SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A city official who officiated at last year’s weddings of same-sex couples announced she was resigning while under investigation for her hiring practices.

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Mabel Teng cited personal turmoil over a divorce and scrutiny of her management of the office that assesses property and maintains city records.

Teng told Mayor Gavin Newsom that she would remain in office until May 15.

Last fall, the city’s Civil Service Commission began investigating whether Teng violated patronage and nepotism rules by allegedly hiring or promoting her campaign workers and contributors.

Last month, the commission issued a report that called into question some of Teng’s hiring practices but which reached no conclusions on whether she knowingly acted improperly.

When Newsom ordered city officials to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Feb. 12, 2004, Teng and her office were an integral part of the month-long wedding spree.

She personally officiated at the wedding of the first couple to get married with the city’s blessing, and agreed to keep her office open Valentine Day’s weekend so as many marriages could be registered as possible before the courts intervened.

Whenever she appeared at rallies attended by large numbers of gay and lesbian residents, she was greeted like a celebrity, with people chanting “Mabel! Mabel!”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A confession of embezzlement by the former chief financial officer of AIDS Project Florida has prompted the suspension of $1.5 million in government funding and an audit.

William Diamond acknowledged earlier this month through his lawyer that, during his two years on the job, he took tens of thousands of dollars from the nonprofit social service agency. He left his job three weeks ago.

Broward County officials are examining that period, from February 2003 to March 2005. Until the audit is complete, AIDS Project Florida will not be eligible for taxpayer funding. The agency has an annual budget of $5.2 million.

AIDS Project Florida executive director Will Spencer gave county officials an internal audit that turned up $59,000 in “fraudulent disbursements” signed by Diamond.

The county’s auditors will review the internal report and recommend further action to the county commission, said William Green, the county’s Human Services Section Manager.

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department had no record of a criminal complaint against Diamond. His lawyer, Bruce Lyons, said he expects a criminal investigation soon.

AIDS Project Florida provides therapeutic, legal and medical services for 3,000 people with HIV or AIDS in South Florida.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A bill in the Ohio House seeks to clarify the state’s domestic violence law in the wake of an amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The bill sponsored by Representative William J- Healy II would change the domestic violence law wording defining “spouse” or “a person living with a spouse” and replace it with “any person who is residing with the offender.”

The marriage amendment bars the state from granting legal status to unmarried couples – straight or gay. Healy says some judges said the amendment meant domestic violence law no longer could apply to unmarried couples.

The amendment’s prime architect Phil Burress says he supports the change to the domestic violence law.

HYATTSVILLE, Md. (AP) – A nun who was ordered by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to stop ministering to gays and lesbians called his election as pope “devastating” for those who believe the Catholic Church needs to be more tolerant on social issues such as homosexuality.

Sister Jeannine Gramick said the choice of Ratzinger, who as the Vatican’s guardian of doctrine silenced her and Father Robert Nugent in a 1999 order, will likely prevent the church from “moving into the 21st century and out of the Middle Ages.”

“It does not bode well for people who are concerned for lesbian and gay people in the church,” she said.

Gramick and Nugent founded the Mount Rainier-based New Ways Ministry in 1977. The pair ministered to gays and lesbians, held retreats, published writings on homosexuality and the church, and traveled the nation to hold workshops.

The Vatican, which disapproves of homosexuality and same-sex marriage, investigated the ministry for years through its Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, a body headed by Ratzinger.

A 1999 opinion signed by Ratzinger said Gramick and Nugent’s teachings were “erroneous and dangerous” and that they “caused confusion among the Roman Catholic people.” Both were ordered to end their ministry. Nugent conceded but Gramick chose to continue speaking out, eventually leaving her religious order.

The two never saw Ratzinger while their case was judged, but Gramick had a chance meeting with the cardinal on a plane to Munich in 1998, taking a seat next to him. She urged him to meet with gay and lesbian Catholics so he could better understand the issue.

“What he needs to do is sit down and talk pastorally with lesbian and gay people,” she said.

Gramick and Nugent are no longer affiliated with the New Ways Ministry, but the group continues to provide educational programs for gay and lesbian Catholics nationwide, said executive director Francis DeBernardo.

DeBernardo predicted that Ratzinger would do little to reconcile with gays and lesbians whom he said feel alienated by the church.

“He is the lightening rod for anger at the church by gay and lesbian people,” DeBernardo said.

BOSTON (AP) – The state’s highest court will consider a bid by an official from a Catholic advocacy group who wants to halt same-sex marriages until residents vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban the marriages.

The Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to hear the case brought by C. Joseph Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League, on May 2, The Republican of Springfield reported.

In court papers, Doyle said same-sex marriages are stifling the full debate required by the amendment process.

“His ability to vote is being inhibited and interfered with,” said Doyle’s lawyer, Chester Darling of Andover. “The court declared an outcome before a vote was taken on the amendment.”

The SJC legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts by a 4-3 vote in November 2003. The first marriages began last May. About 5,000 have taken place.

In March 2004, legislators approved a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and woman and establish civil unions for same-sex couples. The amendment needs approval again this year or next to go on the statewide ballot in November 2006.

In a legal brief, a lawyer for the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston argued that Doyle failed to show exactly how issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples interfered with his ability to vote.

“His argument makes no sense,” attorney Michele Granda told The Republican.

Last May, SJC Associate Justice Roderick Ireland denied Doyle’s bid to continue a six-month stay on same-sex marriages imposed by the court in its 2003 ruling. He said Doyle was not a party in the case and had no authority to alter, amend, or stay the court’s ruling.

Doyle appealed, and now the full court will consider his case.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – The Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Unit is among the finalists for the Innovations in American Government Award.

The group investigates crimes by and against the GLBT community, and also provides community education and support.

The SEED School in Washington also was cited. It is the nation’s first urban public boarding school for grades 7-12.

Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government selected 18 finalists for the award. The finalists will make a presentation before a national selection committee at Harvard on May 11.

Six prizes of $100,000 will be awarded in July, five by the Kennedy school’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and a sixth by the Fannie Mae Foundation.

“Each takes a creative approach to a significant problem,” said Gowher Rizvi, director of the Ash Institute, said in a statement announcing the finalists.

The finalists – selected from more than 1,000 applicants – include state, local and federal government programs.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The nation’s top military officer defended the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that has led to the discharge of 9,500 gay, lesbian and bisexual members of the armed forces since 1993.

“We try to implement the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy as best we can,” Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a conference of the American Society of Newspaper Editors April 15. He also mentioned “continuing education” in regards to the policy but did not explain what that meant.

The policy permits gay and bisexual men and women to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation to themselves. Critics say the policy discriminates against people who want to serve their country.

Other Pentagon officials, including Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, have also said they see no need to change the policy, despite declining recruitment figures.