BOULDER, Colo. (AP) – The lesbian parents of two young children barred from re-enrolling at a Roman Catholic school because of the parents’ sexual orientation say they won’t give up their faith, despite the initial hurt and anger they felt over the decision.

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput has said the decision by the Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Boulder conforms with church teachings.

On Monday, a written statement by the couple was read at a community forum hosted by Boulder Pride.

“We have chosen to move forward with our lives, not with hearts filled with hate and bitterness, but with hope that in part due to this controversy there might be some positive changes in the hearts and minds of others,” said the parents, who asked that their names not be used.

The couple said they don’t expect the Sacred Heart parish school to modify its teachings but also said it is wrong to punish children for who their parents are.

“We do not think that this reflects what Jesus would have done,” they said.

Chaput has said parents of Catholic school students are expected to agree with church beliefs, including those forbidding sex between anyone other than married, heterosexual couples.

He acknowledged that Catholic schools have accepted students from other faiths and from single-parent families, but he said their parents are expected to support the school’s Catholic mission.

The lesbian couple said they enrolled their children at the school because they regularly attended Sacred Heart and baptized their children there. They said the school’s decision shocked them because their children had attended Sacred Heart’s preschool for three years, and the couple was open about their sexual orientation.

In a recent sermon posted on his blog, the Rev. William Breslin said the decision to tell the parents their children could not re-enroll was the most difficult of his life. He said he was bound to take a stand for church teaching.

He said church officials also wanted to avoid a situation in which the children were taught in school that their parents’ relationship was wrong.

Parents of some other students said they were pushing to have the pope review the school’s decision.

HONOLULU (AP) – The company that created the gay and lesbian cruise concept is commemorating its 25th birthday with an anniversary cruise in Hawaii.

RSVP Vacation said that it will be the company’s first cruise in the islands.

The seven-day cruise aboard the Pride of America departs Honolulu on Oct. 30. It makes calls at Maui, Kauai and the Big Island before returning to Honolulu on Nov. 6.

Hawaii Tourism Authority’s vice president of marketing, David Uchiyama, says Hawaii is honored that RSVP selected the state for its anniversary cruise.

The Minneapolis-based company hosted its first all-gay cruise in 1986. Since then, RSVP says more than 80,000 men and women have participated in its ship and riverboat cruises, land tours and resort vacations.

FRANKLIN, Ind. (AP) – A suburban Indianapolis man who failed to warn sexual partners that he has HIV now faces more felony charges.

Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper on Tuesday filed 15 additional charges against 47-year-old Tony Perkins, who used a dating site to meet women after being diagnosed with HIV six years ago.

The Greenwood man already faces up to six years in prison after pleading guilty last month to two counts of failure to warn partners. Cooper says the new counts represent 15 of 24 additional women who have come forward since February.

Police say nine women chose to remain anonymous, so no charges were filed on their behalves.

Cooper says none of the victims has tested positive for HIV so far.

Perkins is jailed without bond.

NEW YORK (AP) – Joy Behar (BAY’-har), Cynthia Nixon and the ABC series “Brothers & Sisters” are among this year’s recipients of media awards from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Presented Saturday in New York, winners of the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards also include the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and the Lifetime network film “Prayers for Bobby.”

The ABC soap “One Life to Live” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” were also recognized, along with Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo.

The awards salute fair and accurate representation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the media. This year’s remaining awards will be presented this spring at ceremonies in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The latest effort to amend Pennsylvania’s constitution to effectively ban same-sex marriage is stalling.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted narrowly Tuesday to table the measure defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The senators didn’t utter a word of debate before or after gay-rights proponent Sen. Daylin Leach proposed to table the measure. The vote was 8-6.

Pennsylvania law already defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. But proponents of a constitutional amendment say a judge could overturn the law, even though Pennsylvania courts are not believed to be considering a challenge to that law.

The bill was sponsored by conservative Sen. John Eichelberger.

Opponents of the amendment say lesbians and gays deserve the same rights as straight Americans.

DALLAS (AP) – A Dallas County jail guard recently fired after allegedly making anti-gay remarks and commenting about religion has said his free speech rights have been violated, but he will not seek to regain his job.

A sheriff’s department review concluded Stephen Johnson, 59, persisted in volunteering his religious opinions and speaking out against homosexuality.

Johnson, after nearly 17 years with the department, was fired Jan. 20 for conduct unbecoming an officer and for lying to internal affairs, the Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.

Johnson in October interrupted a private conversation among jail staff and “interjected his own opinions,” telling them all gays should be annihilated, according to a sheriff’s report.

“They made it out to be that I was a bigot. I was fired ‘cause I hurt someone else’s feelings,” Johnson said Monday. He said that his free speech rights were violated but that he will not appeal.

Johnson said he made his comments to some clerks. The names of the witnesses who filed the complaints were obscured in the sheriff’s department report.

In a sworn statement, Johnson denied saying he supported slavery while noting that “slavery is a fact in the Bible.” Johnson also offered an opinion about the origin of dinosaurs.

“I believe that all dinosaurs were born of satanic angel who has sex with woman and the animal kingdom that created ungodly reptilian creatures none of these were on the Ark,” he said in the sworn statement.

Johnson also said that he didn’t believe in homosexuality and “that they should be put to death,” according to his statement. But he said his beliefs don’t lead him to treat gays differently.

Capt. Bart Terrell, who supervises the intake area where Johnson was assigned, wrote that Johnson demonstrated a “pattern of conduct that is verbally inflammatory in nature and is detrimental to keeping a good working environment.”

Johnson was suspended for three days and given 90 days of probation in 2000 for using a derogatory word about minorities while talking to several inmates he was searching, records show.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – The four-star Army general who is managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan says “the time has come” for the military to rethink its policy toward gays and lesbians.

Gen. David Petraeus (peh-TRAY'-us) stopped short of saying whether he personally believed if the military’s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is outdated or unfair.

Instead, Petraeus told a Senate panel Tuesday that he wants to see the results of an internal study ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates before any changes are made. He said he wants to know if allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly might hurt recruiting and retention or the military’s ability to fight.