GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) – Marshall County Sheriff Mac Holcomb has removed his personal letter from a county-sponsored website in which he condemns homosexuality as “an abomination.”

Holcomb, who had received a complaint from an Alabama native now living in California, said he is sticking to his beliefs and removed the letter for the overall good of the county. The letter was moved to his personal website.

“This will prevent the county from having to spend money unnecessarily in defending a frivolous lawsuit and… this action will make it clear that the views expressed are my personal views and do not represent official policy of the county or the sheriff’s department,” Holcomb said in a statement.

The 61-year-old sheriff, in the letter on the website, remembered the 1940s and 1950s fondly. “Men were men and women were women and there was no mistaking which was which… Homosexuality was very queer and a despicable act… an abomination,” he wrote.

Holcomb’s action comes after Anniston native Don Hunter, who is now a deputy administrator for Marin County, Calif., complained to the sheriff in a letter last month. Hunter said he came across Holcomb’s words while searching the county website for elderly assistance for his mother in Alabama.

“It was shocking to me because it was so hateful,” said Hunter, adding that he never received a response from Holcomb.

Hunter said that he too grew up in the 1950s. “I remember the good things from that time, but bad things too. There was racism and mistreatment of homosexuals,” he said.

In recent weeks, Hunter said he has received hate mail and phone calls about his stance against the sheriff. He said he felt discouraged about his move against the sheriff until hearing the news that the sheriff had removed the statement from the county website.

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, which lost members after the diocese elected an openly gay bishop, plans to close in the spring.

Parishioners met with Bishop Gene Robinson to make the closing official. The church has operated for more than 100 years.

“Perhaps it was time to rest,” Robinson said.

Parishioners made the decision, he added, with “much disappointment and sadness.”

The church will remain open until April. Its final service is set for Easter Sunday.

A group of 36 parishioners decided in June they couldn’t stay in the church after Robinson refused to grant complete pastoral supervision to a more orthodox bishop. Since then, only 12 to 14 parishioners have attended weekly Sunday service.

Parishioners voted 24-1 at an annual meeting to approve the closure. The sole dissenter voted no “because he finally found a church he loved and didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Robinson said.

Kevin Gorham, a parishioner for 18 years who helps run the church, said its congregation was too small even before the split over Robinson.

“It was an event that made us face the facts, but the facts have been here,” he said.

The diocese has given the church about $200,000 in support over roughly the last decade, officials said. Formally, the church is classified as a mission, which permits the support.

The church had survived a similar conflict in 1988. More than 100 parishioners left as the church’s rector installed female clergy and replaced the 1928 Book of Common Prayer with the 1979 version, as national Episcopal Church policy demanded. The splinter group became the Trinity Anglican Church, eventually building a new church.

The building’s fate after April hasn’t been decided, Robinson said. He predicted the church someday will rise again in a new form.

“God will reveal the new shape of ministry here,” he said.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A transgender Oklahoma City police officer has filed a civil rights complaint accusing the police department of trying to force her to quit.

Officer Paula Schonauer filed the complaint Jan. 14 with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Police Chief Bill Citty was unaware of Schonauer’s latest complaint, said Sgt. Charles Phillips, assistant public information officer.

“The chief’s comment is that he has not been notified of the complaint at this point, and he wants to reiterate that Officer Schonauer is still an active employee of the Oklahoma City Police Department, and the department will respond as required to any complaints as we receive them,” Phillips said.

Schonauer first filed a complaint with the EEOC in March, accusing the department of creating a hostile work environment for her. She filed a second EEOC complaint in May, alleging she suffered retaliation for filing the first complaint.

LITTLE ROCK (AP) – In response to a Pulaski County judge’s ruling, the state Department of Human Services has stopped asking potential adoptive or foster parents on applications if they are gay.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox struck down a 1999 regulation by the state’s Child Welfare Agency Review Board that said gays and lesbians could not be foster parents. Fox said the board had exceeded its mandate to protect the health, safety or welfare of foster children, and he issued an order barring enforcement of the rule.

While the state Human Services Department makes preparations to appeal the judge’s ruling, the agency is following the court’s directive, department spokesperson Julie Munsell said.

Since 1999, the nine-page application has included a statement of the board’s policy regarding gays and lesbians and asked whether the applicant or an adult member in the household was homosexual.

“They have taken it off their website, and they are taking it off their applications,” Munsell said.

Meanwhile, state legislators are considering a bill that would prohibit gays and lesbians from becoming adoptive or foster parents. Rep. Bob Adams, D-Sheridan, and Sen. Jim Holt, R-Springdale, filed House Bill 1119.

The bill would order the Human Services Department or any agency involved in adoption and foster care not to place a child with gay or lesbian parents or in a home that has a gay or lesbian adult. The bill also says that Arkansas public policy should preserve public morality with respect to children in the foster care system.

LITTLE ROCK (AP) – Wal-Mart’s employee-ethics policy now takes into account that some states recognize domestic partnerships and civil unions.

The revised policy, dated Jan. 1, recognizes that in some states “immediate family” includes an employee’s same-sex partner, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said.

The revisions deal with sections of the company’s ethics code that bar employees from using confidential information to benefit themselves or immediate family members and from approaching Wal-Mart’s suppliers about jobs for immediate family members, the company said.

Company spokesperson Gus Whitcomb wouldn’t say whether the change would affect benefits for employees of the country’s largest employer or whether the revision meant the company was taking a position on same-sex marriage or civil unions.

“We updated our statement of ethics,” Whitcomb said. “That brings us into compliance with state laws in terms of how they look at individuals with regard to policies” where a worker’s “immediate family” would be a factor.

For instance, in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal, Wal-Mart would expect its workers in that state to abide by the company’s ethics policy as it pertains to families, Whitcomb said.

The Human Rights Campaign, a national lobbying group for gay and lesbian issues, praised Wal-Mart for expanding its definition of “immediate family.”

“We are encouraged by this sign showing America’s heartland employer understands same-sex couples share the responsibilities that come with being a family,” Daryl Herrschaft, deputy director of Human Rights Campaign’s WorkNet program, said in a news release.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, is the world’s largest retailer. The company disclosed the updated ethics policy in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The SEC filing was part of several exhibits in an unrelated matter.

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) – The Archdiocese of Detroit says it canceled planned honors for a nun at a suburban church because her gay outreach mission is incompatible with Roman Catholic beliefs.

Sister Jeannine Gramick, 62, was to have been honored at St. Mary Parish in Royal Oak following a screening of a documentary film highlighting her work. But the reception had to be moved because of objections by the archdiocese.

The reception was held after the screening at the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre as part of Reel Pride Film Festival, supported by the gay rights group the Triangle Foundation.

Once the diocese learned of the reception, it determined that “one of its parish facilities is not the appropriate setting for a gathering not in accord with the mission and message of the Church,” Ned McGrath, communications director of the archdiocese, said in a statement.

Since the film’s debut in April, the Washington, D.C., resident has traveled to international and national film festivals for the screening of In Good Conscience: Sister Jeannine Gramick’s Journey of Faith.

She said this was the first time a diocese has banned her from a church.

“There’s a real sadness and embarrassment for my church when leaders of my church exercise this kind of authority,” Gramick told The Detroit News. “It puts our church in real bad light. … What is so harmful about having cookies and punch after a film that brings people the knowledge that the church is bringing ministry to lesbian and gay people?”

The film centers on Gramick’s three decades of work reaching out to the GLBT community, many of whom she said felt unwelcome in the church.

HELENA (AP) – A bill requiring school districts to draft policies against bullying and harassment sparked debate over which students deserve protection and whether sexual orientation should be included.

Opponents called the measure, approved 30-20 in preliminary voting by the Senate, an unnecessary “feel-good bill” that would wrongly force teachers to introduce young children to gay and lesbian issues.

“I’m concerned we are introducing something into our schools that teachers will be required to teach before they can say ‘Don’t do this,’” Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, said. “I challenge you to think about how you’re going to explain [sexual orientation] to a person in the third grade.”

Supporters countered that children learn stereotypes and prejudices earlier than most think, and said something must be done to address the bullying problem.

“It’s disgusting that our schools can’t deal with those kind of kids that make our children afraid to go to school,” said Sen. Vicki Cocchiarella, D-Missoula.

The bill, sponsored by high school English teacher Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, R-Glasgow, directs school districts to develop a policy dealing with “harassment, intimidation, or bullying.” In part, it requires that the policies cover anything that harms a student, damages property or interferes with a student’s education.

The bill would ban bullying and harassment based on any characteristic, such as race, color, gender or sexual orientation.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – A new mayor means Eugene will get another look at extending civil rights protections to transgender people.

The issue arose in 2002 when the city council was deciding whether to create a domestic partner registry for same-sex couples. Members of the city’s Human Rights Commission tried to add “gender identity” to the list of the city’s protected classes, but then-Mayor Jim Torrey threatened to veto the domestic partner registry if transgender protections remained.

Council members ultimately dropped the transgender language but approved the domestic partner registry.

With Torrey no longer in office, members of the rights commission have found an ally in new mayor Kitty Piercy, who has agreed to put the transgender topic on the council’s May agenda.

“I, like the members of the Human Rights Commission, am interested in ensuring that all our citizens are treated equitably and justly,” Piercy said. “I am, therefore, open to a discussion about adding gender identity to the list of protected classes.”

The city estimates that at least 100 transgendered people live in Eugene.

Extending the city’s civil rights protections would give transgender people a legal leg to stand on if they encounter discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.

The proposal will face almost certain opposition from religious groups and those concerned about the bathroom issue.

The 2002 proposal would have required “reasonable accommodations” for transgender people in buildings open to the public.

Some residents worried that the law would permit men who feel they are female to use women’s restrooms or locker rooms, and thereby frighten or victimize women and children.

“How do you keep a man out of a women’s restroom when he says that he is transgendered?” said Mike Jaskilka, pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Eugene. “What do you do when he feels like it today, but not tomorrow? That kind of vagueness can be a problem.”

Sara Rich, a family therapist who chairs the Human Rights Commission, said restroom use by transgender people is an “invalid concern.”

“National research numbers show that transgendered people do not victimize women and children,” she said. “People say transgendered people are pedophiles, but statistics show that most pedophiles are white, heterosexual males.”

The University of Oregon last fall changed its equal opportunity statement to include gender identity. It is trying to deal with restroom access issues by converting a dozen single-toilet restrooms – previously reserved for either women or men – for use by both sexes.

SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) – Two former employees of the Sheridan County School District filed a civil complaint against the district, alleging they were discriminated against because they are lesbians.

Kathleen Milligan-Hitt and Kathyrn Roberts are suing the District 2 School Board, Superintendent Craig Dougherty and Assistant Superintendent Terry Burgess. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne on Jan. 14.

Dougherty said the lawsuit “has no merit whatsoever.”

“It will be defended vigorously,” he said.

According to the court complaint, Hitt and Roberts are partners. Efforts by the (Sheridan) Press to reach them for comment were unsuccessful.

School district records show that Hitt was employed for five years as an assistant junior high principal, ending in June 2004. Roberts worked as both a principal and a teacher in the district.

The complaint alleges that both Roberts and Hitt were passed over as candidates for the new middle school principal job because they are lesbians. They claim a less-qualified candidate was hired. The suit also charges that Hitt didn’t get a job as an elementary school principal because she is a lesbian.

The suit seeks unspecified damages for loss of income and benefits, other costs associated with seeking new employment, “other consequential economic damages” and damages for embarrassment, humiliation and emotional distress, along with punitive damages.

The school district has 21 days from the time district officials were served the complaint to file a response.