LOS ANGELES (AP) – A woman misdiagnosed by a county hospital as having HIV and treated for two years has settled her lawsuit against the county.

Lynn Howard, now living in Idaho, claimed in her lawsuit that she “was rendered sick, sore, lame and disabled” from the treatment and fear of dying.

The terms of the settlement, reached in May, remain confidential, said lawyers for the county and Howard. But they each said Howard would receive less than six figures.

County lawyer Richard Reinjohn said Howard’s claim was compromised by her failure to return to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for follow-up treatments after her diagnosis.

“If she had come back she would have never had a problem,” Reinjohn said.

Howard’s lawyer, Victor Jacobovitz, acknowledged “her own negligence in not following through quicker.”

A panel of county supervisors still must approve the settlement, but both lawyers say that is likely.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The Berkeley Sea Scouts have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision requiring the group to pay berthing fees at the Berkeley Marina.

The California Supreme Court ruled in March that Berkeley did not violate the rights of the youth sailors connected to the Boy Scouts of America when it demanded marina fees because the group violates a city antidiscrimination policy.

The city revoked free berthing privileges for the Berkeley Sea Scouts because the Boy Scouts bar atheist and gay members, which violates the city’s 1997 policy to provide free berthing to nonprofits that don’t discriminate.

City officials told the Sea Scouts that the group could retain its berthing subsidy, valued at about $500 monthly per boat, if it broke ties with the Boy Scouts or disavowed the policy against gays and atheists.

The Sea Scouts, which teaches sailing, carpentry and plumbing, refused to do so and maintained that such an edict was unconstitutional.

DENVER (AP) – Members of a group supporting parental rights for gays and lesbians accused Focus on the Family founder James Dobson of manipulating research data to say gays and lesbians are not good parents, and began a 65-mile march last week to confront him at his Colorado Springs headquarters.

A Focus on the Family official denied the allegation.

Soulforce Executive Director Jeff Lutes said Dobson’s statements have brought rejection and ridicule on gay and lesbian parents, and the group wants him to stop.

“That misinformation has real tragic results. It makes living for families like ours much more difficult. We are rejected sometimes by loved ones, we are shunned by churches and we are discriminated against in every state in this country,” Lutes said at a rally before the march.

Judith Stacey, a sociologist at New York University, said her work was manipulated in an attempt to show gays and lesbians do not make good parents.

“This is a direct misrepresentation of the research,” she said.

Focus on the Family spokesperson Glenn Stanton cited other research, including an article co-authored by Mary Parke, a policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, that shows that children need a mother and a father, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientation.

“We haven’t said anything about sexual orientation,” he said.

Another spokesperson, Gary Schneeberger, said Focus on the Family declined to meet privately with members of Virginia-based Soulforce last year but offered to hold a public debate, which Soulforce refused.

“This is a public issue. We should have a public debate,” he said.

DENVER (AP) – A group that wants voters to give same-sex couples many of the same rights that married couples have received a $250,000 donation from the brother of Fort Collins heiress Pat Stryker.

The gift from Michigan philanthropist Jon Stryker increased the total raised by Coloradans for Fairness and Equality to nearly $500,000, according to campaign finance reports.

His sister has said she also will support the group’s efforts.

Coloradans for Fairness is pushing a referendum that would change state law to recognize domestic partnerships. It also supports a proposed constitutional amendment that would ensure domestic partnerships would be recognized under the state’s constitution.

Coloradans for Fairness has raised far more money than groups on the opposite side of the issue.

Coloradans for Marriage, a coalition of Christian groups supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union, has raised $105,793. Protecting Colorado Children, which is pushing a ballot issue countering the domestic partnership amendment, has raised $8,345.

More than half the donations for both groups have come from Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family.

Coloradans for Marriage executive director Jon Paul said the donations to Coloradans for Fairness aren’t surprising.

“We anticipated that they would be outspending us by a significant amount of money. We will counter their money with the people that we have; the ground troops,” he said.

BANGOR, Maine (AP) – Eight complaints have been filed with the Maine Human Rights Commission alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation since the state’s gay rights law took effect about six months ago.

The number of complaints filed in Maine is about what was expected and is comparable to other states with similar laws, said Pat Ryan, executive director of the Human Rights Commission. Ryan had predicted that there would be about 12 to 15 cases a year.

Ryan would not release details of the complaints, which are under investigation, but she said they deal mostly with employment issues.

Supporters of the new law said the complaints show that a law was needed to protect the rights of gays and lesbians. The law, which went into effect Dec. 28, added sexual orientation to the list of classes protected from discrimination under the Maine Human Rights Act in areas including housing, employment, credit, public accommodations and education.

“It means that more than once a month, someone believes they have been discriminated against, and it’s probably more,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of Equality Maine.

But opponents said the number of complaints show that there is no widespread discrimination against gays and lesbians.

“There was no need for this law, and we still don’t see a need for it,” said Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition.

Maine voters last November rejected a referendum that sought to repeal the law, which was adopted in March 2005.

When complaints are filed, the five-member Human Rights Commission decides on a case-by-case basis if there are reasonable grounds to believe discrimination has occurred.

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

BOSTON (AP) – Over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles will be allowed in Massachusetts after the Legislature approved an override of Gov. Mitt Romney’s veto of the measure.

Supporters of the bill say it will save lives by slowing the spread of AIDS and hepatitis C through the reuse of dirty needles.

House lawmakers approved the bill by a 115-37 margin last year, while the Senate passed it on a 26-8 vote earlier this year.

But the Republican governor vetoed the bill, saying it was well-intentioned but would encourage increased heroin use. The override by the majority-Democratic legislators had been expected.

Massachusetts becomes the 48th state to allow the sale and possession of needles without a prescription, according to the AIDS Action Committee.

“The Legislature’s override of the governor’s veto will save lives, reduce new infections and save the Commonwealth millions of dollars in health care costs over the next several years,” said Rebecca Haag, executive director of AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts.

BOSTON (AP) – A radio talk show host was suspended by station management for using a slur normally aimed at gay men in reference to the embattled chair of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

WRKO-AM suspended John DePetro and ordered him to apologize for the remark made during a discussion about Matt Amorello, who has come under intense criticism since ceiling panels in a Big Dig tunnel collapsed, killing a woman. The turnpike authority oversees the highway system that includes Big Dig.

DePetro said on air that he didn’t mean that Amorello – who has a wife – is gay, but that he’s a “sissy boy.”

“This corporation has zero tolerance for racial intolerance. Mr. DePetro has 72 hours to think about it,” Jason Wolfe, vice president of programming at WRKO, told The Boston Globe and Boston Herald. Wolfe told the Globe he chose the word “racial” because “people will lump everything in together.”

Amorello refused comment to the newspapers. Neither Amorello nor Wolfe immediately returned calls from The Associated Press.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Following a court mandate, Missouri officials said July 18 that they have lifted regulations that prevented gays and lesbians from becoming foster parents.

But while the decision clears the way for gays and lesbians to get licensed to care for foster children, officials with the Department of Social Services said it might still be difficult for a gay or lesbian person to become a foster parent.

“We’re considering the biological parents’ preferences, and we’re also considering the abuse and neglect that occurred to the child and whether or not an alternative-lifestyle environment would be confusing or add trauma to an already abused or neglected child,” said department spokesperson Deborah Scott, whose office filed the new rules with the Secretary of State.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Sandra Midkiff ruled in February that the state could not reject a foster parent license application by Kansas City lesbian Lisa Johnston. Johnston, who wanted to foster children with her partner, Dawn Roginski, was turned down three years ago after officials said she lacked “reputable character” because homosexuality was illegal in Missouri.

Midkiff, in her ruling, cited the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas law against same-sex sodomy.

State Attorney General Jay Nixon last month said he wouldn’t appeal Midkiff’s decision, saying Gov. Matt Blunt had just signed a law that repealed Missouri’s anti-homosexuality language.

Blunt’s office had urged Nixon, a Democrat, to pursue the appeal, saying the Republican governor opposed gays and lesbians as foster parents.

The Department of Social Services said it filed the new language to comply with the court decision. But department officials added that from now on, they will ask prospective foster parents about their sexual orientation, something the department didn’t routinely do.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – After New York’s top court ruled that same-sex marriage is not currently permissible in the state, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer reaffirmed their support for civil unions as an alternative.

While gay rights activists have said they will press the New York Legislature to change state law to allow same-sex marriage in the wake of the 4-2 ruling from the state Court of Appeals, the two New York senators made it clear they will not be joining that effort.

“Senator Clinton supports full equality for people in committed relationships, including health insurance, life insurance and pensions, and hospital visitation, and believes we have to keep working to reach those goals,” said Clinton spokesperson Jennifer Hanley.

Hanley said Clinton continues to support civil unions instead of same-sex marriage.

“Senator Schumer supports civil unions, and the ruling yesterday correctly places the ball in the court of the state Legislature and the governor to sort out the best policy for the people of New York,” said Schumer spokesperson Eric Schultz.

Shortly after the court’s ruling was announced July 6, one of Clinton’s potential GOP challengers in this year’s Senate race had publicly called on her to hail the decision.

“The Court of Appeals is right, marriage should be between a man and a woman,” said former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer. “I trust Senator Clinton will join me in applauding this ruling.”

Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate Howie Hawkins said the alternative of a civil union is not equal to marriage.

“I support legalizing same-sex marriage,” Hawkins said. “I think it’s a matter of equal rights under the law … I think in the long run [same-sex marriage] will win. The polls show that people are coming around on it, and it’s only a matter of time before we can get the Legislature to move on it.”

NEW YORK (AP) – Nearly five years after an attacker viciously beat a patron of a gay bar and robbed him of just a $10 bill, a man who had fled the country following the victim’s death was arrested last month, police said.

John McGhee, who had been living in London, was taken into custody on his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport and arrested on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and attempted robbery, police Detective Kevin Czartoryski said. Witness accounts led to the arrest, he said.

The Queens district attorney’s office had begun a new round of witness questioning in the death of Edgar Garzon, 35, and was considering prosecuting the killing as a hate crime, a spokesperson said.

The venom of the attack, which left Garzon in a coma with multiple skull fractures, had led to speculation that he was targeted because he was gay. But police said investigators who worked on the case in 2001 had been unable to determine whether the attack was motivated by bias.

On Aug. 15, 2001, Garzon was attacked on a Queens street by a man who beat him over the head with an object or slammed his head into a hard surface, police said.

The assault occurred shortly before 4:00 a.m. after Garzon, a native of Colombia who worked as a theater set designer, had left the Friends Tavern, a gay bar on Roosevelt Avenue. He and a friend had just parted when a car with two men in it pulled up.

One of the men jumped out and attacked Garzon and then both fled, police said.

Garzon, who was found by his friend bleeding from the head, nose and mouth, remained in a coma until he died on Sept. 4, 2001.

Police said they initially believed the attacker had fled with Garzon’s wallet, but it was found in the victim’s apartment. The only thing taken from Garzon was the $10 bill.

McGhee, 38, refused to give investigators a statement, police said.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – In 2004, the Republican Party predicted Democratic Sen. Julia Boseman’s sexual orientation would lead her to promote a left-wing agenda at the General Assembly.

Instead, GOP senators have complained that a bill she filed was too much like one filed by a Republican that would require school districts to set policies for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily at school.

Other bills Boseman has filed would let former drug addicts sue drug dealers and ban sales of violent video games.

“She’s been given a lot of bills – and the important word is given – for a freshman,” said Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, the Senate’s deputy Republican leader. “I haven’t seen many of them signed into law.”

Boseman, D-New Hanover, is the first openly gay member of the North Carolina Legislature. But she says she’s representing the citizens of New Hanover County and Wilmington, and is not on a personal crusade.

“This is not about representing me or representing some special cause,” Boseman said.

Her legislative efforts to pump state funds for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and expand tax credits for filmmaking in the state apparently helped her to a 20th place ranking in effectiveness among the chamber’s 50 members, according to the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. The ranking is the highest that a female freshman has ever received and the second highest for any freshman.

A 39-year-old real estate lawyer, Boseman says she listens to her constituents when she sponsors bills, like the drug dealer lawsuit measure. She also introduced a recently passed bill that would repeal a requirement to have children take complete eye examinations before they begin kindergarten.

“I don’t think it’s Julia Boseman’s job to go to the state Senate and represent all gay interests just because she is a lesbian who is not hiding her sexuality,” said Chris Fitzsimon, director of N.C. Policy Watch, a public policy organization in Raleigh. “There’s more of a magnifying glass on her because of that.”

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said Boseman is an experienced politician. “I think she’s worked hard at it because she knows she’s in a tough district,” he said.

As she was finishing four years as a New Hanover County commissioner in 2004, she won her Senate seat by defeating Republican Woody White, a Wilmington attorney who was appointed after Patrick Ballantine resigned to campaign for governor.

Boseman won by 885 votes out of more than 80,000 cast in a county that is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Her sexual orientation was included in Republican newspaper ads and mailings, including a contention that Boseman would push to legalize same-sex marriage in North Carolina. But Boseman hasn’t appeared to take much interest in such legislation.

New Hanover County GOP chair Chris Dean said he won’t make Boseman’s sexuality an issue in the November election.

“Even though I don’t agree with it, it won’t be an issue,” Dean said. “Most of the electorate know, and a lot of them don’t care.”

CLEVELAND (AP) – City health officials want the owner of a new, upscale gay bathhouse to provide condoms, offer customers regular HIV testing and appoint employees to answer questions about preventing sexually transmitted diseases.

The Flex club, which is scheduled to open next month, will become part of a chain of six bathhouses extending from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Plans for the 50,000-square-foot complex inside a defunct Greyhound bus depot feature three pools, two saunas and a gym, and include 110 cabana-like spa rooms equipped with cots and televisions, 18 hotel rooms and a restaurant.

City leaders say the club could help spark the economic revival of a desolate commercial block, but they also worry that the bathhouse could fuel a growth of HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

Last year, an 11-year-high of 118 new HIV diagnoses were reported among Cleveland residents, according statistics gathered by the city health department. As of Dec. 31, 2,458 Cleveland residents had been reported as living with HIV or AIDS, a rate of about 514 per 100,000 residents, and about four times the state rate.

Two of every three Ohio cases of HIV/AIDS occur in men, and gay sex is believed to be the source of many infections.

Charles Fleck, founder and owner of the Flex club, said he’s concerned about health and safety at the club. He said he wants to work with the health department to ensure that customers are protected.

“Look, I’m a gay man,” he said. “I went through the entire AIDS saga, and I am still going through it.”

City leaders want to review Fleck’s policy of evicting members caught using drugs or soliciting sex. They also want Fleck to sign an agreement outlining other guidelines.

City Councilmember Joe Cimperman, who learned about the project 18 months ago when an architect contacted the city zoning board, said he has few concerns. Cimperman said he asked about public health measures and was told that condoms and prevention messages would circulate throughout the club.

Public health officials and AIDS activists in Cleveland said they aren’t opposed to bathhouses. Research has shown they are a valuable and convenient venue for promoting safer sex practices, and AIDS organizations acknowledge that the clubs are safer for gay men than cruising other areas, such as parks.