TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Delta Lambda Phi has been around the University of Arizona campus since the early ’90s.

But by the end of this year, it expects to gain official status from the UA’s Interfraternity Council as the institution’s first official gay fraternity.

The UA has 25 fraternities with about 1,200 members. Some are for specific minority groups such as Latinos or Native Americans. But Delta Lambda Phi would be the first based around sexual orientation – it’s for “gay, bisexual and progressive” men.

For Dan Churgin, Delta Lambda Phi means a chance to get back in the Greek system.

Churgin pledged a UA fraternity as a freshman, but by then, he already knew he was gay and had second thoughts about it. The 20-year-old junior ultimately decided not to go through with initiation.

“I didn’t feel comfortable,” he said. “I wasn’t out and I knew it would be more difficult to come out being in the fraternity than if I wasn’t there.”

But now he’s back in the UA Greek system as one of seven members of Delta Lambda Phi. Delta Lambda Phi expects to have 25 to 30 members by the end of the school year.

In July, Arizona State University’s Sigma Phi Beta gay fraternity became the first national, collegiate-based organization of its kind in the country.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – City attorneys and a dozen same-sex couples asked a state appeals court to uphold a judge’s ruling that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry.

In a written argument to the Court of Appeal in San Francisco, City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office said granting same-sex couples domestic partnerships, while denying them marriage, was similar to segregation.

“A separate system of legal recognition for lesbian and gay couples and their children is no less demeaning than separate school systems were for blacks or separate military academies were for women,” it said.

Lawyers for the 12 same-sex couples also filed briefs with the court that said, “By excluding lesbian and gay couples from marriage, the law cuts to the core of their dignity and full citizenship.”

The court is expected to schedule a hearing for early next year to review San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer’s March 14 decision.

Kramer ruled that the state law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman discriminates on the basis of sex and violates the fundamental right to marry the partner of one’s choice. He put his ruling on hold while it is appealed.

The losing side of the appeals court’s decision could then take its case to the state Supreme Court. Last year, the state’s high court nullified nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages authorized by Mayor Gavin Newsom but has not ruled on the validity of the state marriage law.

A bill allowing same-sex marriage passed the Legislature in September, but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said it went against a 2000 voter initiative and involved issues that should be decided by the courts.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – More than 40 Catholic colleges were represented at a conference that was billed as the nation’s first on how gays and lesbians fit in at universities guided by a faith that says their sexual orientation is wrong.

But rather than lamenting the Catholic Church’s stand on homosexuality, the two-day “Out There” conference at Santa Clara University showed that plenty of gay-related scholarship and student affairs planning is going on in Catholic higher education, said co-organizer Linda Garber.

“It’s important and interesting to know there are Catholic universities that have offices and staff people specifically geared toward LGBT concerns,” said Garber, director of the women’s and gender studies program at Santa Clara. “There are a lot of people out there who are teaching [GLBT] studies without a national professional organization, a newsletter or anything.”

The conference drew about 150 people, most of them faculty and administrators who deal with gay subject matter or students. Topics included “Curriculum and Same-Sex Marriage in a Jesuit University” and “Can I Be Gay and Catholic?”

The continuing tension was demonstrated by the oft-repeated anecdote that Notre Dame University has had an active gay and lesbian student group for years, but the college does not recognize or provide financial support to the organization.

One sign of how far the universities have come in openly addressing gay issues is that the dean’s office and campus ministry at Jesuit-run Santa Clara provided money for the event, while the school’s president sent a welcome letter to participants, said Lisa Millora, assistant dean for student life.

“There are a lot of people who subscribe to Catholic values as they relate to academic work, but don’t necessarily agree with how the Catholic Church carries out its work,” Millora said.

Among the universities represented at the conference were Georgetown, Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, Fordham, DePaul, Boston College, College of the Holy Cross, La Salle, Marquette and Emory.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – The state panel that will enforce Maine’s new gay rights law doesn’t expect a flood of complaints.

The Maine Human Rights Commission already handles discrimination complaints based on age, religion, race and other factors. When the law goes into effect, it will investigate complaints brought by gays and lesbians.

The five-member commission expects to be able to investigate and rule on the additional cases without hiring extra staff, said Pat Ryan, executive director.

Maine became the last New England state to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation on Nov. 8 when state voters rejected an attempt to overturn a law enacted by the Legislature. Similar measures had been rejected by voters in statewide referendums in 1998 and in 2000.

Maine’s gay rights law will take effect next month.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has until Nov. 28 to certify the results. Then he’ll send a proclamation to Gov. John Baldacci for his signature. It goes into effect 30 days after that.

Based on the experiences of other states with gay rights laws, Ryan anticipates the commission will receive 12 to 15 complaints each year based on sexual orientation. She believes her agency’s four investigators will be able to handle the additional caseload.

“It will be pretty much business as usual,” Ryan said.

Acting on the recommendations of its investigators, the five-member commission, which is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, decides on a case-by-case basis if there are reasonable grounds to believe that discrimination has occurred.

If so, the commission tries to broker a settlement between the two sides. When it fails to do so, cases often wind up in court.

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) – A gay associate dean at Seton Hall University, a Roman Catholic institution, has been demoted after criticizing the church’s position on homosexuality, according to published reports.

A letter written by W. King Mott, 44, who has been an associate dean at the school for three years, was published Oct. 19 in The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Mott, who is openly gay and said he lives with his partner, wrote in the letter that the Catholic Church is unfairly attacking gay men and making them scapegoats for the church’s pedophile scandal.

The following day, the school’s dean, Molly Smith, asked Mott to step down, saying he had confused his position with the university’s by writing in his letter that he is an associate dean at the school, Mott and a university spokesperson told The Star-Ledger.

Mott, who has been working at Seton Hall for the last seven years, said a university should be a place for free expression of ideas but said he holds no ill will toward Smith.

“She works for a Roman Catholic institution,” Mott said. “If the church didn’t have this position [against homosexuality], no dean would have to be so guarded on this issue.”

A university spokesperson, Tom White, said it was “inappropriate” for Mott to speak against the Catholic Church or its policies while identifying himself as part of Seton Hall’s administration.

DOBBS FERRY, New York (AP) – A Presbyterian congregation has ordained a gay man who refuses to embrace celibacy despite the denomination’s ban on sexually active homosexuals joining the clergy.

A complaint over the action is likely to be filed with a regional panel in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which is among several Protestant denominations embroiled in a bitter debate over what role gays and lesbians should have in their churches.

Raymond Bagnuolo was ordained at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry. During the ceremony, when asked if he would abide by the church’s constitution, Bagnuolo said yes, except for a measure that says ministers must practice fidelity if married and chastity if single.

The measure, an amendment approved in 1997 to exclude sexually active homosexuals from the ministry, has split the church and has been defied several times with other ordinations, which are usually followed by formal complaints that sometimes lead to discipline.

Bagnuolo’s ordination “raises the heat,” said the Rev. Jerry Van Marter, news director of the Presbyterian Church. “This will just heighten the intensity of the debate. Whether it’s good or bad for the church depends on your point of view.”

Bagnuolo, 54, did not return a call seeking comment. He was approved for ordination by the Hudson River Presbytery, a group of Presbyterian churches north of New York City that is considered liberal and has lobbied for repeal of the amendment.

The policy on gay clergy will be a focus of a national Presbyterian assembly next June.

NEW YORK (AP) – LIFEbeat, a music industry AIDS fund-raiser and charity, will honor World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 with an Internet auction featuring some 1,000 items from stars in music, film, theater and television.

The “Bid 2 Beat AIDS” auction on eBay will include a signed bottle of officially licensed, limited-edition Lindsay Lohan Heinz ketchup, a diamond watch donated by Lil’ Kim and a signed jogging suit worn by Jennifer Lopez, organizers announced.

Other items include a 2006 Vespa LX-50 signed by Kanye West and other stars; the podium from the 2005 MTV Movie Awards signed by Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Nicole Kidman; and signed guitars from Tim McGraw, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Wynonna Judd.

The 10-day auction will benefit LIFEbeat, an organization that provides HIV/AIDS information to young people.

Also up for bid will be hundreds of CDs, posters, DVDs, photos, toys, and magazines signed by stars such as Mariah Carey, Eminem, Usher, Britney Spears, Jamie Foxx, Justin Timberlake, Shakira, Diddy, Beyoncé, Orlando Bloom and Melissa Etheridge.

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (AP) – The United States’ largest gay-rights organization has condemned efforts of the North Carolina’s Baptist convention to expel any church that “knowingly affirms, approves or endorses homosexual behavior.”

“The church should be a beacon, not a barricade,” Harry Knox, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s religion and faith programs, said in a statement. “Gay parishioners contribute in meaningful ways to their local churches and communities, and the convention should focus on love and compassion, not finding ways to demean and marginalize the faithful.”

Delegates at a meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina asked the group’s board of directors to gauge the stance of individual churches on homosexuality. The decision would add that standard to the question of whether a church is “in friendly cooperation” with the convention.

Existing policy only puts the convention at odds with churches that fail to contribute financially to the association, said convention spokesperson Norman Jameson. With 1.2 million members, the North Carolina convention is the second largest association of Baptist churches in the nation.

The convention has sanctioned churches for having openly gay members, but has never had a written policy. The organization expelled a church in 2003 for accepting two gay men as members and later baptizing them.

The vote was not unanimous. Some delegates opposed the idea because they felt it showed a lack of respect for Baptist heritage, which values the autonomy of local churches, while others felt the decision focused too much attention on the issue.

“Could it be that homosexuality gains our attention primarily because it’s not ‘our’ sin?” said Rob Helton, a delegate from Cherry Point Baptist Church in Havelock. “If we write a policy [on homosexuality], it seems only fair and right that we write a policy on every sin in the Bible.”

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) – A city council member who fought against the nation’s first voter-approved domestic partner registry has lost a bid for re-election to a candidate who is openly gay.

The Rev. Jimmie Hicks Jr. lost the Nov. 8 election to Mark Tumeo.

Hicks had sued to block the creation of the city’s domestic partner registry, which recognizes same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples but gives no legal status or marriage rights. It was approved by voters in 2003 and ruled constitutional by a Cuyahoga County judge.

In July, the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals upheld the ruling, but not before the city spent more than $100,000 to fight Hicks’ lawsuit.

About 120 couples have registered since the city began accepting applications. Registrations continued during the court challenge.

Hicks, a minister in the Tennessee-based Church of God in Christ, said his battle “was political suicide.”

Cleveland Heights is about 10 miles east of Cleveland.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A judge threw out a manslaughter charge against a young man who fatally stabbed a teenager who allegedly attacked him because he is gay.

Municipal Judge Gerard Kosinski also ordered 21-year-old Lucas Dawson, an aspiring singer, released from jail.

Dawson told police that seven people began taunting him, chasing him down and beating him as he walked to catch a bus in October. He said he pulled out a small knife and waved it, but when Gerald Knight, 17, punched him, he stabbed him in the chest.

Knight died within the hour.

“He did the only thing he could do, the only thing in his power to stop the attack,” defense attorney Kevin T. Birley said.

Dawson called police after the attack and led them to the knife. Assistant District Attorney MK Feeney praised him for turning himself in to police, but said a jury should decide if his actions were self defense. She had not decided if she would appeal.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – A Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former director of the embattled Brattleboro Community Television, ruling that there was no evidence she was fired because she is a lesbian.

The board of BCTV voted 6-1 in July 2003 against renewing her contract as executive director and she filed a lawsuit.

She claimed, among other charges, that she was discriminated against because of her sexual orientation.

But Windham Superior Court Judge John P. Wesley ruled that Mide could not produce evidence to support her claims, so the charges were dismissed.

“That’s theoretically the end of it,” said BCTV lawyer John Mabie.

Mide’s attorney, Norman Watts, said he interpreted the facts differently but respected Wesley as a thorough judge.

Mide said she “strongly disagrees with the decision,” but has no plans to appeal the verdict to the Vermont Supreme Court.

“I’m really glad the people who gave me such a hard time have been voted off the board,” she said. “If my case at all facilitated that, then I feel like I won.”

Although recent turmoil was not connected to Mide’s dismissal, the board has had a nearly complete turnover since she worked there. Over the summer, political and personal conflicts resulted in a number of the resignations.

Tim Lindop, who replaced Mide as BCTV’s executive director, did not have his contract renewed.

While the station searches for a permanent executive director, board member Mike Billingsley is serving as the interim manager.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Aiming to better serve sexual minority students, the University of Virginia has hired the school’s first full-time program coordinator for its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.

Joy Pugh will manage student support groups and other activities offered through the six-year-old center, said Shamim Sisson, senior associate dean of students. Her appointment follows a three-month national search.

The Charlottesville center provides support to up to 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students it estimates to be on campus.

Until last year, it was directed by graduate students, limiting operation to roughly 20 hours a week, Sisson said. That also created a revolving door of managers who had to learn the ropes every year.

The center tried a full-time worker on a trial basis last year, and administrators approved a permanent position over the summer.

“[We] knew if we had the level of continuity of a professional staff member from year to year, we would be able to provide the level of service we needed,” Sisson said.

Pugh, 27, comes to U.Va. from James Madison University, where she worked as a service specialist with the university honors program and was a graduate assistant aiding in new student orientation and diversity.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a master’s from James Madison.

Pugh will oversee support groups such as QueerGrads, an LGBT graduate student group; SafeSpace, which prepares instructors to counsel LGBT students; and the center’s LGBT speaker program.

She’ll fill a position that’s become increasingly common on American campuses, said Brad Luna, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights advocacy organization. GLBT coordinators have been hired at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of New Hampshire.