DENVER (AP) — Emotional testimony from gays and lesbians failed to sway Colorado lawmakers, who rejected a proposal (House Bill 1085) that would have authorized county clerks to issue licenses for civil unions between eligible same-sex couples.

Witnesses said they only wanted the same benefits, protections and responsibilities granted to married spouses, including the ability to transfer property, survivor benefits, coverage under health plans, and the ability to refuse to testify against their partners.

Rep. Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield) said the same arguments could be used to legalize polygamous relationships and other arrangements.

“Why shouldn’t the state recognize that bond?” Mitchell asked.

Rep. Tom Plant (D-Nederland) said his bill would only have applied to people prohibited from being married.

“We are not seeking to redefine marriage,” Plant said.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — School administrators and teachers in Des Moisne, Iowa, attended a forum to help them deal with students who are harassed or mistreated because of their sexual orientation.

“Making our Schools Safe for GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) Students” was held Feb. 2 at Indian Hills Junior High School in Clive. It was hosted by the GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force, a coalition of educators, civil-rights lawyers and gay-rights advocates.

“Specific problems need specific solutions — handle them the same as race issues,” said Kevin Jennings, executive director of Gay-Lesbian-Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

Heather Sawyer, an attorney with LAMDA Legal, said that many administrators feel the best way to handle harassment is to remove the victim from the situation, transferring that student to another school or class.

“That’s an absolutely inappropriate response,” she said.

Instead she said the teacher should discipline the students who caused the harm just as they would if that person made racial slurs.

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — After a lengthy legal battle, officials in Ashland, Kentucky, have agreed to allow students in a gay-straight alliance (GSA) to meet at Boyd County High School.

The school board voted Feb. 2 to accept a consent decree that settles a lawsuit by the GSA. That lawsuit accused the school district of violating the constitutional rights of members of the group by denying them the privilege to meet at the school.

Kaye King, a teacher who sponsored the gay-straight alliance, said she was thrilled by the school board’s action.

“The kids are going to be thrilled that this is over with,” she said. “It’s been very taxing for them.”

None of the club members who were the plaintiffs in the suit attended the school board meeting in which the consent decree was unanimously approved.

The vote came after a three-hour closed session, but board members said they continued to have misgivings.

Along with allowing the group to meet, the school district will also provide training for employees related to gay and lesbian issues, said Paul Cates, director of public education for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project.

“The school has agreed to address the problem that caused the lawsuit to begin with,” Cates said. “We think that’s great. It’s critical for the school.”

VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) — Only 60 people attended the three services at historic St. John’s Episcopal Church Sunday, Feb. 1, while some 180 departing members held the first formal service of their new conservative congregation, St. Andrew’s.

The split occurred when Bishop Stacy Sauls and diocesan leaders ousted the parish’s governing board and took control of the building and bank accounts worth $1.87 million.

The St. John’s board opposed Sauls’ support for the consecration of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson, but the diocese said it removed the board for breaking rules in seeking a new minister.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A South Portland man who faces criminal charges for an assault last fall outside a gay bar in Portland, Maine, has been named in a civil complaint by the attorney general’s office in what officials say was a hate crime.

The Cumberland County Superior Court complaint alleges that Joshua Nisbet, 26, pulled up in a car near a gay bar. Nisbet and a passenger, whom officials are still trying to identify, yelled an anti-gay slur at two men walking nearby and assaulted them, Assistant Attorney General Jerry Reid said.

“This was a violent, unprovoked assault against two people based on someone’s perception of their sexual orientation, and people need to understand that when something like this happens, it is taken very seriously,” Reid said.

The state is seeking a restraining order that would prohibit Nisbet from assaulting or harassing people based on their perceived sexual orientation.

Nisbet was on probation at the time of the Oct. 3 incident. The probation was revoked and he was being held at the Cumberland County Jail.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man threw bricks into the office of a gay-oriented newspaper Feb. 4, but police questioned the suspect’s competence and did not deem it a hate crime.

Keith Cooper, 40, of Philadelphia, was being held on a summary vandalism charge after the attack on the Philadelphia Gay News office at about 6:15 a.m. The bricks broke a front window and heavily damaged the door of the South Philadelphia building, Sgt. Stephen Biello said.

“We don’t believe it to be a hate crime,” Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said. “This person appears to be totally and completely mentally ill.”

Cooper, in questioning by police, did not mention the name of the business or discuss the gay community, Biello said.

The office has not been a magnet for vandalism or other problems, he said.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia is not required to issue new birth certificates for children born in the state but adopted by gay couples in other states, a judge ruled Feb. 4 in a setback for advocates of gay marriage and adoption.

The judge ruled that requiring the state to issue birth certificates reflecting the unmarried status of the children’s adoptive parents, rather than their birth parents, goes against Virginia’s public policy prohibiting adoption by unmarried couples.

“What this court is being asked to do is recognize a status that Virginia does not accord to its own citizens,” Richmond Circuit Judge Randall G. Johnson said. “It’s asking this court to do something that the public policy of Virginia simply does not allow.”

Three gay couples filed a lawsuit in 2002 after they were unable to get Virginia’s record-keeping agency to issue new birth certificates for their adopted children that contained the names of the children’s new parents.

Rebecca Glenberg, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties of Virginia, said that getting the changed certificates was important for matters such as enrolling the children in school.

The couples’ lawyers said they will talk to their clients about appealing.

COLVILLE, Wash. (AP) — A jury has convicted a Stevens County, Washington, man of killing two gay men in their cabin last year.

After a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for about three hours Feb. 3 before convicting Richard L. Keenum, 32, of two counts of first-degree murder.

With prior convictions in California and Idaho, Keenum faces a sentence ranging from 52 to nearly 67 years in prison. State law requires him to serve at least 50 years.

Use of a firearm will add 10 years to Keenum’s sentence. Jurors also convicted Keenum of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Superior Court Judge Rebecca Baker hasn’t yet scheduled the sentencing.

Prosecutor Jerry Wetle said the men were killed “execution-style,” shot in the back of the head after being wounded.

Keenum was the only defense witness in his trial. He challenged some testimony and evidence, and offered alternate explanations for other portions.

Keenum’s court-appointed attorney, Lorinda Noble, suggested in closing arguments that the father of a molested child might have killed the men. Markvardsen had been convicted of child molestation in California.

No motive was suggested for the slayings, but several witnesses said Keenum had made comments about disliking gays.