PHOENIX (AP) – Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has sent letters to nine priests in the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, ordering them to withdraw their support from an interfaith statement supporting gay rights.

Two of the nine priests who signed the Phoenix Declaration in January 2003 confirmed they received “personal and confidential” letters from Olmsted in April.

In the letter, Olmsted tells the priests and one religious brother to remove their names “under obedience” to him although no consequences are spelled out for those who decline.

Olmsted said the declaration came to his attention “a few weeks ago,” leading him to invite the priests “to talk with me personally about this serious pastoral matter.”

The bishop, who gave no reason for his action, said he is writing a series of articles on homosexuality for the diocesan newspaper.

Olmsted’s predecessors – Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien and Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan – both knew of the declaration but declined to take action against the priests who signed it.

The Rev. Vernon Meyer, one of the priests who signed the declaration, said the group signed after making sure it did not conflict with Catholic positions.

Meyer said Olmsted apparently is concerned that the declaration does not make clear the Catholic teaching on the matter, which encourages support for gays and lesbians but describes homosexual behavior as “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to natural law.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Gay Pages Inc., a telephone directory for the GLBT community, has filed a lawsuit against the organizers of the L.A. Gay Pride Parade and Festival after being denied a booth during the upcoming event.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that organizer Christopher Street West Association Inc. denied the permit because it had entered into an exclusive contract with another directory service, the Gay and Lesbian Community Yellow Pages.

The suit, filed April 22, alleges that the organizers violated state law by entering into an unfair, exclusive contract with the Gay and Lesbian Community Yellow Pages.

The Gay Pages is based in Georgia and provides a gay and lesbian telephone directory for the greater Atlanta area. It recently opened an office in the Los Angeles area and sought to showcase its product at the upcoming gay pride event, according to court documents.

Gay Pages is seeking at least $25,000 in damages.

The nonprofit Christopher Street West Association offered to meet with the Gay Pages to resolve the dispute, but directory officials were not willing to do so, said Jeffrey S. Thomas, a lawyer for Christopher Street.

The association has acted lawfully and “no wrong has been done to the Gay Pages that gives them a right to prevail in this lawsuit,” Thomas said.

The 34th annual L.A. Pride celebration is scheduled for June 18-20 in West Hollywood.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The California Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments May 25 on whether San Francisco’s mayor had the authority to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

The seven-member court said it would devote two hours to the arguments. Under court rules, the justices then must rule within 90 days.

The cases brought by Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the conservative Alliance Defense Fund focus almost exclusively on whether Mayor Gavin Newsom could issue same-sex marriage licenses by unilaterally declaring that such marriages should be lawful.

California law defines marriage as a union between a man and woman.

The high court stopped same-sex marriages at San Francisco’s City Hall in March after 4,000 gays and lesbians were wed, pending the outcome of the legal challenges.

Lockyer and the conservative group said upholding Newsom’s actions would allow other government officials to subvert other laws.

The justices asked the parties whether they should nullify the roughly 4,000 marriages if they side against Newsom.

Lockyer has taken no position on same-sex marriage, but told the justices the marriages should be invalidated because Newsom overstepped his authority.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund agreed with Lockyer, but also disapproves of same-sex marriage.

For his part, Newsom said his interpretation of the California Constitution demanded that he issue the licenses.

BERNALILLO, N.M. (AP) – An attorney for Sandoval County Clerk Victoria Dunlap has launched a new website detailing the controversy the clerk stirred up by issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

The site talks about same-sex marriage and the law in New Mexico as well as in other parts of the country where the debate continues.

The site also includes Dunlap’s reply to the latest attempt by Attorney General Patricia Madrid to maintain a temporary restraining order prohibiting the clerk from issuing any more same-sex marriage licenses.

Dunlap alleges in the reply that the order was improperly obtained and continues to be improperly maintained.

“They just can’t leave a restraining order blocking us that way,” said Paul Livingston, Dunlap’s attorney. “The use of a restraining order isn’t to stop the rights of the people especially in a state where, it is my contention, same-sex unions are favored and not prohibited.”

A status conference is scheduled for May 7 before state District Judge Louis McDonald.

McDonald has said the conference will help him get up to speed on the complex and controversial case. He’s expected to decide whether to make permanent or rescind the temporary restraining order.

Dunlap issued 66 licenses to same-sex couples Feb. 20, saying state law didn’t appear to define any gender constraints. Dunlap stopped later that day when Madrid issued a letter saying the licenses were invalid.

When Dunlap announced in March that she would once again issue the licenses, Madrid sought the temporary restraining order.

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) – A judge denied New Paltz Mayor Jason West’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to bar him from performing same-sex marriages.

West attracted national attention by performing a series of gay and lesbian weddings outside the village hall of his small Hudson Valley college community on Feb. 27. A civil lawsuit was filed days later on behalf of a village trustee, Robert Hebel, arguing the mayor violated state law and should be barred from performing more same-sex weddings.

West, under a temporary restraining order keeping him from officiating at more weddings, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. He argued that Hebel lacked standing to bring the suit.

Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanagh of Ulster County disagreed, saying Hebel should be able to make such claims as a resident of New Paltz.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for May 17.

Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based legal group that brought the suit on behalf of Hebel, said he was pleased with the decision.

West could not immediately be reached for comment.

West also faces criminal charges for officiating at the weddings.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Gays and lesbians are reporting an increase in both physical and verbal harassment, leading police to step up patrols in a Center City neighborhood where many gays and lesbians live or socialize.

Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson told gay and lesbian business leaders that the patrols would mostly operate between 1:00 and 5:00 a.m., and continue for at least a month.

“We don’t want anybody being verbally or physically abused at anytime,” Johnson said. “It is a violation of the law, and we will enforce the law.”

His remarks came as thousands of GLBTs and others visited the city for a weeklong gathering of the Equality Forum, an international group that deals with civil-rights issues for sexual minorities.

Jim Madden, who operates a leather bar in the city called the Bike Stop, said his customers are frequently harassed on the street.

“We have just as much right to the street as anyone else,” Madden said.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Louisiana ranks fifth in the country in the percentage of its gay and lesbian couples that are raising children, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census data.

Louisiana is one of four Deep South states in the top 10 in statistics analyzed by demographer Gary Gates for the Gay and Lesbian Atlas, a book charting gay and lesbian demographics around the country.

The percentage of Louisiana gay and lesbian couples that have children is 35 percent, well above the national average of 25 percent. Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Texas are also in the top 10.

Gates said it’s likely that the relatively high number of gay and lesbian Southern parents is reflective of the high percentage of heterosexual Southern couples with children.

“Same sex couples often mimic the broader social and cultural climate, which is I think one of the reasons you have the South so heavily represented in the list,” Gates said.

The state with the highest percentage of same-sex couples with children is South Dakota.