FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) – An anti-gay minister who picketed the funeral of a murdered gay college student and plans to protest a play about the man’s death said he would take part in a forum on gay rights.

The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr.’s protest outside the 1998 funeral for Matthew Shepard, the gay college student beaten to death in Wyoming, led to his portrayal in the play The Laramie Project.

The play is scheduled for a four-day run beginning at the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne. Phelps and members of his Topeka, Kan. congregation plan to picket the museum and six area churches he says are overly tolerant of homosexuality.

Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church are known nationally for their anti-gay pickets and his central message, “God hates fags.”

The Equal Rights Coalition has scheduled the forum at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne as an alternative to counter-protests that could lead to confrontations.

“We could have people stand on the other side of the street and protest right back, but that doesn’t solve anything,” said Rob Grayless, who is regional director of Indiana Equality.

Phelps told The Journal Gazette he would accept the offer.

“We’ll accommodate it if it’s anywhere near reasonable,” Phelps said. “It’s just a wonderful way to show the contrast between the truth of God and the abomination of sin.”

Police said officers will be at each protest site to help maintain order, and churches cited by Phelps’ group were considering their responses, some with help from authorities.

The protests are scheduled for the same day as a children’s music program at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, one of the targeted churches, and the Rev. Phil Emerson said members’ main concern was “protecting our children from obscenity.”

Emerson said Phelps’ message was a perversion of Christianity.

“One cannot hate in the name of God,” he said.

“My great heartbreak is unchurched people in Fort Wayne will read this story and will say that’s what it means to be Christian or that’s what it means to be godly. There’s nothing of God about this group, and I’m sorry they associate themselves with any Christian names.”

Officials at the Lincoln Museum said they were only renting out their auditorium for the play and were not involved in the production. Edwards Productions is putting on the play in conjunction with the Center for Non-Violence.

SANTA FE (AP) – A six-word change to state statutes provoked nearly two and a half hours of impassioned debate as the Senate voted to outlaw same-sex marriage.

Senators on a 25-12 vote approved a bill that defines marriage as a contract “between a man and a woman.”

Supporters said it would clarify state law and strengthen New Mexico’s families.

“Nature has shown us the way… and we know that the best situation for children is with a mother and father that love them,” said Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, the bill’s sponsor.

Opponents said the “innocent-sounding” bill was discriminatory and sent a message of fear and hate.

“It just says that a certain percentage of our citizens cannot get married, cannot enjoy the legal benefits of full participation in this society,” said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque.

Eight Democrats joined 17 Republicans in voting for the measure. The dozen opponents were Democrats.

With 10 days left in the legislative session, the bill headed to the House.

Gay rights advocates knew they couldn’t stop the bill in the Senate, but they had hoped it would be accompanied by a separate piece of legislation authorizing domestic partnerships. That bill, however, remained tabled in a Senate committee.

Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson has said he supports both the marriage definition and civil union legislation. It is not clear what he would do if only the marriage definition bill reached his desk.

Marriage is the central social institution in society and represents “the evolution of the natural order,” said Sen. Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque.

He said the bill was not an indictment of gay and lesbian relationships.

“A vote to support this measure is a vote to support the best environment for our children,” he argued.

Opponents said heterosexuality was no guarantee of either a stable marriage or healthy, happy children.

“If you look at the statistics of divorce in America, one man and one woman isn’t working,” said Judiciary Chair Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque. “Why can’t we try something new? It couldn’t be any worse.”

Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, recalled his late brother, Billy, and his partner, Jim, who were part of every family get-together and celebration.

“I would rather have seen Billy and Jim raise 10 kids than some heterosexual couples,” Griego said.

“We have a measure here today that will define a certain group of New Mexicans, cut them out and separate them. … That’s not right,” Griego said.

The bill’s supporters have said the issuance of marriage licenses to about 60 same-sex couples last year by the Sandoval County clerk confused the issue of marriage in New Mexico.

But opponents counter that the attorney general settled the question by advising that the licenses were illegal.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – In the heart of the Bible belt, a squabble over whether a county should have a policy protecting homosexuals from discrimination has prompted the disintegration of the board that enacted it and is sparking debate in the Legislature over how the state’s most populated county should be run.

The discrimination policy enacted late last year by Oklahoma County’s budget board, which includes eight countywide elected officials, protects Oklahoma County employees, applicants and contractors from being slighted based on sexual orientation and political affiliation, among other things.

“This is a workplace policy,” said Jim Roth, Oklahoma County’s first openly gay county commissioner who aided in the development of the policy. “This is a business-sense approach. We are trying to insulate ourselves from liability.”

Roth, an attorney who worked for the county for several years before being elected, said county funds are being bled out in wrongful termination lawsuit settlements.

Since 1997, the county has paid nearly $1 million dollars in such fees.

“We are trying to bring modern business principles to county government,” Roth said.

But in a state where 76 percent of voters favored banning same-sex marriage, protecting the rights of homosexuals wasn’t so popular.

“It’s a behavior, it shouldn’t be a protected class,” said Commissioner Brent Rinehart, who came into office after the policy had been approved and worked unsuccessfully to get it repealed. “I can’t imagine why a behavior would be protected. I don’t even know what sexual orientation entails. Does that mean gays and lesbians, men and little boys? It could be people with animals, I don’t know.”

Rinehart, a former Oklahoma City council member and the owner of a heating and cooling business, has objected to the policy, saying it doesn’t represent the values of his constituents. He and fellow commissioner Stan Inman supported disbanding the county’s budget board, which approved the policy and oversees the county’s budget process.

“Sexual orientation is something people chose,” Rinehart said. “Are we saying alcoholics or drug addicts should be protected too? That’s a behavior; it’s something they chose. There are too many findings, too many people that have seen the light, if you will.”

Debate over the discrimination policy has been simmering since January, when Rinehart came into office. The policy was approved by elected officials in December. Rinehart asked the district attorney or the human resources director to define what exactly sexual orientation is.

“We need to know what we as elected officials are going to address with this item of sexual orientation,” Rinehart said. “I think that’s something everyone would want to know.”

But if Rep. Daniel Sullivan, R-Tulsa, has his way, it won’t matter. Sullivan has introduced a bill that would amend state law to say that any nondiscrimination policy developed by a business or government agency based on sexual orientation would be null and void.

Tempers flared when Republicans tried to end debate on the bill in a procedural move, angering Rep. Opio Toure, D-Oklahoma City, who opposes the bill.

Oklahoma County is the only county in the state that has adopted such a policy. In 1997, the state attorney general’s office adopted a policy that protects its employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The chief executive of EMILY’s List has been named president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization.

Joe Solmonese, an Attleboro, Mass., native, takes over after a tumultuous year that saw the HRC battling on behalf of same-sex marriage rights in Congress and state capitols across the country.

He succeeds former HRC president Cheryl Jacques, who stepped down late last year, citing differences with management. She was a former Massachusetts state senator who had left her legislative post to take the job.

Solmonese served for 12 years as a political strategist at EMILY’s list, which works to elect female candidates. He said he plans to tour the country to increase the group’s visibility.

“We must tell the stories of our lives and the struggles we face to our straight friends, co-workers and family members,” said Solmonese. “Increasing our presence and visibility across America will be a top priority of my tenure.”