DENVER (AP) – Liz Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, said that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry had no business dragging her sister’s sexuality into the presidential debate and said it should not be an issue in this year’s election.

“I was surprised that Senator Kerry would raise it and I think it is unprecedented for a candidate for the presidency to sort of exploit the child of one of his opponents for political gain. That did surprise me. I thought that was out of bounds, and I think what you have seen as a result of that is a lot of folks across the country really wondering what sort of a person would do that. It was sort of an insight into the character of Senator Kerry,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Liz Cheney said the issue of her sister Mary’s lifestyle should not be an issue in this year’s election.

“I don’t think Mary should be part of this campaign. I think issues having to do with the war on terror, having to do with the economy, having to do with healthcare, those are all critically important issues and those are the ones we’re spending a lot of our time focused on,” she said.

In an interview with Fox News Channel, the vice president called the comments made about his lesbian daughter “offensive” and “part of a political strategy” and suggested it was “just one more example of a candidate who is prepared to say anything in order to advance his political cause.”

Elizabeth Edwards said it was President Bush who tried to politicize the gay rights issue by supporting a constitutional amendment that would bar legal recognition of same-sex marriages.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former MCI Mass Markets employee who says he was fired because he is gay has filed a lawsuit against the company.

Shannon L. Derifield filed the lawsuit in Johnson County District Court.

In the lawsuit, Derifield claims he was denied promotions, treated unfairly and fired in January after three years of employment.

Derifield also has filed complaints with the Iowa City Human Rights Commission and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission against MCI, according to the lawsuit. He is seeking unspecified damages for lost pay, benefits, court costs and emotional distress.

The lawsuit also names Derifield’s former supervisor Jane Williams as a defendant.

MCI spokesperson Brittany Hoff declined comment on the lawsuit because she was not familiar with it.

“We have a no-discrimination policy,” she said.

BOSTON (AP) – The author of the landmark same-sex marriage decision that triggered political backlash across the country warned against efforts to tamper with the independent judiciary system.

Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the state’s Supreme Judicial Court, told a gathering of business leaders that she welcomed scrutiny and criticism of the court’s decision, but she decried attempts – here and elsewhere – to subject judges to elections.

“Our system has worked for 200 years, where you have independent judges who are not beholden to the elective public,” Marshall said. “I know that sometimes seems controversial, but it has worked.”

In a rare public appearance, Marshall also told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that “overheated factionalism is exerting tremendous pressure” on the nation’s founding ideals.

“Judges do become the focus of attack politics,” she said. “But it would be foolish, in my judgment, to heed the voices of those who would curtail a judge’s independence.”

The high court legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts last November in a 4-3 decision written by Marshall. The first weddings took place on May 17.

EAST CHINA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – St. Clair High School’s production of The Laramie Project will go on despite plans by members of a Kansas church to picket the show.

The play tells the story of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who died in October 1998 after he was beaten and tied to a fence outside Laramie, Wyo. Two men were sentenced to life in prison for the killing.

Director Mark Eberhard said the show will go on and East China School District officials don’t believe students’ safety is at risk. About 10 to 12 members of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., plan to protest at the East China Performing Arts Center.

The school in St. Clair County decided to present the play to spread an anti-hate-crime message, Eberhard told the Times Herald of Port Huron.

“It’s really about hate crimes and stopping hate crimes,” he said of the play. “This church seems to interpret it as a play that encourages the gay lifestyle.”

CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) – The Episcopal Diocese in New Hampshire says it regrets the “pain and confusion” it caused by consecrating a gay bishop, but stood by him in responding to criticism from an Anglican commission report.

In a statement, the diocese acknowledged that the consecration of V. Gene Robinson has caused deep distress for many Episcopalians and Anglicans.

However, the diocese affirmed Robinson’s ministry and applauded his efforts at reaching out in sensitive and caring ways, especially to those who were distressed by his selection.

An Anglican church commission in London urged the U.S. Episcopal Church not to elect any more gay bishops and called for apologies from both sides. The report urged the Episcopal Church “to express its regret” for consecrating Robinson knowing fully that “very many people in the Anglican Communion” could not abide an openly gay bishop.

Two Anglican churches in Washington state severed their ties with the Episcopal Church USA, in part to protest the consecration of an openly gay bishop.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – The YMCA of the Triangle Area will charge same-sex couples with children the same membership fees as heterosexual families but won’t call them “families” under a policy that covers a range of household types.

Grandparents with dependent grandchildren, couples with foster children and children living with adults who are their legal guardians will also benefit from the new policy, said the Y’s chief executive officer, Doug McMillan.

In the case of a same-sex or unmarried couple with children, the change would allow one adult with dependent children to enroll in one category and the second adult to enroll separately, he said.

The two membership fees are equal to or less than the fee paid by a husband and wife with children.

“Change is hard,” McMillan said. “We wanted to be fair and equitable to everybody. The structure we had left the staff making several exceptions.

Teresa Sakash, a member of YMCA for All, a local group that lobbied the YMCA to charge all families the same membership rates, called the decision “a victory with an asterisk.”

“It’s an imperfect solution from my end,” said Teresa Sakash, also a Duke University law student. “I’m of the mindset that progress is incremental. Any forward movement is positive movement.”

The new policy affects all Triangle area YMCA chapters, but has only been implemented so far in Durham, McMillan said.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement opposing same-sex marriage, two weeks before Utah voters decide a proposed constitutional amendment on the question.

The nearly 150-word statement says that only men and women should be married, and “any other sexual relations, including between persons of the same gender, undermine the divinely created institution of family.”

The Mormon Church had said in July it supported the idea of a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, but wouldn’t speak specifically to Utah’s.

The new statement could be a late push to sway Utah voters who will consider the amendment Nov. 2, though the church declined to elaborate on its motives.

RACINE, Wis. (AP) – Household products manufacturer S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. says it has backed out of sponsorship of “He’s a Lady”, a reality show on the Turner Broadcasting System which involves cross dressing.

“We have assessed the show, and we will not sponsor it,” S.C. Johnson spokesperson Margie Mandli said, declining to answer further questions about the decision.

The show has 11 men dressed as women compete for $250,000 in a series of feminine challenges.

A group called the Traditional Values Coalition has urged people to contact TBS and S.C. Johnson to complain about the show. The coalition described “He’s a Lady” on its website as a “new homosexual-inspired transvestite show.”

The station issued a statement saying it could not comment on Johnson’s decision.

“In the spirit of Tootsie, this is a show that takes a lighthearted and comedic look at how gender roles in our society affect our everyday lives and, once it airs, viewers will see that for themselves,” added the statement, which was attributed only to a TBS spokesperson.