.C. want to put a measure on the ballot to let voters weigh in.

Opponents filed paperwork with the Board of Elections and Ethics on Wednesday to try to put the referendum on the ballot. Previous similar attempts have been unsuccessful.

D.C. passed a bill in December that would let gay couples marry. Because the city is a federal district, the law is currently pending a period of review by Congress.

Also Wednesday, opponents of gay marriage were in court for a hearing in a lawsuit against the elections board. They are seeking to overturn the elections board’s refusal to allow a separate initiative on the ballot that would define marriage in the city as between a man and woman.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics has announced it will hold a public hearing on whether the public should be able to vote on a measure to allow same-sex marriages in the nation’s capital.

The board announced Thursday that it will hold a hearing Feb. 16. It will be the third proceeding in less than a year on whether D.C. law allows a referendum on the question.

The D.C. Council has approved a same-sex marriage bill that was signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty. The law is currently pending a period of review by Congress.

Last week 39 Republicans in Congress filed a brief supporting a public vote on the issue.

Twice before, the D.C. elections board has ruled that a vote on the issue would discriminate against gay men and lesbians.