DENVER (AP) – Coors Brewing Co. distanced itself from its former chairman, saying his political support for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage does not reflect the company’s position.

Republican Senate candidate Peter Coors said during a primary debate that he agreed with the Federal Marriage Amendment proposed by two Colorado Republicans, Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.

Coors Brewing issued a statement making it clear that Peter Coors’ views are his own.

“We do not support discrimination against the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender community, via legislation or otherwise,” company CEO Leo Kiely said in a statement.

Observers said Coors needed the votes of party conservatives at the state’s recent party convention, and noted that his primary opponent is conservative former congressman Bob Schaffer, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage.

The seat came open because GOP Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell abruptly announced his retirement earlier this year, citing health concerns.

Coors earlier said he was not convinced that a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages was necessary. But campaign spokeswoman Cinamon Watson said his position changed when states began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The issue is sensitive for Coors Brewing: The company was once boycotted by gays and lesbians because it required job applicants to take a polygraph test that included questions about sexual beliefs. The company is now considered a model for recruiting gay and lesbian workers and offers same-sex partner benefits.

Peter Coors has taken credit for leading that change and said he once promoted the beer in person in gay bars. But political analysts have said Coors had to take a stronger stance against same-sex marriage to be viable in the Senate race.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Language in a proposed constitutional amendment that could deny homestead property tax exemptions to same-sex couples may soon be removed from the measure.

The legislation – an overhaul of the homestead exemption provisions in the constitution by Sen. Reggie Dupre, D-Houma – was originally drawn up to ensure that widows and widowers who have adult children will not lose their homestead exemption.

But legislators led by Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton, changed the language to state that people who co-own a home and who are not related – by blood, adoption or marriage – are not entitled to the exemption.

Adley said that his reason behind the language change has been widely misinterpreted and misunderstood by reporters. He said he offered it to keep the issue from becoming entangled with the gay rights debate.

Dupre agreed that getting the bill out of a Senate committee might have been more difficult had Adley not changed the language. The resulting backlash over the language, however, may also have endangered the measure, he said.

The Louisiana Assessors Association made their position clear in a letter to lawmakers, saying their should be only two questions to ask to determine homestead exemption eligibility: “Do the ‘person or persons’ own the property? Do the ‘person or persons’ occupy the property?”

Dupre’s amendment is awaiting a House vote. Rep. Shirley Bowler, R-Harahan, has filed an amendment to remove language that would deny the exemptions to co-owners of property unless they are “relatives, related by adoption, or are spouses.”

Dupre, Adley and numerous assessors have said the controversy – arising as the House and Senate have before them constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage – has overshadowed the real reason for the bill: attorney general’s opinions and state audits have called into question many assessors decision to grant the exemption on property owned “in division” – basically co-ownership.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Ever a bellwether state, Missouri will provide the nation’s first ballot-box battle on same-sex marriage since the contentious issue flared up following the court-ordered allowance of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts.

Missouri is one of at least seven states this year where voters will decide on proposed amendments to state constitutions limiting marriage to one man and one woman. But Missourians will be voting in August, with most of the rest in November.

Consequently, supporters and opponents alike are looking to Missouri – a state that generally mirrors the nation demographically – as a test of whether similar amendments might succeed elsewhere.

HELENA (AP) – A church has sued the state political practices commissioner after she launched an investigation into whether it became a political organization by urging members to support a proposed ballot measure banning same-sex marriage.

Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church of East Helena contends in the federal suit filed in Helena that the campaign finance laws at issue are unconstitutional.

Applying the laws to churches stifles free speech and religious freedom, and the investigation has discouraged churches from collecting petition signatures to put the proposed ban on the November ballot, the suit claims.

“Montana’s election law regarding campaign finance and practice is so vague it allows the state to chill free speech and religious expression rights of churches that publicly take a position on the subject of marriage,” said Benjamin Bull, chief attorney for Alliance Defense Fund.

The national organization filed the lawsuit on behalf of the church against Commissioner Linda Vaughey. She said she had not seen the suit and declined comment.

The suit is in response to a complaint filed with Vaughey last month, alleging a May 23 church event urging support for Constitutional Initiative 96 transformed the church into a political committee. The church failed to register as such with Vaughey’s office and to report spending associated with the event, the complaint stated.

It was filed by Montanans for Families and Fairness, an organization formed to oppose the same-sex marriage ban in CI-96. The group includes the Montana Human Rights Network, Intermountain Planned Parenthood and the GLBT advocacy group called PRIDE.

The event at the church was a national simulcast of religious leaders talking about marriage and stressing the traditional belief that marriage is reserved for a man and woman. CI-96 petitions were available for signing at the urging of Pastor Berthold Stumberg.

The suit said designating the church as an “incidental political committee” would require disclosure of details about internal church operations, donors, members and other private matters.

Vaughey’s investigation has discouraged this and other churches in Montana from advocating support for CI-96, according to the complaint.

The related campaign laws are too broad and vague, and give Vaughey “unbridled discretion to investigate and penalize churches because of their speech,” it stated.

Also, the laws give Vaughey little guidance to determine which groups are subject to reporting requirements for political committee, according to the litigation.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – There were no floats, fire engines or marching bands, but an estimated 150 marchers, spanning two city blocks, took part in this city’s first Pride parade.

Members and supporters of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community formed a historic line in downtown Fargo.

“I’m incredibly happy,” said Bob Uebel of the Pride Collective. “Even if we’d marched with 25 or 50 people, I’d still be happy. The thing was to do it.”

The parade was a new addition to FM Pride, an annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community celebration now in its third year.

“It’s my first Pride as a gay man,” said Steven Dais, a senior at North Dakota State University. “I felt it was important to take part.”

Jasmine Perry, of Moorhead, Minn., said it was good to see “so many people who are so comfortable with who they are.”

A lone protester stood with a sign on one street corner. As instructed by Uebel, marchers smiled and waved at him.

Former Fargo Mayor Jon Lindgren, the grand marshal of the parade, recalled signing the first proclamation for Gay-Lesbian Pride week 20 years ago.

“You had the nerve to walk into the mayor’s office and basically come out,” Lindgren told the crowd. “Those original folks had to educate a mayor who wasn’t hip to those issues.”

Rep. Mary Ekstrom, D-Fargo, said she opposes a proposed state constitutional change that would define marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman.

“I am adamantly opposed to it,” she said. “We do not put discrimination into the Constitution.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A recall petition drive has failed against two county commissioners who approved same-sex marriage licenses in March.

Chairwoman Diane Linn and fellow commissioner Lisa Naito both said they were relieved the petition drive led by the Christian Coalition missed the June 7 deadline to submit the 37,000 signatures needed to place the recall on the ballot.

“It would have been costly and time-consuming,” Linn said of a recall vote, estimating it would have cost taxpayers at least $300,000.

John Belgarde, executive director of the Christian Coalition, said about 35,000 signatures were gathered.

On March 3, four Multnomah County commissioners met privately and decided, with no public hearings, that the county would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. They made the decision after a legal review determined it was unconstitutional to deny issuing licenses to same-sex couples.

The policy was immediately challenged and a judge ordered the county to stop issuing the licenses until the Legislature can consider the issue or the Oregon Supreme Court rules on it.

More than 3,000 same-sex couples tied the knot before the judge’s ruling.