BOSTON (AP) – A federal appeals court rejected an attempt by conservative groups and state lawmakers to stop same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

The Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which launched the lawsuit, said it would appeal to the US Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs had argued that Massachusetts’ high court usurped the power of the Legislature – and thereby violated the US Constitution – when it ruled last year that same-sex couples are entitled to wed.

The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, and said the appropriate way to contest the state court ruling is by amending the Massachusetts Constitution – a long process already under way.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Robert Largess, the vice president of the Catholic Action League, and 11 state lawmakers.

The federal appeals court had rejected an earlier request by the groups to stop the first marriage licenses from being issued to same-sex couples in May.

The ruling was the latest in a series of defeats for conservative groups in both state and federal courts.

The appeals court said the November 2003 same-sex marriage ruling by Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court did not violate a clause in the US Constitution that calls for a republican form of government in each state.

The only way a state could run afoul of the clause would be to establish a monarchy or take other action that clearly deviated from the republican form of government, the appeals court said.

ST. PAUL (AP) – A freshman Republican senator will have to apologize for using his Senate email account to publicize an event that called on people to give money to defeat DFLers over the issue of same-sex marriage.

It’s against Senate rules to use state equipment for campaign activity. Sen. Michael Jungbauer of East Bethel agreed to write an apology in a hearing of a Senate ethics subcommittee.

If the panel approves his letter, it would settle a complaint lodged by DFL Sen. John Hottinger of St. Peter, who objected to an April 6 email Jungbauer sent to 1,700 people, mostly supporters of a move to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

The email urged attendance at a news conference whose purpose was to encourage people “to pledge their financial support to defeating DFL Senators” unless they allowed the matter to be placed on fall ballots.

During the meeting, Jungbauer first defended the email, saying he meant to encourage citizen participation in the political process and wasn’t directly urging donations to any specific fund.

But after the panel’s chairman, Sen. James Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul, and its two Republican members said they felt an apology was necessary, Jungbauer agreed he’d likely broken Senate rules.

“I’m disappointed with myself,” he said. “I didn’t read through it and think about what other people might think.”

“It’s a serious matter,” Metzen said. “The body can’t start going down that road.”

COLUMBIA, Missouri (AP) – A former police officer was charged with murder in the slaying of a college student who allegedly had threatened to expose their sexual relationship, authorities said.

Steve A. Rios was being held without bond in the death of Jesse James Valencia, a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia whose body was found June 5, his throat cut. The two men had allegedly met when Rios arrested Valencia this spring.

Rios, 27, was arrested at Fulton State Hospital, a mental hospital where he had been held because of suicide threats. He had been placed on paid leave after telling investigators of his relationship with Valencia and later resigned from the department.

DNA matching that of Rios was found under Valencia’s fingernails, Columbia Police Detective John Short said in a statement filed with Boone County Circuit Court.

A witness told investigators that Valencia, 23, had planned to tell the police chief about his relationship with Rios, who is married, Short wrote.

Rios’ attorney, Rusty Antel, declined to comment.

Rios had arrested the student in April for interfering with him and another officer as they answered a police call about a loud party. Police Chief Randy Boehm has said that was apparently the first time the men met.

A first-degree murder conviction is punishable by death or life in prison without possibility of parole. Authorities did not say whether they would seek the death penalty.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Mayor Michael Coleman’s administration has quietly arranged to make health insurance coverage available to the domestic partners of city employees – something that caused a stir of controversy six years ago.

This time, a vote of city council wasn’t required because the city doesn’t pay anything.

The city will offer a new carrier for supplemental, voluntary insurance for any of its 8,000 employees who want health insurance for their unmarried partners – gay or straight.

It’s on top of what the city supplies, and the employee picks up all of the cost.

In 1998, the city council unanimously passed domestic-partner benefits with two hours’ notice before the vote. The council repealed that decision two months later, after opponents threatened a citizen referendum, arguing, in part, that the council had sneaked domestic partners through.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Holding multicolored balloons and waving rainbow flags, hundreds of people in cities across the state rallied to protest the passage of an anti-gay law that critics say could interfere with legal contracts between same-sex couples.

The state law, which went into effect July 1, prohibits civil unions, partnership contracts or other arrangements “purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage.” Some legal scholars and activists say it could be interpreted to nullify medical directives, wills, joint bank accounts and other partnership agreements between same-sex couples.

“[The law] clearly states that gay and lesbian people in this state should not feel welcome,” Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, the state’s largest gay rights organization, said at the Richmond rally. “It seeks to strip the only tool that gay and lesbian couples have to protect their families.”

The rally drew a lively crowd of more than 400 gay activists and their supporters to the Capitol grounds. Some peddled T-shirts reading “Virginia is for Lovers. *Some restrictions apply,” while others held signs denouncing the bill’s sponsor, Republican Del. Robert Marshall.

Simultaneous rallies were held in Norfolk, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Fairfax, Staunton and Roanoke – the major metropolitan areas in the state.

Gov. Mark R. Warner issued a statement condemning the law, which he unsuccessfully attempted to amend during the legislative session to make less restrictive, then refused to sign.

Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said his group was working with others to legally challenge the law, which he said is so vaguely worded, it could be used against heterosexuals of the same sex who enter into legal agreements with each other.

But Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore has said that the law provides a needed safeguard for the institution of marriage and does not deprive anyone of individual rights. Kilgore has vowed to defend the law if challenged.

Donald and Carol-Ann Purkey of Portland, Ore., were among numerous heterosexuals at the Richmond rally. The Purkeys joined the protest during a break at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) national legislative assembly, being held a few blocks away at the Richmond Convention Center.

They said the issue goes beyond basic rights for gays and lesbians, and could have an economic impact on the state. Donald Purkey, a retired minister, said there would have been a push to move the Presbyterian assembly to another location to protest the law if there had been more time.

“I’m hoping that other agencies and institutions will have a conscience about equality and will withdraw their support of the state,” he said.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) – The Baptist World Alliance says it was “slandered” as being liberal on issues related to homosexuality when the Southern Baptist Convention decided to quit the organization.

Last month, SBC representatives voted at their annual meeting to leave the global federation of Baptist groups.

But the alliance’s general secretary, Denton Lotz, said his group was misrepresented at the meeting. Its policy proclaims “the biblical definition of the family, a permanent, monogamous, heterosexual union, as the original divine plan for family life” and the foundation of society, he said.

Lotz took issue with a talk before the SBC vote by President Paige Patterson of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Patterson complained of “gay-friendly congregations” in American Baptist Churches, a U.S. denomination of 1.5 million members in the alliance.

However, the SBC’s Baptist Press said that Patterson did not cite stands by the alliance itself but American Baptist congregations in Washington state that support gays and lesbians and same-sex marriage. Baptist Press said 50 American Baptist congregations belong to the pro-gay Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.

A response from American Baptist Churches cited its 1992 statement that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” and said “the great majority” of its members agree.

The SBC represented 16.3 million of the world alliance’s constituency of 47 million Baptists. It provided $300,000 in annual funding for the group.