SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A lesbian suing for parental rights over a daughter she had with a former partner is entitled to those rights if she meets several criteria for determining legal motherhood, a state appeals court ruled.

The woman must have been integral in planning the conception, raising the child, treating the child as her own and accepting the responsibilities of parenthood, the Court of Appeal panel in San Francisco decided June 9 in a 3-0 ruling.

State law prefers for a child to be raised by two parents, and the child and parent are entitled to a relationship even if the parents are separated, said Justice Linda Gemello.

“Once you have that child together and you bring that baby home, you are both parents,” said Shannon Minter, a lawyer for the plaintiff.

The case involves a woman identified only as Charisma R. who says her former partner, Kristina S., the child’s birth mother who was artificially inseminated, moved away with their 3-month-old daughter in April 2003.

Kristina S. did not want to raise the child in a same-sex relationship, and as birth mother should decide how the child is raised, said her lawyer, Rena Lindevaldsen.

The appellate ruling reinstates Charisma R.’s 2004 lawsuit that was dismissed in Alameda County Superior Court. The judge must now decide whether Charisma R. qualifies as a second parent using the appellate court’s guidelines.

The ruling follows a California Supreme Court decision last August granting full parental rights to same-sex partners regardless of their marital status or biological connection to the children. Those rights include custody and visitation, along with Social Security, health coverage and inheritances.

ATLANTA (AP) – The ballot measure approved by voters banning same-sex marriage in Georgia does not violate the state’s constitution, state lawyers argued in a brief filed with the Georgia Supreme Court.

In May, Superior Court Judge Constance Russell, of Fulton County, tossed out the constitutional amendment, which 76 percent of voters had approved in 2004. She did not rule on issues related to same-sex marriage, but held instead that the measure violated the single-subject rule mandated by the state constitution by asking voters to consider both same-sex marriage and civil unions.

The state argued that “to constitute a plurality of subject matter, an Act must embrace two or more dissimilar and discordant subjects that by no fair intendment can be considered as having any logical connection with or relation to each other.”

“The parts of the amendment are germane to one another and their common purpose of prohibiting same-sex marriages in Georgia,” said the brief filed by the state Attorney General’s Office.

Georgia still has a law on the books which makes same-sex marriage illegal. The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996.

Arguments in the cases are scheduled for June 27.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Religious groups brought contrasting messages to the 20th annual Southern Maine Pride Parade, a colorful float-filled procession through the downtown area put on by the local GLBT community.

While several area churches participated in the parade, the Christian Civic League of Maine filmed the event and said it planned to post the footage on its Web site.

The league, a leading opponent of gay rights legislation in Maine, stirred controversy when it announced plans for the filming and said it would post a list of public officials who attended the parade.

The filming was done by Michael Hein of Augusta, who described the league’s presence as a “Christian witness action,” rather than a protest.

He said the documentary is intended to expose Christians who were unlikely to attend a Pride event to the “immorality” that occurs at such celebrations.

Church leaders who took part in the parade characterized the league’s approach as misguided.

“The central message of Jesus, and really the whole Bible, is to love each other,” said the Rev. Dr. Mykel Johnson of Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) – The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters has filed a defamation and invasion of privacy suit against the protest group.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, seeks unspecified damages for the virulent messages held by protesters outside his son’s funeral. The younger Snyder, 20, died March 3 after an accident in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. He was buried in Westminster, Md.

The funeral was picketed by members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., who believe that military deaths are God’s punishment for tolerance of homosexuals.

The church has inspired dozens of state laws banning funeral protests, including a new law in Maryland, but Snyder lawyer Sean Summers said the defamation lawsuit may be the first.

“We think it’s a case we can win because anyone’s funeral is private,” Summers said after filing the lawsuit. “You don’t have a right to interrupt someone’s private funeral.”

The lawsuit seeks damages for invasion of privacy at the funeral. It also accuses the church of defamation for derogatory comments about Snyder placed on the church’s Web site.

Summers said he has gotten calls from relatives of three other soldiers after news of the Snyder lawsuit was published. He said more lawsuits are likely for the “outrageous” protests.

“We believe the jury will do the right thing at the end of the day and give him a large jury award,” Summers said.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a church member who frequently acts as spokesperson for the small congregation, said it was the first time Westboro has been sued by a soldier’s family. A counter-lawsuit was planned for abrogation of speech rights, she said.

“What was it we did? Seven people standing in the back of the building?” she said. She said only seven people picketed the funeral, fewer than the number of counterprotesters.

“We were exercising our First Amendment rights,” she said.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The organizer of the annual Twin Cities Pride Celebration has sued the Star Tribune, accusing the newspaper of discrimination and breach of contract for refusing to publish ads for the festival.

The advertisements showed two men kissing. The lawsuit, filed in Hennepin County District Court, said the newspaper applied different standards to GLBT/Pride Twin Cities because the newspaper had published ads depicting a heterosexual couple kissing.

The lawsuit also contends the newspaper breached its advertising contract, and retaliated by failing to publish any of its advertisements, including one that did not contain an image of same-sex kissing.

The lawsuit said the Star Tribune cited a policy on community standards as its reason for refusing to publish the ads.

A complaint the group filed with the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights was dismissed on the grounds that the commission did not have jurisdiction.

“After an extensive investigation by the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights, we prevailed and we expect to prevail in Hennepin County District Court. Our position remains the same,” said Ben Taylor, senior vice president of marketing and communications for the Star Tribune.

Jim Kelley, president of GLBT/Pride Twin Cities, said, “We hope to address this with the Star Tribune and reach a resolution.”

MISSOULA (AP) – Missoula Police Sgt. Scott Oak is gay, a fact not lost on vandals who scratch the word into his pickup truck or throw eggs at his house while hollering anti-gay epithets.

In addition to the vandalism, his work as liaison to the gay and lesbian community is drawing national press attention that credits him with bravely breaking new ground.

Last month, a film crew shadowed him for several days and the producer, Craig Deltrone, plans to come back again this month.

The footage will be part of a one-hour documentary about gay men and women who are “out” in the workplace. The film is expected to air in January on a network called Logo, a new channel from MTV Networks with programming geared for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Oak also was the subject of a USA Today piece on people who shattered stereotypes, as well as local news stories announcing the creation of his position last fall.

He said the first headline that referred to him as a gay police officer made him squirm a little.

“The attention has been embarrassing, but I think it’s really helping to further a cause,” said Oak, who patrols on a motorcycle when the weather allows.

“It’s certainly a different kind of publicity than our department is used to getting,” said Police Chief Rusty Wickman. “But I honestly don’t see it as a bold step for the department. We are here to ensure that police are available to everyone, that’s our job, and that’s what Scott is doing.

“On the other hand, Scott obviously extended himself by volunteering for this position, and I think that puts him in a somewhat vulnerable position. It’s incredibly brave,” Wickman added.

As the production crew trailed him, Oak discovered that someone had scratched the word “gay” in block letters on the rear quarter panel of his pickup in the City Hall parking lot. Oak went back in to report the vandalism.

“That was 1,800 bucks worth of damage,” Oak said. “They did it right in view of the camera, too.”

Oak was named the liaison to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community in November. He has an office in the Western Montana Gay & Lesbian Community Center, where he can meet with complainants in a “more comfortable setting,” he said.

His position was created just weeks after a group of teenagers screamed anti-gay epithets at two University of Montana students and beat the men so severely they had to be hospitalized. One had a broken jaw and the other a fractured cheekbone and concussion.

Both victims are heterosexual, but the attack led Wickman to act on his plan to create Oak’s position.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Former Gov. James E. McGreevey once resorted to anonymous gay trysts at highway rest stops, according to recently released excerpts from his memoir being released later this year.

McGreevey – who proclaimed himself “a gay American” in 2004 while announcing his impending resignation as governor – describes his long struggle with his homosexuality in the book The Confession.

According to the excerpts published in The Star-Ledger of Newark, McGreevey engaged in the secret encounters because he feared having a relationship with a man would ruin his chances of success as a politician.

“So, instead, I settled for the detached anonymity of bookstores and rest stops – a compromise, but one that was wholly unfulfilling and morally unsatisfactory,” McGreevey wrote.

The excerpts do not mention whether the activities extended into his time as governor.

ReganBooks, a division of HarperCollins, is paying the 48-year-old McGreevey up to $500,000 for the 384-page memoir. He made an appearance at BookExpo America in Washington, D.C., where he told the newspaper his book is “painfully honest.”

“A lot will resonate with readers,” he said.

The excerpts do not detail his two marriages, or even the scandal, which became public knowledge during an August 2004 televised news conference in which McGreevey acknowledged a gay affair and said he would resign in coming months.

The excerpts also do not mention the former aide whom sources close to McGreevey have identified as the man he had an extramarital affair with.

According to the excerpts, McGreevey said he also became “as avid a womanizer as anybody else on the New Jersey political scene.”

“I knew I would have to lie for the rest of my life – and I knew I was capable of it,” McGreevey wrote. “The knowledge gave me a feeling of terrible power.”

He said he became an avid student of human behavior during his rise from the state Parole Board to Woodbridge mayor to governor, and that allowed him to keep up the charade.

“I studied the moves, figured out what worked and what didn’t, practiced and perfected my perfect inauthenticity,” he wrote.

SANTA FE (AP) – Two men who were deemed most responsible for the beatings of two gay men were sentenced to 90 days in the Santa Fe County jail and an additional year of house arrest that includes weekends in jail.

Isaia Medina, 20, and Gabriel Maturin, 21, each could have faced seven years in prison.

“You both would be ruined if I sent you to prison,” state District Judge Michael Vigil told the defendants. “I would be throwing you away. I don’t want to do that.”

After serving the sentences, each man will spend five years on probation and perform 500 hours of community service, including taking tolerance classes, talking to high school and college students about tolerance and working with a gay-support group.

“I think you are salvageable,” Vigil said. “Both of you can do a whole lot to help mend this community for this horrible act.”

Vigil also required Medina and Maturin to pay restitution to the victims, James Maestas, 22, and Joshua Stockham, 24.

Maestas spent eight days in a coma after the February 2005 attack and had to learn to walk and talk again. Stockham was punched once in the face and sustained minor injuries.

In April, Vigil sentenced four other men in the case but sent Maturin and Medina for psychological evaluations.

Joseph Cano, Jonathan Valdez and Paul Montoya each were sentenced to three years of supervised probation and 500 hours of community service.

David Trinidad, who was on probation at the time of the attacks for raping a 4 1/2-year-old boy, was ordered to participate in an intensive treatment program for sexual offenders, then serve five years on probation.

According to psychological evaluations, the attack in a motel parking lot was the result of peer pressure and alcohol. However, Vigil refused to accept alcohol as the root source of the hatred.

“Alcohol was a factor, but it didn’t cause you to utter these words of hate,” he said.

The six men were the first defendants to be sentenced under New Mexico’s hate-crime statute, passed in 2003.

“It is important to have that [law] because it says we believe this crime is serious,” said prosecutor Shari Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation.

Stockham didn’t attend the hearing. Afterward, Maestas said he feels good but is still recovering from the attack.

“I have great roommates, great friends and a great job,” he said. “I’m not all the way recovered, but the community, my family and friends have been a big help.”

NEW YORK (AP) – Four young men suspected of beating a recording artist while yelling anti-gay slurs were arraigned on assault charges, but did not enter a plea.

They are accused of chasing and jumping Kevin Aviance, 38, earlier this month in the city’s East Village. Aviance grew up in Richmond, Va., as Eric Snead.

According to a felony complaint filed by prosecutors, the men followed Aviance, called him derogatory names and threw two garbage bags and a paint can at the singer before surrounding and attacking him.

Len Evans, Aviance’s publicist, said the singer could hear passersby yelling at the attackers to stop.

Aviance suffered a broken jaw, a bruised knee and other injuries, the complaint said.

When it was over, a stranger walked him to the hospital. Aviance was discharged from Manhattan’s Beth Israel Medical Center with his leg in a brace and his jaw wired shut.

Aviance appeared on the Billboard dance music charts in 2002 and 2004 with his songs “Give It Up” and “Alive.” Aviance performs in drag, but was dressed as a man when he was attacked.

Akino George, 20, of the Bronx, and Gregory Archie, 18, of Manhattan, were arraigned on charges of first-degree gang assault and first-degree assault as a hate crime, a day after Jarell Sears, 20, of Newark, N.J., and Gerard Johnson, 16, of Manhattan, were arraigned on the same charges.

All were held on $25,000 bail. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – An HIV-positive man has sued his Charlotte doctor, saying he was denied a promotion after the doctor faxed confidential medical records to his office.

His boss found the report, and he experienced discrimination at work, said the man, identified only as John Doe in the lawsuit filed in Guilford County Superior Court last month. It also caused him severe anxiety and depression, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $10,000.

Court records do not disclose where Doe worked or lived, and he has asked the courts to allow him to keep his identity secret while his lawsuit is active.

Under state law, physicians, hospitals and other medical providers must report the names of HIV/AIDS patients to their local health departments, which send the information to the state Division of Public Health for tracking.

But the information is so closely guarded that the state typically relies on couriers or the mail, not a fax machine, to send patient records to public health offices, said Del Williams of the division’s HIV/STD prevention and care branch.

It’s a misdemeanor in North Carolina to release the name of AIDS and HIV patients.

In the lawsuit, John Doe claims that someone in the office of Dr. Philip C. Lackey faxed the report to his workplace on May 8, 2003, a day after the report was compiled.

The report contained Doe’s diagnosis, symptoms, compliance with his medication regimen and other personal information, the lawsuit said. Doe said he specifically told Lackey’s office not to release any medical information on him without permission.

His lawyer has declined to comment on the case.

Named as defendants are: Lackey; I.D. Consultants, P.A. & Infusion Care Specialists, which maintains the office where Lackey works; and someone identified only as “Denise,” whose name allegedly appeared as the sender on the fax.

“We believe we will ultimately be vindicated in showing that we did nothing wrong,” said Greensboro attorney Norman Klick, who represents the defendants.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – An estimated 6,500 people turned out for an annual Pride march, an increase of about 60 percent over last year, organizers said.

Gov. Ed Rendell kicked off the 2006 Pittsburgh Three Rivers Pride march on June 17, becoming the first Pennsylvania governor to appear at the 33-year-old event, said Jeff Freedman, who heads its planning committee.

Starting shortly after noon, the marchers followed downtown Pittsburgh’s Fifth Avenue, crossed the Roberto Clemente Bridge and circled PNC Park before gathering at the city’s Riverfront Park for an afternoon festival.

Among the officials at the event were state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, and members of City Council.

The event is organized by the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh, which includes members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.