PHOENIX (AP) – More than a year before the general election, U.S. Sen. John McCain is backing an initiative that would change Arizona’s Constitution to ban same-sex marriages and deny government benefits to unmarried couples.

The Republican senator is the most prominent Arizonan to add his voice to what has become a flurry of measures competing for a place on the state’s Nov. 7, 2006, ballot.

A McCain staffer said it was the first time the senator had been formally asked to support the marriage amendment and the first chance he had to meet with supporters.

The amendment “would allow the people of Arizona to decide on the definition of marriage in our state,” McCain said in a statement.

McCain, who opposes a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, believes those are state matters.

Steve May, former state lawmaker and a key opponent of the measure, said McCain is paving the way to run for the White House and wants to secure public support.

“We have a year to convince John McCain and the rest of Arizonans about how harmful this measure really is,” May said.

A state law already bans same-sex marriages in Arizona, but supporters of the initiative are concerned that a judge could rule the law unconstitutional.

The purpose of the constitutional amendment would be to prevent that and to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Those behind the citizens-led initiatives need tens of thousands of signatures from registered voters to qualify for a public vote.

Lawmakers are gauging the public’s pulse before asking the Legislature to refer certain referendums to the ballot.

PALM SPRINGS, California (AP) – A California man won the first Mr. Gay International title, beating out contestants that came from as far away as Austria, Norway and Bosnia-Herzegovina, in a pageant that included rock-climbing, poetry reading, gymnastics and a swimsuit competition.

Jesse Bashem, a 21-year-old gymnastics teacher and surfer, was awarded the title Saturday night, winning a modeling contract, wardrobe, airline tickets, photo shoots and an acting lesson, The Desert Sun reported.

“Competitions such as these have been popular in Europe for years and we’re thrilled to now have a U.S.-based component looking for the ‘boy next door’ to represent the broader gay community,” said Don Spradlin, the event’s producer.

The international title came down to a tiebreaker between Bashem and Mr. Austria, Aaron Michael Jackson, 32. Other contestants included the reigning Mr. Gay Europe 2005, David Thorkildsen of Norway, and a contestant from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Bashem also won a preceding contest for a U.S.A. title.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – A Web site for gay men has sued PayPal, claiming the online payment service refused to process transactions for the site after discovering adult content.

New Orleans-based CFS.com sued in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The lawsuit claims San Jose-based PayPal stopped processing charitable donations the site was collecting for Hurricane Katrina victims because the site engaged in “the sale of adult, sexually oriented or obscene materials or services.”

In addition to featuring online personals, chat rooms and listings, the site sells sex videos and some advertisers sell sex toys.

The company said the purpose of the site is to “entertain gay men,” said founder Keith Griffith. “It’s a resource for any guy who wants to figure out how to hook up with another man,” he said.

The company, which is seeking unspecified damages, said it was not using PayPal to process any adult-content transactions.

PayPal spokesperson Sara Bettencourt said the company has strict guidelines prohibiting use on adult-themed Web sites. PayPal stopped service when it discovered the company was using PayPal logos on Web pages that advertised “adult services,” she said.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Two teenagers stole and burned a rainbow-colored American flag representing gays and lesbians that was displayed outside a store, police said.

The 17-year-old boys took the flag from outside of David Wade’s culinary supply store, called Inner Chef, according to Bloomington police. Wade said the flag, called the “New Glory,” shows that all Americans are welcome at his business.

A witness saw the boys take the flag and took a picture of their license plate with a cell phone camera. Police later tracked the plate and questioned the boys, who said they burned the flag because they felt it was “unpatriotic,” police reports said.

The boys were referred to juvenile court on preliminary charges of theft.

“I just wish they would’ve come in and talked to me about it,” Wade said. “I didn’t know if it was a prank, an American flag issue or a gay issue. Any of them could’ve just come inside and had a conversation about it.”

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – The umbrella group leading the campaign to defend Maine’s pending gay rights law raised more than five times as much money between early July and the end of September as two major organizations seeking the law’s repeal, campaign finance filings with state officials showed.

Maine Won’t Discriminate, the pro-gay rights group, reported total cash contributions for the period of about $391,000. On the repeal side, the Maine Grassroots Coalition pegged its latest receipts at a little more than $55,000, while the Coalition for Marriage reported contributions for the period at nearly $20,000.

Taking expenditures into account, Maine Won’t Discriminate claimed a balance of more than $266,000. The combined balances of the two groups promoting a people’s veto of the pending law was less than $20,000, according to the new filings with the Maine Commission on Ethics and Governmental Practices.

For the entire campaign through September, Maine Won’t Discriminate has reported raising more than $476,000, while the Coalition for Marriage total approached $120,000 and the overall amount reported by the Maine Grassroots Coalition was about $100,000.

People’s veto advocates held an early edge in fund-raising.

The referendum campaign began after Gov. John Baldacci signed a new law in March that would extend the Maine Human Rights Act to make discrimination based on sexual orientation illegal in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and education.

The act already prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, disability, religion, ancestry and national origin.

A 1997 law extending gay rights was repealed by a people’s veto – a process through which a law can be overturned by referendum – the following year. Another legislatively enacted bill that included a referendum provision was defeated by voters in 2000.

Question 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot reads: “Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?”

CHELSEA, Okla. (AP) – People who knew Army Staff Sgt. John Doles and many who didn’t took up U.S. flags in his hometown to honor his sacrifice and defy an outside group that sought to turn the slain soldier’s funeral into a stage for its message of hate.

As Doles’ funeral procession rolled past the brick buildings of the small town where he grew up, men, women and children stood with tears in their eyes and hands on their hearts.

“Respect,” said 73-year-old Betty Benson, explaining why she waved a flag for the 29-year-old she never knew. “I think he deserves that.”

Doles died Sept. 30 in an ambush in southern Afghanistan. He was squad leader in B Company 1-508th Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, where he lived with his wife, Heather, and their 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter.

He had previously served in Iraq, parachuting into the country in the opening days of the war in the largest combat jump since World War II.

Those who knew Doles described him as an outgoing friend, devoted father and a soldier eager to serve.

“John knew his stuff,” said Sgt. Brian Waterman, Doles’ friend and platoon sergeant when they served together at Fort Polk, La.

“I believe all of us here know how big a heart John had,” Waterman told the more than 200 people crammed into the First Christian Church. “When we were all in Iraq with no e-mail, no phones, John still made sure Heather got flowers on her birthday.”

Doles’ death made the far-off wars far more personal for the people of his hometown. And many brimmed with anger when a half-dozen members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., showed up shortly before his funeral.

The church members, who have protested soldiers’ funerals in Oklahoma and elsewhere, say God is punishing U.S. soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays.

They stood on a street corner in sight of the church and waved signs with messages such as “God Hates the USA” and “Don’t Worship the Dead.”

But even as they unfolded their signs, their protest was met with a counter protest that erupted in a full-throttle roar.

About 70 members of the leather-clad American Legion Riders from Kansas and Oklahoma revved their motorcycles for about 30 minutes, drowning out anything the church members tried to say.

Cregg Hansen, a Vietnam-era veteran who helped lead the counter protest, said Doles’ family had wanted to hear the engines’ roar.

The riders said they plan to do the same if the group attempts to disrupt other soldiers’ funerals within riding distance.

“It ain’t right to protest a sacred thing like this,” said Ron Scrivner, a rider whose father is a veteran. “He [Doles] died for his country. They ought to show him the respect he deserves.”

The church members’ protests at funerals prompted a state lawmaker to introduce a bill making it a misdemeanor offense to picket or otherwise demonstrate within 500 feet of where a funeral is being held and within two hours of the time a funeral is to begin or to end.

About 40 law officers were on hand during the protest, which ended peacefully when the church group left. The motorcyclists clutched flags and joined local residents in solemn tribute as the funeral procession passed through town.

No one mentioned the disruption during Doles’ service.