TURLOCK, Calif. (AP) – Episcopal leaders in central California are launching a new round of legal action to gain control of property used by congregations that split from the national church in a dispute over the Bible and homosexuality.

The Diocese of San Joaquin said the congregations that left to align with more conservative Anglican parishes in 2007 had no right to take control of church property. Former Bishop John-David Schofield led about 40 San Joaquin parishes in the secession after the Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Breakaway Episcopal conservatives have since formed the rival Anglican Church in North America.

The Modesto-based diocese previously filed a lawsuit against Schofield in an effort recover most of the church properties.

But 10 of the breakaway parishes are incorporated – meaning that they own their own property – so the diocese must deal with those cases individually.

On Monday, the diocese sued one of those parishes, St. Francis Anglican Church in Turlock, “to return control of the parish premises and other parish assets to the plaintiffs in the matter.” The lawsuit also names the Rev. Gerald Grossman and nine members of the church’s ruling body.

“The (Modesto) diocese has never given us money,” Grossman said. “The national church has never given us anything. Why do they think they have a right to this property?”

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – With the legalization of same-sex marriage by the Iowa Supreme Court, some Black Hawk County judges and magistrates stopped performing civil ceremonies entirely to avoid marrying gays and lesbians.

However, Black Hawk Associate Judge Nathan Callahan performs such ceremonies. He and others like him say taking part in the services have opened their eyes to the struggles gay and lesbian couples face.

Callahan says the first time he did a same-sex marriage, it was clear the two people really loved each other. He adds “everybody should be so fortunate.”

As of Sept. 30, about 35 gay and lesbian couples have tied the knot in Black Hawk County. While some praise the unions as a civil rights victory, others seek the amending of the Iowa Constitution to define marriage as solely between one man and one woman.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – More than 160 faith leaders are weighing in on same-sex marriage, saying they support such unions and disagree with those who cite the Bible in raising objections.

The 167 people, who represent a number of faiths, held a Statehouse news conference Tuesday to argue that unions based on love “must be honored.”

The issue has been heated since the Iowa Supreme Court last spring struck down a state law banning same-sex marriage.

Speakers noted they base their support of same-sex marriage rights on the Bible, although they acknowledge many opponents cite the Bible as the reason for their opposition.

Bryan English, a spokesman for the conservative Iowa Family Policy Center, says his group can’t find biblical justification for supporting same-sex marriage rights.

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) – Rep. Barney Frank is promoting a new biography of himself.

The liberal fixture of Massachusetts politics was to appear Feb. 16 at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to sign copies of his biography, Barney Frank: The Story of America’s Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman.

Author Stuart Weisberg was to join Frank. He conducted more than 30 hours of interviews with the congressman and interviewed 150 others. Weisberg’s biography describes Frank’s life and career from his working-class upbringing in New Jersey to his studies at Harvard and his rise in Boston politics and national prominence.

As chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank most recently has been at the center of legislative efforts responding to the nation’s financial crisis.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) – Students seeking to form a gay-straight alliance at Lindenwood University have reached a compromise with school officials.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that gays will have a formally recognized student organization at the university in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles. But sexual orientation cannot be a part of the title, and the group must be expanded to include “other students in need of understanding and support.”

Graduate student Jack Sago says that at the end of the day, the group accomplished its goal.

And administrators at the private university say the organization will operate as a social justice group.

But the advisor for the gay-straight alliance at nearby St. Louis University thought it was a bad idea. Kenjus Watson says lumping various groups of students together “waters down” efforts.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – A move to prevent discrimination against gay and transgender people has been rejected by South Dakota lawmakers.

The House Health Committee voted 8-4 Tuesday to kill a measure that would have added sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and military status to the list of characteristics protected against discrimination. The law for many years has barred discrimination because of race, religion, disability or ethnic background.

The bill’s main sponsor, Rep. Deb Peters of Hartford, says gay and transgender people need protection against unfair treatment in jobs and housing.

But opponents say the bill could have interfered with the rights of religious-based organizations.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage means same-sex couples also are prohibited from getting a divorce in the state, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said.

A district judge in Austin last week granted a divorce to Sabina Daly of San Antonio and Angelique Naylor of Austin, who married in Massachusetts in 2004. A day later, Abbott filed a motion to block the divorce before it was entered into the official record.

Abbott told the San Antonio Express-News on Tuesday that because the marriage was not valid in Texas, neither was the divorce. Texans overwhelmingly voted to ban same-sex marriages in 2005.

Abbott’s filing says the couple’s relationship should be legally voided.

“Texas can’t have a faulty precedent on the books that validates an illegal law,” Abbott said.

The attorney general filed a similar appeal last year after a judge cleared the way for two Dallas men to divorce.

Abbot’s latest motion will be costly for Daly and Naylor, said Bob Luther, an attorney for Daly.

“It matters because it leads to a lot of unnecessary expenses on the part of the two parties,” Luther said.

Naylor, meanwhile, told the Austin American-Statesman that the divorce brought peace to the family.

“We never asked them to grant us a same-sex marriage,” Naylor said. “We only asked them to legally recognize that we needed a divorce.”

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled an April 28 hearing on whether Washington state can release more than 138,000 names on petitions supporting a domestic partnership referendum.

Protect Marriage Washington unsuccessfully opposed a new law giving gay couples expanded rights. The group wants to shield petition-signers’ names from public release, saying it fears harassment by gay-rights supporters.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco previously ruled that petition signatures could be made public. But the petitions have remained under wraps pending appeal.

WHEATLAND, Wyo. (AP) – The Wheatland school board is not reconsidering its decision to remove banners that were part of an anti-discrimination campaign from two schools.

More than 50 parents, students and area residents attended the board’s meeting. Most of them asked the board to reconsider its January vote to pull the “No Place for Hate” banners from Wheatland High and West Elementary.

The board voted last month to remove the banners because they listed a Colorado gay rights group as one of the program’s sponsors.

The Anti-Defamation League program is designed to teach young people about tolerance and respecting differences.

The two Wheatland schools started the program last school year and the banners had been in place since the start of this school year.