DENVER (AP) — A discrimination lawsuit alleging Denver’s posh Pinnacle Club fired male employees in a “gay purge” is on hold because the restaurant declared bankruptcy.

“We’re kind of caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Cecilia Serna, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney.

The lawsuit appears to be the first in Colorado in which a group of openly gay workers has used sexual orientation as a basis for a sexual discrimination charge, Serna said.

The 56-year-old downtown club is the former Denver Petroleum Club. The complain alleges the plaintiffs were illegally fired in November 2002 because of their sexual orientation.

“Plaintiffs were terminated for being gay and not fitting the typical male stereotype in terms of looks, mannerisms and manner of speech,” according to the complaint.

Pinnacle has denied the allegations, saying the workers were let go because of the club’s financial difficulties.

The dinner club filed its Chapter 11 reorganization petition Jan 12. Under federal bankruptcy law, creditors are prohibited from “starting or continuing lawsuits or foreclosures.”

Serna said her clients must either wait with other unsecured creditors or ask the bankruptcy judge to lift the stay on the lawsuit. She said it is unlikely Pinnacle could afford to fund a pretrial settlement.

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — A group of Greenwich High School students plans to protest President Bush during his visit for a campaign fund-raiser.

The group, calling itself the Student Coalition for Peace and Democracy, said it will hold the protest at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich in opposition to the war in Iraq and Bush’s policies on gay rights and education.

Organizers said they hope authorities will allow the group to protest close enough to the hotel to be noticed.

The reception is being hosted by Greenwich businessman Charlie Glazer, Bush cousins Dorothy and Craig Stapleton and Bush financial backers in the state. Glazer said he expects between 500 and 1,000 Bush supporters to attend, which would bring in more than $1 million.

It will be President Bush’s first visit to the state to raise money for his re-election bid. Last September Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a lunch in Hartford, also hosted by Glazer, and raised about $550,000 for the campaign.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — In the wake of a threatened suit by a preacher wanting to erect an anti-gay monument, the Ten Commandments monument that has stood in Boise’s Julia Davis Park since 1965 will be moved.

The City Council voted, 4-2, to return the monument to its original donor, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which will display it at the entrance to its building in Boise. The Eagle Lodge supported the city’s action.

Councilman Alan Shealy made the motion, citing possible lawsuits from the Rev. Fred Phelps of Kansas, who was denied his request to place an anti-gay monument in Julia Davis Park.

Phelps approached the Boise Parks and Recreation Department requesting to erect an anti-gay monument in the city park. The department rejected his request, but he appealed. Phelps asked to buy land for a granite monument condemning Matthew Shepard, a Laramie, Wyo., gay man who was killed in 1998.

He cited a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a city displaying a Ten Commandments monument must also display monuments espousing other beliefs.

Phelps also has petitioned Minidoka County commissioners after American Legion Post 10 asked to buy a two- by three-foot section plot for a Ten Commandments monument.

He also petitioned Twin Falls for another monument after The Times-News ran an article about the county Parks and Waterways Board’s program allowing people to memorialize loved ones in city parks by buying trees, park benches and picnic tables.

Boise Parks Director Jim Hall estimated the move will cost $350.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A humanitarian organization is urging people to e-mail their state senators and representatives to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.

The American Friends Service Committee said the resolutions, introduced by state Sen. Alan Cropsey of DeWitt and Rep. Gary Newell of Saranac, both Republicans, would undermine gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families. The Quaker organization has a website where people can send an e-mail message against the proposals.

Michigan law already defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

But Cropsey has said that adding an amendment to the state constitution would prevent legal challenges by gay couples seeking to marry from having success in Michigan courts. He also said it simply protects marriage and families as they’ve been known traditionally.

If approved by at least two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, the proposal would go on the 2004 ballot for a vote of the public. It would take a majority vote by the public to become part of the state Constitution.

Bill Nowling, a spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema of Wyoming, says the resolution will get a vote in the Senate, though no timeframe was given. Sikkema supports the resolution, Nowling said.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The Guilford County Board of Education has passed a new anti-discrimination policy that local civil rights and gay/lesbian groups herald as groundbreaking and courageous.

The policy includes language to protect students against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

The policy gives lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students the same protections as their peers, said Gary Palmer, co-chairman of the Greensboro chapter of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network or GLSEN.

“Whether you agree or disagree (with homosexuality) is not the issue here, it’s how you treat students,” he said.

A committee of school personnel and members of local gay support organizations worked for several months to revise the original policy, which only mentioned typical areas such as sex, race and religion.

Guilford’s policy now includes sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, height, weight, physical characteristics, language or linguistic differences and socioeconomic status.

School board attorney Jill Wilson said the policy is a “way to set the educational tone and expectations of the district.”

Having a more detailed policy does not mean the district is more likely to be sued for discrimination, she said.

Alex McFarland, founder of Faith in Focus Ministries Inc., called the new policy broad and said it limits the ability of those who believe homosexuality is morally wrong to freely express those views.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Senate lawmakers have approved a bill banning same-sex marriages and prohibiting some state employees from getting benefits for their domestic partners.

The bill is considered one of the most far-reaching in the nation because of the benefits ban.

A divided Senate voted, 18-15, in favor of the bill that puts into law that same-sex marriages would be “against the strong public policy of the state.” Four Republicans broke ranks and joined Democrats in opposing the bill.

That “public policy” language is necessary because of a 1934 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires states to recognize marriages from other states in most circumstances.

Thirty-seven states have passed laws recognizing only marriages between men and women. Ohio is only the second state, besides Nebraska, that would prohibit benefits for state employees’ unmarried partners, said Seth Kilbourn, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay and lesbian lobbying group.

The House has already approved the bill and Gov. Bob Taft has said he will sign it, pending a legal review.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Normally pro-business Republicans approved one of the country’s strictest same-sex marriage bans over concerns raised by some companies.

Gov. Bob Taft is expected to sign the bill after the House approves minor changes.

Dayton-based NCR Corp. told lawmakers the ban could hurt the company’s ability to recruit and keep employees.

Susan McManus, a Nationwide Insurance human resources executive, testified the ban could lead to lawsuits challenging the rights of private businesses to offer domestic partner benefits.

Even if companies prevailed, “the expense of such litigation and the possibility of continued challenges will deter companies from providing these benefits,” said McManus, who testified as an individual businesswoman and not a Nationwide representative.

Bill supporter Senator Jim Jordan, an Urbana Republican, said he believes the ban won’t affect business.

“It’s private sector. They can do anything they want,” Jordan said. “We’re talking about the policy of the state and how it relates to the public sector.”