by, Rex Wockner

YUMA - The mayor of Yuma, Ariz., Al Krieger, came under fire after a video of him calling gays in the military “a bunch of lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people” went viral online. Krieger made the remark during a Memorial Day speech. On June 11, Krieger apologized but simultaneously called the so-called gay lifestyle disagreeable and immoral.

“As mayor I must respect the lifestyle choices of others, no matter how disagreeable they are with my personal beliefs or my personal moral standards,” he told the Yuma Sun newspaper. “I apologize for my comments at the Memorial Day service at Desert Lawn cemetery on Memorial Day.”

Local gay activists said the apology was inadequate and that Krieger should meet with the gay community and start a healing process..

CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Lawyers arguing a federal case involving California’s same-sex marriage ban made their final arguments Wednesday June 16th, with supporters of Prop. 8 arguing that marriage as an institution is intended to promote childbearing. While opponents argued the U.S. Supreme Court had recognized it as a fundamental right. Former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson delivered the closing argument for the two same-sex couples who sued to overturn voter-approved Proposition 8, claiming it violated their civil rights under the U.S. Constitution. Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker heard arguments from Olson that tradition or fears of harm to heterosexual unions were legally insufficient grounds to discriminate against gay couples. Former U.S. Justice Department lawyer Charles Cooper, who represented religious and conservative groups that sponsored the Prop 8 measure, fired back with the idea that cultures around the world, previous claims and Congress all accepted the “common sense belief that children do best when they are raised by their own mother and father.” Hearings ended Wednesday and Judge Walker’s ruling could potentially take weeks to finalize.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A two-term Minnesota State Senator, facing a Republican primary challenger, said Thursday that he went on a date with an adult film star. Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, who revealed to his constituents in 2005 that he was gay, confirmed a report in the Brainerd Dispatch that he dined with Brandon Wilde at a Brainerd restaurant on Sunday. Several websites reported on the date. Wilde is described as a gay porn star in his Twitter profile and posted messages about the dinner on Twitter. “What I find amazing is we’ve got 60,000 barrels of oil leaking in the Gulf and people are worried about who I go to dinner with,” Koering said. “I think it’s just ridiculous.” Koering’s re-election bid is unfolding in a socially conservative north-central Minnesota district, that sent him back to the Minnesota Senate in 2006. Koering battled for the Republican endorsement before defeating primary and general election opponents.

HEMPSTEAD (AP) - A jail guard accused of killing her ex-girlfriend and uncle and injuring her elderly grandfather in a shooting rampage was ordered held without bail Thursday. Kim Wolfe, 43, did not enter a plea on murder, kidnapping and assault charges at her arraignment, which was held amid extraordinarily tight security in Nassau County District Court. Judge Terence P. Murphy ordered her to remain behind bars until her next court appearance on Monday and issued two orders of protection on behalf of the relatives of the two slain victims. The Nassau County correction officer was arrested Wednesday. Hours earlier, her ex-girlfriend Stacie Williams, a 45-year-old maternity ward nurse’s aide, was killed outside the East Meadow hospital where she worked. Police said Wolfe and Williams had met to discuss a possible reconciliation but that the conversation turned violent and Wolfe opened fire, shooting Williams several times. Wolfe was a 19-year veteran at the county jail, which is next to the Nassau University Medical Center, where Williams worked. She worked the midnight shift supervising inmates. Because of her experience at the Nassau jail, the judge ordered that she be housed in neighboring Suffolk County jail until her next court date.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - City lawyers called on local Boy Scout officials to muster “the courage of their convictions” and challenge their national group’s ban on gays, as a trial over government funding opened Tuesday. The City of Philadelphia wants to end its $1-a-year lease to the local Boy Scouts chapter unless it rejects a Boy Scouts of America policy banning “avowed” gays. The city says the national rule violates a local law banning discrimination on sexual-orientation and other grounds. Local Scout chapters, including the Cradle of Liberty Council in Philadelphia, have struggled in recent years to satisfy both public and private funders as well as their national leadership’s dictums. The Boy Scout oath calls for members to be “morally straight,” which the national group interprets to mean that gays cannot participate. In 2004, the Philadelphia chapter agreed to ban any “unlawful” discrimination. But the city said the policy didn’t go far enough, given that the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 had said Scouts and other private organizations can legally restrict membership.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will meet with health insurers and state insurance commissioners at the White House this morning (June 22nd). Afterward, Obama will speak to reporters about the ongoing effort to implement the new health care overhaul law, and the new benefits it affords to families across the country. He’ll deliver his remarks in the East Room. In the evening, Obama will speak to gay activists at the White House. Vice President Joe Biden will also attend the event.

WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON (AP) - As a Clinton White House aide, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan called herself one of the Clinton administration’s biggest fans of the law to protect religious freedom, but warned then-Vice President Al Gore against endorsing it for fear of creating “a gay/lesbian firestorm.” In a 1999 e-mail, Kagan said the White House was meeting with religious and gay groups to try to smooth over their differences on the matter. “We’ll let you know as soon as it’s safe to go back in the water,” she wrote to Ron Klain, who was Gore’s chief of staff and now holds the same job for Vice President Joe Biden. The missive - one of tens of thousands of pages of Kagan’s e-mails released Friday - shows how as an aide to President Bill Clinton, Kagan’s job was often to place political considerations ahead of her policy views. The e-mails also portray Kagan as a driven and highly opinionated person who had a flair for political tactics and little tolerance for high-flying rhetoric.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says President Barack Obama could end up vetoing legislation that would lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military. Obama supports repealing the law and the White House has pushed for quicker congressional action than the Pentagon has favored. Gates also supports repeal. But Gates tells “Fox News Sunday” that Obama would probably still veto an upcoming spending bill that includes the repeal - if the bill also contains money for defense projects he says are wasteful. Gates wants to get rid of an aircraft engine and additional transport aircraft that some lawmakers want to keep. They generally represent areas with defense contractors that would stand to lose business from the cuts.