PHOENIX (AP) – Nearly 100 gay-rights advocates gathered to remember a 23-year-old female impersonator who was killed in Yuma three months ago.

Amancio Corrales’ murder has remained unsolved and has become a rallying cry for advocates who believe the gay man was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

Investigators have declined to label the case a hate crime.

But advocates and Corrales family supporters gathered recently at the Arizona Capitol for a candlelight vigil.

“We don’t know if this is a hate crime,” said State Sen. Robert Cannell, D-Yuma, who attended the event with Corrales’ mother and sister.

“But if it was a hate crime, it’s tragic,” Cannell said. “We hope that the perpetrator will be brought to justice.”

The vigil was intended to support the family but also to advocate for adoption of federal legislation that would give the FBI and other agencies more authority in dealing with hate crimes, said Amy Kobeta, a spokesperson for the Arizona Human Rights Fund & Foundation.

Corrales was found dead of violent trauma on May 6 in the Colorado River near Yuma, according to authorities. Dressed as a woman, he had been bar hopping with friends earlier, police say.

Whether the murder was a hate crime is something for prosecutors and the courts to sort out, said Capt. Eben Bratcher, a spokesperson for the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – An HIV-positive transgender woman from Honduras can stay indefinitely in the United States because she would face physical threats and a lack of medical care if she returned to her native country, a federal judge ruled.

Judge Jan D. Latimore ruled that Cristina Gomez Ordonez should not be deported, allowing Ordonez, 34, to work in the United States and receive medical treatment.

“We are happy that the judge granted withholding … and acknowledged that our client was going to face a lot of problems if she were returned to Honduras,” said Shiu-Ming Cheer of Catholic Legal Immigration Network in Los Angeles, which helped represent Ordonez.

Virginia Kice, spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the government has the prerogative to appeal but declined to speculate as to whether an appeal would be filed.

Ordonez testified that while in Honduras her father had severely beaten her and she would face similar abuse if she returned. Also in Honduras, she would not be able to receive HIV treatment, which could be fatal, her lawyers argued.

Latimore denied a petition for full asylum because Ordonez failed to submit her application within the one-year deadline and because she had several misdemeanor convictions on her record, said Michael O’Connor, a staff attorney for HIV & AIDS Legal Services Alliance, who also represented her.

Immigration officials could still deport Ordonez to a country besides Honduras, but attorneys said such a move is unlikely.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The sheriff’s department is investigating claims by the American Civil Liberties Union that gay inmates were publicly called derogatory names and strip searched last month at a county jail.

About 20 gay inmates were forced to remove their clothes in a busy hallway July 19 at the Men’s Central Jail while being called names and taunted with vulgar sexual language by some deputies, the ACLU said in a letter to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, citing inmates’ claims.

“Such behavior by staff demonstrates a level of immaturity, lack of professionalism, and sadism, which tarnishes the reputation of the entire department,” wrote Ricardo Garcia and Jody Kent, who monitor jailhouse issues for the ACLU of Southern California.

The ACLU wanted anti-discrimination training for all deputies.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Steve Whitmore said jail supervisors launched an investigation two weeks ago. He said the department’s Equity Oversight Panel, which investigates discrimination allegations against sheriff’s employees, is also reviewing the claims.

“If there is any truth to this, we will certainly act in the appropriate manner,” Whitmore said. “Obviously, this is absolutely unacceptable. This flies in the face of everything the sheriff stands for – everything that the department stands for.”

County jails segregate gay inmates from other inmates, keeping them in separate dormitories. The gay inmates were returning to their dorms on the third floor when they were allegedly mistreated, ACLU said.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal appeals court ruled that an AIDS-afflicted gay man who fled Mexico because he feared persecution is eligible for political asylum in the United States.

The decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed rulings by immigration courts that had ordered the deportation of Jose Boer-Sedano, a Mexican national accused of overstaying the six-month visa he had used to enter the country in 1990.

Boer-Sedano, now 45 and a waiter at a San Francisco hotel, argued for asylum, claiming he would face persecution in Mexico. He said a police officer there had forced him to perform sex acts under threat of being outed or killed and he feared returning.

The three-judge appellate panel said in its ruling that Boer-Sedano would likely face further abuse and have difficulty getting life-sustaining AIDS medication if he was sent back to Mexico, where the U.S. State Department has found violence against gays to be widespread.

The ruling is the latest in which the San Francisco-based court has granted refuge to gay or transgender asylum applicants from Latin America based on evidence of abuse inflicted or condoned by police.

“It really does mean that he’ll be safe now,” said Boer-Sedano’s lawyer, Angela Bean, who said her client was overcome with emotion when he heard the news.

Boer-Sedano was ostracized by family and friends in Tampico, Mexico, and harassed by co-workers because of his homosexuality, the court said. His deportation hearings started about seven years after he had overstayed his visa.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A San Francisco man who says he was devastated after he was identified as gay on a national Spanish-language radio show will be paid $270,000 by Univision Radio, an arbitrator has ruled.

Roberto Hernandez, 45, was driving to work in 2002 when he received a phone call from a man who said that he met Hernandez at a San Francisco gay bar. The caller then announced that the conversation was being broadcast live on the “Raul Brindis and Pepito Show,” based in Houston.

Hernandez worked for the local station that broadcast the show, and sold advertising for the program. He said he was so depressed by the incident that he could no longer work.

“It’s a nightmare,” Hernandez said. “How do you live with such an embarrassment in your life? How do you live when someone makes your life so insignificant? “

Hernandez had been discreet about disclosing his sexual orientation before the incident, not even telling his family.

Arbitrator Rebecca Westerfield found that Hernandez had suffered emotional distress but dismissed claims of sexual harassment. She said that Hernandez had no choice but to quit his job and was owed workers’ compensation.

Hernandez was awarded $250,000 and nearly $20,000 in economic damages because of the emotional distress that led to seven months of unemployment after quitting his job.

Univision attorneys declined to comment on the case.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A quirky cartoonist trying to assuage political sensibilities ran into double trouble.

Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro said he developed two different texts for his same-sex marriage cartoon to give newspapers an option after learning from King Features that some editors had complained about his left-leaning politics.

But because of a glitch, every newspaper that ran the cartoon in color Aug. 11 ran the same-sex marriage version. Papers that used the black and white cartoon got the much tamer one that made no reference to homosexuality.

In the original cartoon, a surgeon tells another man: “Your husband is in the recovery room. You could go back and see him if you like, but our government-sanctioned bigotry forbids it.”

In the tamer version, the doctor says: “She’s going to be just fine – she’s quite a fighter. The anesthesiologist has a black eye and I think she may have cracked my ribs.”

Piraro’s cartoon goes to about 200 newspapers, but he said he didn’t know how many ran the cartoon in color.

Piraro said that King Features has never tried to censor him, but added people in the “heartland” have much more conservative views.

“We get a lot of complaints and screaming when I get even vaguely political,” he said.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – A judge tentatively ruled that a Newport Beach parish that left the Episcopal Diocese in a dispute over a gay bishop’s ordination is the rightful owner of its building and property.

Superior Court Judge David Velasquez delayed a final decision until he can hear more arguments. His initial ruling sided with attorneys for St. James Church in Newport Beach who argued that a lawsuit in which the Episcopal Diocese is seeking control of the property interfered with St. James parishioners’ freedom of speech.

The judge said the church had initially demonstrated that “they are being sued for acts arising from … their publicly expressed disagreement with the church’s views concerning the consecration of homosexual clergy …”

He also found that the church owned the property and that it was not being held in “trust” for the diocese.

The diocese contends that it is only trying to get its property back, and that the case has nothing to do with free speech. But the judge indicated it was unlikely the diocese would prevail in trial.

St. James announced it was placing itself under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Church in Uganda because of a rift over V. Gene Robinson – a gay priest in a relationship with another man – being elected bishop by the Diocese of New Hampshire.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

MONTROSE, Colo. (AP) – The killing of a Montrose man who had told police he was being threatened because he was gay is being investigated as a possible hate crime, police said.

The body of Kevin Hale, 36, was found in a town park June 30. Friends and family said Hale had said one of the suspects’ harassment of him had been escalating, including physical threats.

Todd Fiske, 24, and Adam Hernandez, 21, were charged with first-degree murder in the slaying.

“I think they [killed] him because he was gay,” said Tammy Gonzales, who divorced Hale in 1997, when he stopped hiding his sexual orientation after 10 years of marriage. “He was worried that someone was trying to kill him. At times, he would call me and tell me he was scared.”

The couple had a 13-year-old son.

Montrose County Coroner Mark Young said he could not release the cause of death until toxicology tests were complete. He said there was no doubt it was a homicide, though it did not involve beating, shooting or stabbing.

An arrest affidavit said Hernandez confronted Hale late July 29 at a bar and accused him of attempting to molest him in the past. Fiske and Hernandez waited for Hale along the route he usually walked home, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said Fiske told officers he tried to break up a fight between Hale and Hernandez by grabbing Hale by the neck from behind. The document said Fiske let go after Hale went limp, but it said Fiske changed his story several times during the interview.

Family and friends said one of the alleged attackers had worked with Hale at a Montrose real-estate company, where Hale eventually quit because of the stress.

Hale’s uncle, Larry DeVinny, said his nephew apparently made a pass at one of his attackers more than a year ago.

Avy Skolnik, program director of the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, said people who attack gay people commonly say the victim tried to pick them up.

“Perpetrators assume that police or the courts will absolve them of all charges and see assault, and in this case murder, as justified,” he said. “It’s the oldest trick in the book.”

Gonzales said her former husband would not provoke a fight.

“He didn’t deserve to die just because he was gay,” she said.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A panel of lawmakers doesn’t plan to discuss prohibiting gays and lesbians from adopting children anytime soon.

At the urging of conservative Rep. Steve Huebert, a joint legislative committee had tentative plans to discuss adoption criteria for foster children, but Rep. Willa DeCastro, R-Wichita, said the issue was a low priority.

“I have a full agenda,” said DeCastro, who chairs the Joint Committee on Children’s Issues, which considers issues affecting children’s health and safety when the Legislature is not in session.

A prohibition on gay adoption “didn’t make the cut with this chairman.”

Huebert, R-Valley Center, said adoption should be limited to homes with a mother and father.

His proposal has received criticism from gay and lesbian advocacy groups, and many lawmakers said they were not eager to take on such an emotional issue.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Erick Semenske and Tim Coleman joined hands Aug. 3, then walked into a City Hall office and asked for a marriage license.

A clerk politely directed them to another office where they could register as domestic partners, and Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter then met Semenske, 25, and Coleman, 35, in the hallway and explained why the marriage license couldn’t be issued.

“It’s the law,” Carpenter said. “We must follow it.”

Their request was intended as a peaceful protest of a constitutional amendment passed one year ago. The St. Louis couple and some other gay and lesbian partners across the state planned to apply for marriage licenses on the anniversary of Amendment 2, which defined marriage in Missouri as being only between a man and a woman.

The two said they were simply seeking the same rights as a married heterosexual couple. They continued to hope Missouri will recognize same-sex marriages and allow them custody, inheritance, medical and other rights the same as what married couples have.

At an afternoon rally, only a handful of supporters turned out to support the protest. Meanwhile, one gay organization opposed the action, feeling it could harm other efforts for gay rights.

“In our opinion, it’s going to do nothing but drive resentment and hate toward the gay and lesbian community,” said Charles Stadtlander, president of the St. Louis chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay Republican group.

SANTA FE (AP) – A 17-year-old accused in the beating of two gay men will plead guilty to all charges in connection with the case, his attorney said.

David Trinidad, one of six defendants, had entered a not guilty plea in March. His attorney, Stephen Aarons, announced that the teen has reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to all of the charges stemming from the Feb. 27 beating of James Maestas, 21, and Joshua Stockham, 23.

“We’re pleading straight up to the charges,” Aarons said.

He added there are “no promises” that Trinidad will receive any consideration for a lighter sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to charges of aggravated battery, battery, conspiracy and criminal damage to property.

Aarons says Trinidad had only “minor participation” in the beating.

Assistant District Attorney Heidi Pircher disagrees.

“But for David Trinidad, this incident wouldn’t have happened,” she said. “David Trinidad was the one who told the group where the homosexual men were staying.”

Maestas and Stockham were attacked in the parking lot of a Santa Fe motel after eating with a group of friends at a nearby restaurant, police said.

Maestas, Stockham and their friends left the restaurant after a group of young men became aggressive toward them, according to police. Trinidad, a waiter who had served Maestas and his friends, knew where they were going and directed his friends to the motel, police said.

Maestas spent several days in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained during the attack. Stockham suffered minor injuries.

Trinidad has “a tremendous amount of remorse in terms of what happened to these two young men,” Aarons said during a court proceeding.

Two of the other defendants in the case – Gabriel Maturin, 20, and Joseph Cano, 19 – plan to accept plea deals offered by prosecutors, according to attorneys associated with the case.

A lawyer for a fourth defendant, 20-year-old Paul Montoya, said her client has received a plea offer but she refused to comment further.

Attorneys for the other defendants – Isaia Medina, 19, and Jonathan Valdez, 23 – could not be reached for comment.

District Attorney Henry Valdez refused to comment on any plea bargains offered by his office.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Defense of Marriage Coalition has been fined $19,811 by the state Election Division for failing to report $58,000 in campaign donations by required deadlines.

The coalition successfully sponsored Measure 36, which amended the Oregon Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The fine is the largest since the Oregon Democratic Party was fined $20,000 in 2003, said Anne Martens, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who oversees state elections.

“It’s a failure to follow the rules and would have been easily avoided had the treasurer paid attention to the reporting requirements,” Martens said.

The Defense of Marriage Coalition will contest the fine before the Oregon Court of Appeals, said Kristian Roggendorf, an attorney representing the group.

Roggendorf said the coalition is protesting the inability to make corrections to campaign reports without incurring penalties.

“There’s no dispute [that] there were some errors on the reporting forms,” Roggendorf said.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Mayor Rocky Anderson wants to let domestic partners in Salt Lake City document their relationships, saying a registry would allow people to signify “they are partners, that they formed a domestic partnership.”

But whether he can legally do that in Utah is up for debate.

Some critics say such a move would run afoul of a state law approved by the largely conservative Utah electorate last year. The city’s attorney is still researching the law’s implications and whether it would block Anderson’s plan.

The ballot initiative approved by voters last year changed the state constitution to say “no other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.”

Republican State Rep. LaVar Christensen, who backed the ballot initiative, said he was willing to sponsor legislation to stop the city if the current law isn’t clear.

Anderson’s “attempt to circumvent existing law is tantamount to the San Francisco mayor standing on the steps [of City Hall] and performing [same-sex] marriages,” Christensen said.

Anderson is also considering extending health benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees, something proponents of the law say the city is prevented from doing.

Sen. Scott McCoy, a Democrat from Salt Lake City and one of two openly gay state lawmakers, said the new law shouldn’t prevent a registry or domestic partner health benefits because it was specific to marriages and civil unions.

Some city council members see the registry as a misstep that could affect the results of the upcoming city elections in November because gay issues can mobilize voters. Others believe the issue isn’t a matter for the city to address.