SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Three Bay Area men whose job offers were rescinded because they hid their HIV status can sue American Airlines for discrimination, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The airline can request medical information – but only after all background checks are completed and a job offer has been made, according to the ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A job applicant then has the opportunity to decide whether to disclose personal information. It also makes it possible to determine if an application was rejected illegally, the court said.

The three men were offered jobs as flight attendants by American in 1998 and 1999. But they first had to submit to a medical exam and background check. During their physical exams, they were asked about their medical histories and none disclosed they had the AIDS-causing virus.

When blood tests indicated the men were using HIV medication, each man disclosed his condition and then was sent a letter withdrawing the job offer because of the concealment.

“American cannot require applicants to disclose personal medical information and penalize them for not doing so before it assures them that they have successfully passed through all non-medical stages of the hiring process,” the court ruled.

“It’s a huge victory for people with hidden disabilities,” said Todd Schneider, a lawyer for the applicants.

A lawyer for the airline was unavailable for comment.

SANTA FE (AP) – James Maestas, a gay man beaten unconscious in a suspected hate crime, would never hurt anyone, his friends say.

About 300 people attended a candlelit vigil March 5 on the Santa Fe Plaza to show their support for Maestas, 21, who has been hospitalized since the attack a week prior outside a Santa Fe hotel.

Theresa Lorelle, who has known Maestas for eight years, said he is a peaceful, loving and funny person who doesn’t know how to fight.

“He might not be the same person afterwards, and that really scares me,” she said.

Rachel Rosen, a friend of the Maestas family and chair of Equality New Mexico, said Maestas spoke with humor from his hospital bed for the first time when he asked for a mirror.

“I’ve got to see this face,’” Maestas said, according to Rosen.

Upon seeing his injuries, Rosen said Maestas added: “That’s the fattest lip I’ve ever seen.”

Many people are surprised that such a crime could happen in Santa Fe, which is second only to San Francisco in the percentage of same-sex households, holds a Pride parade each summer and is known as a progressive town.

Joshua Stockham, 23, who also received minor injuries in the attack, called for the support of the crowd at the vigil.

“We can’t let this happen to anyone else,” Stockham said.

Gov. Bill Richardson and Santa Fe Police Chief Beverly Lennen appeared at the vigil, which was marked by dozens of speakers and many hugs and kisses among the participants.

“What happened to James Maestas should never happen anywhere, on any planet,” said Richardson, who signed the state’s hate crimes law in 2003.

Gabriel Maturin, 20, and Isaia Medina, 19, face charges of aggravated battery, conspiracy and battery in the beating. David Trinidad, 17, faces similar charges in Children’s Court plus a count of criminal damage to property. The three have pleaded not guilty.

Witnesses told police they heard those involved repeatedly calling Maestas and Stockham “faggots” as they were beating them.

New Mexico law allows an extra year to be added to a sentence when a jury decides a hate crime has occurred.

Rosen said that the Maestas family believes that extra year is not enough.

“It’s going to take James a whole hell of a lot longer than one year to heal. So I think we need to revisit that, sir,” Rosen said addressing the governor.

Following his speech, Richardson said Rosen’s challenge to increase hate crime penalties merits serious consideration.

According to police records, Maturin, Medina, Trinidad and possibly three other men confronted Stockham and Maestas and a group of female friends outside a restaurant where they had been eating.

During the confrontation, one of the victims put his hand on Maturin’s chest and Maturin thought he was coming on to him, Lennen said.

Trinidad, who had waited on the victims, joined the group as Stockham, Maestas and their friends drove away. The suspects threw rocks at the car as it pulled away.

Trinidad had overheard discussion of where Stockham, Maestas and their friends were staying, and the group went to that hotel.

Outside the hotel, Maturin and Medina allegedly attacked Maestas while Trinidad and another man hit Stockham, court records state.

Maestas was knocked to the ground and repeatedly struck in the face and head.

District Attorney Henry Valdez said the case is the first in Santa Fe County in which the hate crimes law could be applied.

But activists point out that with same-sex marriage in the headlines and with more popular gay and lesbian entertainers, that visibility can translate into homosexuals becoming easy targets for violence.

“If something like this can happen in Santa Fe, than that should be a clue to everyone that it can happen anywhere,” National Coalition of Antiviolence Programs acting executive director Clarence Patton said in a telephone interview.

BOSTON (AP) – Gay and straight couples and their children delivered a letter to Gov. Mitt Romney condemning his recent remarks to South Carolina Republicans as ridiculing same-sex families.

Julie and Hillary Goodridge, lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, led a contingent of about 40 people who delivered the letter to the governor’s office and requested a meeting. But Romney was out of state to deliver a speech in Utah.

“You are certainly entitled to court the right wing of your party,” the letter read, “but we respectfully ask that you not do so on the backs of Massachusetts families headed by same-sex couples.”

Speaking to fellow Republicans in Spartanburg, S.C., Romney said same-sex couples “are actually having children born to them. … It’s not right on paper. It’s not right in fact. Every child has a right to a mother and a father.”

Though Romney has declined to say whether he plans to run for president in 2008, the South Carolina speech was broadcast live on C-SPAN and was widely seen as an early step in establishing himself as a candidate.

The governor “can do what he needs to do to enhance his career,” said Julie Goodridge, 47, who brought the couple’s 9-year-old daughter Annie to the Statehouse. But it’s “completely inappropriate for him to make derogatory comments about families in the commonwealth.”

“The governor has made clear that he does not support gay marriage,” Romney spokesperson Shawn Feddeman said. “However, he has consistently advocated respect and tolerance for gays and lesbians and their families.”

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – The Montana House killed a bill that would have extended the state’s hate crimes law to protect gays and lesbians.

The bill would have made it a crime to target people based such factors as age, economic condition, disability, gender or sexual orientation. It was rejected 54-46.

State law already outlaws intimidating or harassing someone because of race, religion, color, creed or national origin. Offenses carry a minimum two-year prison term.

Debate focused mainly on whether the law should cover crimes against gays and lesbians.

Republicans, who accounted for all but five of the opponents, warned the bill would stifle free speech and could prevent clergy from speaking out against homosexuality in their sermons.

Supporters said the bill aimed to protect people who could be targeted because they belonged to a certain group.

Similar bills have failed in each of the six preceding legislative sessions.

A similar bill in the state Senate has been stalled in committee since January.

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) – Twelve Beatrice Middle School students staged a brief walkout to protest what they called the unfair treatment of an openly gay student.

The students refused to go to class after a teacher took “gay pride” posters away from an openly gay student who had brought them to school, said Stevie Woodrum, one of the eighth-graders involved.

The students also claim the gay student is bullied by other students and that school administrators have not done anything about it.

“People shove [the student’s] head into lockers,” Woodrum said. “[The student] gets treated way worse than any other kids.”

School principal Randy Schlueter said the alleged bullying was brought to the attention of school officials, who have taken steps to deal with it.

As for the posters, Schlueter said the school does not allow any potentially inflammatory political statements that might distract from school. He said the content of the statement was not the reason the school objected to the posters.

School policy states school administrators must approve anything students want to hang in the school, Schlueter said.

Woodrum said the students were going to put the posters in their lockers and not on the walls of the school.

When the posters were taken away, the students decided not to go to class in protest. Woodrum said after the students’ parents were contacted, they were given the option of going back to class or going home and most chose to return to class.

Woodrum said the students involved were all friends of the gay student, the only one they know of at the school.

“We were there to support [the student],” she said.

NEW YORK (AP) – A majority of New York City voters would support a law allowing same-sex marriage, according to a recent poll.

But by a slim margin, they also back Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to appeal a recent court ruling supporting same-sex unions, the Quinnipiac University Poll found.

In the poll, 51 percent of respondents said they favored legalizing same-sex marriage, while 40 percent were opposed. White voters were much more likely to back the law than black voters – 61 percent of whites wanted the law, compared with just 36 percent of blacks.

“There’s a big split between black and white voters over gay marriage,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

By a margin of 49 to 44 percent, voters said they agreed with Bloomberg’s strategy of appealing a state Supreme Court decision that the state’s refusal to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples was unconstitutional.

Bloomberg has said he personally supports same-sex marriage but wants to test the court ruling to avoid the “chaos” San Francisco experienced last year when it issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The marriages were later ruled invalid.

The poll surveyed 1,435 New York City registered voters between Feb. 22 and March 1. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

YORK, Pa. (AP) – Randy Blymire, host of the long running “Gay York!” show on York Cable Access Television, died Feb. 24. He was 50.

Blymire devoted much of his time to the cable access station, producing shows for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. He also produced and directed a show called “Free Thought Forum”.

“Gay York!” first aired in August 1997.

Blymire was “relentless” in his fight to get a 1993 ordinance passed in York banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accommodations, his co-worker Cindy Mitzel said.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A deal between “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch and federal prosecutors fell apart shortly before the reality television show star was expected to plead guilty to failing to pay taxes on his winnings.

Both sides said Hatch had changed his mind and decided not to continue with a deal he made in January to plead guilty if prosecutors would recommend leniency. He had been due in court March 4 to enter a plea.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said it now would present its case to a grand jury.

Hatch, 43, is accused of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the first season of the hit CBS show. He is charged with filing false 2000 and 2001 tax returns, omitting the “Survivor” income as well as $321,000 he was paid to co-host “The Wilde Show” on WQSX-FM in Boston.

Rod Mitchell, a spokesperson for Hatch’s attorney, Michael Minns, would not comment on why Hatch decided against the plea deal.

Hatch, who lives in Newport, has been free on $50,000 bond since his arraignment in January.

On “Survivor”, Hatch stood out for being a cunning and ruthless competitor. He spent much of his time in the nude, and David Letterman dubbed him the “fat naked guy.” He was also the only openly gay contestant during the first season.

Since the television show, Hatch has weathered a series of legal battles. He was arrested in April 2000 on a charge of abusing his then 9-year-old son. That charge was later dropped. In 2002, Hatch was found innocent of assaulting his ex-boyfriend.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Mark Barr might not be a “spouse” in the eyes of the Utah Constitution, but that didn’t keep him off the invitation list at a gathering of legislators’ spouses Feb. 11.

Barr was among 50 or so lawmakers’ spouses at a luncheon held by Utah first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman, but he was the only same-sex partner in attendance.

“I was nervous. Not so much nervous to be there, but public speaking nervous,” said the partner of newly appointed state Sen. Scott McCoy, the Senate’s only openly gay member. “And from my vantage point there was nothing uncomfortable about it.”

Before being sworn into office, McCoy was previously best known for being the outspoken front man for the Don’t Amend Alliance. That group unsuccessfully worked to defeat Amendment 3, the ballot measure that changed Utah’s constitution to ban same-sex unions.

Even though a few eyebrows went up when Barr introduced himself as McCoy’s partner at the luncheon, Huntsman said it never would have occurred to her not to include Barr.

“Jon and I are not exclusive people, we’re inclusive people,” she said. “I may have my religious beliefs and beliefs about marriage, but we are all human beings.”

Taking the lead from the welcoming first lady, no one else made a fuss about Barr’s presence. When asked, none said they were surprised by his inclusion.

“We may have our differences on Amendment 3, but as far as him coming to an event as a person, it’s fine with me,” said Helen Buttars, wife of Sen. Chris Buttars, who sponsored the legislation that put Amendment 3 on the ballot.

Barr also accompanied McCoy to the Senate President’s dinner, and said he was welcomed respectively and even teased by Chris Buttars for not “dressing down.”

“That’s certainly nothing I expected. I’m used to knowing people dislike you or don’t think highly of you. And I’m used to holding a grudge,” said Barr, adding that his focus now is to support McCoy as he begins his tenure in the Senate.

“Now is not the time for confrontation. We have to realize that we believe different things and whether it’s sincere or not, I appreciate them allowing me to come to the spouses [events] and be a part of all this,” he said.

“Hopefully they can get to know me and maybe then can see through what they thought was true about gay people. I hope so,” he said.

Barr and McCoy have been together for seven years. In 2001, they obtained a legal civil union in Vermont and took part in a religious observance of the union in California, which was officiated by a Unitarian Universalist minister.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – A business person who made derogatory comments to an AIDS awareness group at the Capitol has resigned from his position as first vice president for the Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound.

“Looks like it’s anal sex week,” Lou Novak loudly remarked as a group from the Life Long AIDS Alliance walked though the state House office building.

The group included a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy. The boy’s family had recently been forced to move because of AIDS-related prejudice in his neighborhood.

The Rental Housing Association’s executive board held an emergency meeting on March 3, after The Associated Press reported on the incident. Board members asked for and accepted Novak’s resignation as first vice president. He also voluntarily resigned from the group, which represents 3,500 landlords across Washington State.

“Good,” said Suzie Saxton, who followed Novak into the public Capitol cafeteria after he made the comment in front of her group on Feb. 23. She asked him what he’d said. He repeated his comment about “anal sex week,” according to witnesses, and lectured her about people engaging in irresponsible sex and asking for public money.

Saxton, executive director of an AIDS advocacy organization in Yakima, said she’s sorry it ended badly for Novak but she believes he should have known better.

“It’s not acceptable anywhere and certainly not at the state Capitol,” Saxton said. “Certainly people are allowed their private opinions, but what he did actually borders on hate crime. He could be charged, and he’s darn lucky that’s not happening.”

Novak said he regrets his remarks and will apologize to those involved.

“The remark was made in private and they just happened to overhear it, and that’s very unfortunate,” Novak said. “I’m certainly sorry that anyone was offended by it.”

Novak, a Seattle landlord, said he did not recall repeating the remark in the Capitol cafeteria.

The Rental Housing Association has already written letters of apology to several legislators. President Cathy Jeney said the group is trying to call the people involved to apologize personally.

“Mr. Novak’s statements do not represent the views of the thousands of RHA members who look to the Association for guidance on rental housing issues,” Jeney said in a press release. “While the action taken by our Executive Committee today can never undo the pain suffered by those present in Olympia on February 23rd, we pledge as an Association to continue working for tolerance and understanding on housing issues.”

Senate security got involved when a woman sitting with Novak in the cafeteria called security. Senate Counsel Mike Hoover investigated the incident and wrote up a report.

Secretary of the Senate Tom Hoemann said he would write to the Rental Housing Association and to Novak, reminding them that the Senate’s rules of decorum and respectful workplace policy apply to visitors as well as lawmakers.

State House Chief Clerk Rich Nafziger said that a legislator has asked him to investigate further action against Novak. Nafziger said he’s looking into what steps the House could take.

Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said the incident shows the need for his civil rights measure, House Bill 1515, which would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment and insurance. It passed in the House and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate. Opponents recently argued on the House floor that the bill is unnecessary because prejudice against gays and lesbians is dying out.

“The first vice president of a rental association attacking some kid … is Exhibit A of why we need House Bill 1515,” Murray said. “It’s one thing to speak your mind. It’s another thing to use abusive language in front of a minor.”

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A state senator confronted an alderman at City Hall demanding he apologize for an offensive remark he made about gays.

Sen. Tim Carpenter, who is gay, told Alderman Michael McGee his remark divided the city and was not worthy of an elected official.

The confrontation came as McGee ended a news conference in which he criticized Mayor Tom Barrett as being insensitive to blacks, as part of McGee’s ongoing protest over the lack of action in the case of a black man who was beaten by several men who allegedly identified themselves as off-duty Milwaukee police officers.

At a rally he organized Feb. 10, McGee referred to the beating, in which the victim’s pants were pulled down as he was punched and kicked, saying: “Any man who would pull another man’s pants down is a straight-up sick faggot.”

Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, said he tried to call McGee three times to ask him to apologize for his remark.

“Why are you disrespectful? Why don’t you return phone calls? When will you apologize for using the term…?” Carpenter shouted at McGee.

“You don’t fight for civil rights on the back of another minority group,” Carpenter said.

McGee did not acknowledge the senator and did not take questions from reporters before he ducked into his aldermanic office, as Carpenter shouted, “Why are you hiding?”

Two police officers were called and asked reporters to leave the public waiting area.

Carpenter said he is embarrassed by McGee’s statement and his call for a one-day boycott by blacks of white-owned shops to pressure the district attorney’s office to charge the officers involved in the October beating of Frank Jude, Jr.

“I support his efforts in the Jude case, but his negative comments are dividing the city,” Carpenter said.

Additionally, six fellow aldermen sent McGee a letter asking him to apologize for the comment, “so that we can move forward and regain the public’s full trust and respect.”

McGee has said he did not mean to offend all homosexuals with his use of the word.