SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A Christian group lost a federal lawsuit in which it sued Hastings College of the Law in 2004 for not recognizing it as an official campus organization.

The Christian Legal Society maintained it should get campus funding and other benefits, but does not have to open its membership to gays, lesbians and nonbelievers – all requirements from the San Francisco law school, which is run by the University of California.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White rejected the group’s assertions that the law school’s policy violated its freedoms of speech, religion and association.

White said the school’s policy was “a reasonable regulation that is consistent with and furthers its educational purpose.” He said the religious group remained free to determine its own membership without university funding.

The 30-member Hastings group was told in 2004 that it was being denied recognition, including university funding and benefits, because of its policy of exclusion.

The Christian Legal Society has about 140 chapters at universities nationwide. Many allow the exclusionary policy.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – New HIV cases have fallen by almost 10 percent over the past five years, the city’s first decline in infections since the late 1980s, health officials said.

The number of new infections reported fell from 1,084 new infections in 2001 to 976 in 2006, according to preliminary estimates by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health.

Officials said the findings were somewhat surprising because the city’s gay male population increased 25 percent over the last five years, and many younger gay men increasingly have high-risk sex.

“This is great news; we’re making progress,” said Mark Cloutier, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “But I think it is both bad planning and bad public policy to look toward the future based on a ‘short-term trend.’ We don’t know how long this will last.”

The exact reasons for the decrease are unknown. But experts said one reason might be a new practice among gay men of engaging in sexual activity only with men with the same HIV status.

Nationwide, the rate of new diagnoses among gay and bisexual men of all races rose 8 percent in 2004, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Kansans overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment a year ago banning marriages and civil unions for same-sex couples. The state hasn’t been turned on its ear, but there still are concerns about what it could mean.

Supporters say there’s no cause for alarm, arguing the amendment just put into the Kansas Constitution what has been law since 1867 – that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Kansas is among 19 states that have adopted such a constitutional amendment and among 41 states where the same policy is defined in law.

“We wanted to prevent the state Supreme Court from overturning our marriage laws,” said Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, who authored the proposal approved by voters last April. “It’s absolutely critical that we promote and strengthen marriage when we have folks out there trying to make something out of marriage that it’s not. It’s an attack on the foundation of marriage and family.”

The amendment wasn’t prompted by any gay or lesbian Kansans seeking a marriage license but by concerns that attempts to sanction such unions could spread from other states, most notably Massachusetts.

“There’s a real fear [that] same-sex couples in Kansas could go to other states and come back and force recognition, and this stopped that,” Huelskamp said.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – A gay rights group sued Gov. Ernie Fletcher on April 25 for not vetoing $11 million in state funds earmarked for a Baptist college that expelled an openly gay student.

Legislators included in the budget $10 million for a proposed pharmacy school and $1 million for scholarships at the University of the Cumberlands.

The college expelled Jason Johnson after he posted details of his dating life on the Web site myspace.com.

The Kentucky constitution prohibits the use of state tax money to support religious institutions or entities that discriminate against citizens, according to the lawsuit.

“We’re asking that the governor uphold the constitution and not allow the funding of the University of the Cumberlands,” said Christina Gilgor, executive director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, which filed the lawsuit.

Fletcher declined to veto the funding because, he said, it came from coal severance taxes paid by companies, not by individual taxpayers.

As the governor had indicated the day before, the administration sued two state agencies April 25, seeking a ruling on the appropriation’s constitutionality.

Fletcher said he also welcomed the advocacy group’s lawsuit.

“We certainly would like for them to have their day in court,” Fletcher said. “I think it’s important that both sides are argued vigorously so that the courts can decide on this constitutional issue.”

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP) – State Sen. Paul Koering, a Republican who announced last year he is gay, received his party’s endorsement for re-election after seven ballots.

Koering beat challenger Kevin Goedker with a final vote of 63-42, above the 60 percent threshold needed for endorsement.

“I’m very, very happy, very honored to win the endorsement,” Koering said.

Goedker, a member of the Brainerd City Council, said he hasn’t decided whether to push his campaign to a September primary.

After several tight ballots and a move to withhold endorsement to either candidate, Koering told delegates he planned to run in a primary with or without their backing.

“I spent seven years of my life to get this job and now I just lay over and die? I’m running for office,” Koering said.

Koering won the Senate District 12 seat in 2002 by topping longtime Sen. Don Samuelson by 143 votes. Samuelson had beat Koering twice before.

Koering disclosed that he is gay last April, around the time he joined Democrats in defeating a move to force a vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Nine senators, including Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, joined Koering at the endorsing convention in a show of support.

CINCINNATI (AP) – A group opposing a city ordinance update that extends discrimination protection to gays and lesbians blocked the change from taking effect by asking that the matter go before voters.

Citizens for Community Values said they submitted signatures of 14,000 to 15,000 city residents who want to see the issue on the November ballot.

The Hamilton County Board of elections must verify the signatures before the petition can be accepted. About 7,000 valid signatures would be required to get the measure on the city ballot.

“This is a very divisive issue and we voters ought to have a say,” said David Miller, vice president of public policy for the group, which also worked for the state’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage.

The group also in 1993 succeeded in getting voters to pass a charter amendment banning such gay rights laws – the only such prohibition in the nation. Voters tossed the charter amendment in 2004.

That cleared the way for City Council’s 8-1 vote in March to add gays, lesbians and transgender people to its human right ordinance, which protects people from discrimination based on race, gender, age, color, religion, disability status, marital status or ethnic, national or Appalachian regional origin. The amended law would have taken effect last month.

If the latest challenge gets to the ballot, Gary Wright of Citizens to Restore Fairness will head up a campaign to persuade voters to keep the revised ordinance.

“The city’s really changed and they don’t get that,” Wright said of the petitioners. “They’re living in the past and they’re trying to drag us back with them. Voters said that already. They’ll say that again this fall.”

BOSTON (AP) – Two couples who say a suburban school district undermined their parental rights by giving out and reading storybooks with gay themes without telling them first have filed a federal lawsuit against school officials.

The couples claim the officials broke state law, violated their civil rights, and were trying to teach their children about a lifestyle they consider immoral.

Lexington school superintendent Paul Ash said the schools have no agenda and have done nothing illegal.

In March, Joseph and Robin Wirthlin objected when a teacher read a storybook about two princes who fall in love to their son’s second grade class without notifying them.

David Parker was jailed last year after he refused to leave a school when officials declined to exclude his 6-year-old son from discussions of gay and lesbian parents. Parker initially complained after his son brought home a “diversity book bag” with a book that depicted a gay family.

Their attorney, Jeffrey Denner, said Lexington violated the rights of privacy and freedom of religion of his clients – all identified as devout Christians in the lawsuit – by unilaterally deciding how and when lessons about same-sex marriage will be taught.

“Parents need to be the ones to determine when it is introduced and how it is introduced,” said Parker.

Denner said the school is ignoring a state requirement to notify parents when such topics are discussed so they can remove their children from class if they want.

The school has argued that the state’s “opt-out” law requires schools only to inform parents about class content when sex education or human sexuality is the primary focus.

Ash said it would be impossible to notify parents every time such issues come up, because in some cases, it isn’t planned.

“In Massachusetts, gays have equal rights,” Ash said. “We have gay marriage. Our kids see it; it’s part of our overall curriculum. We’re talking about what kids see in today’s world.”

The lawsuit, filed by David and Tonia Parker and the Wirthlins, names Ash, the town, school committee members and other school officials. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.