ANNAPOLIS (AP) – Maryland’s highest court has agreed to hear a challenge to the ruling by a Baltimore Circuit Court judge in January that the state law banning same-sex marriages is unconstitutional.

In a brief order issued on July 27, the Court of Appeals granted a motion to bypass the Court of Special Appeals and put the case on the docket for arguments in December. That means there will be no action on the politically explosive issue until after the November election.

The decision to bypass the intermediate appeals court was not a surprise since the Court of Appeals sometimes takes cases directly when new and important legal questions are at stake.

Baltimore Circuit Judge M. Brooke Murdock struck down the law defining marriage as between one man and one woman Jan. 20, but stayed the effect of her ruling while it was being appealed by the state.

The suit was filed on behalf of same-sex couples who had been denied marriage licenses by court clerks in St. Mary’s, Dorchester, Prince George’s and Washington counties and Baltimore City.

Murdock said in a written opinion that the law “discriminates based on gender.”

“There is no apparent compelling state interest in a statutory prohibition of same-sex marriage discriminating, on the basis of sex, against those individuals whose gender is identical to their intended spouses,” the ruling said.

Opponents of same-sex marriage tried during the 2006 General Assembly session to get legislative approval of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, but the amendment was killed by the House Judiciary Committee and then by the full House of Delegates.

Republicans pushed hard for the amendment, hoping it would be on the ballot in November and help boost turnout by conservatives, who would then be likely to support GOP candidates for state and local offices. Democrats did not want the issue on the ballot, and Democratic leaders predicted the Court of Appeals would uphold the state law. They said it would be premature to amend the constitution while the ban on same-sex marriage remained in effect.

NEW YORK (AP) – Lance Bass, band member of ’N Sync, says he is gay and in a “very stable” relationship with a reality show star.

Bass, who formed ’N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, told People magazine that he did not earlier disclose his sexuality because he did not want to affect the group’s popularity.

“I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys’ careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said [that I was gay], it would overpower everything,” he told the magazine.

’N Sync is known for a string of hits including “Bye Bye Bye” and “It’s Gonna Be Me.” The band went on hiatus in 2002.

Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.

Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt “the end of ’N Sync.”

He explained: “So I had that weight on me of like, ‘Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it’s bad.’ So I just never did.”

The singer says he is in a “very stable” relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS’ “Amazing Race.”

Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy “The Odd Couple,” in which Bass’ character will be gay.

“The thing is, I’m not ashamed – that’s the one thing I want to say,” Bass said. “I don’t think it’s wrong, I’m not devastated going through this. I’m more liberated and happy than I’ve been my whole life. I’m just happy.”

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) – A central New York priest claims he was denied participation in a Catholic mission to help increase HIV awareness in Africa because he is gay.

Fred Daley, of St. Francis de Sales Church, said he applied for a spot in the Catholic Relief Services program in March, went through months of training and was assigned to Lesotho in southern Africa.

Daley was scheduled to leave on Aug. 6 for the three final weeks of training in Washington, but received a phone call July 18 telling him that his application had been withdrawn from the program.

Catholic Relief Services CEO Michael Wiest contacted Daley and said he had discovered that the priest was gay, Daley said.

“He said he had received an anonymous call with information that I was an openly gay priest who publicly declared my orientation and that I have a high profile, and therefore CRS made a decision to withdraw my application from their volunteer program,” Daley said.

Officials from the Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese attempted to have the decision appealed but have been unsuccessful.

The Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese and Catholic Relief Services could not be reached for further comment.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A ballot issue proposed by backers of the constitutional ban on same-sex marriages would close strip clubs and adult bookstores at 12:00 midnight and prohibit lap dancing.

The issue reflects what was left out of a bill set to become law on Aug. 17 that gives townships more leeway in regulating adult businesses.

Citizens for Community Values, which spearheaded the 2004 amendment that bans same-sex marriages in Ohio, has asked Attorney General Jim Petro to approve language on petitions it intends to circulate to get the adult-business issue on the November 2007 ballot, should the Legislature fail to revisit the law to add the new language.

The issue would prohibit nude dancing within six feet of customers and require sexually oriented businesses to close from 12:00 midnight to 6:00 a.m. Strip clubs with permits to sell alcohol could remain open, but the entertainment would have to stop at midnight.

The group submitted language to Petro that he rejected on July 17 because it did not mention the criminal penalties for violating any of its provisions. The group was rewriting the language to try to get Petro’s approval. The group has until Aug. 6, 2007, to gather enough signatures to qualify.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A judge ordered a Warren woman to stop directing anti-gay slurs at her gay neighbor, saying the insults amounted to “hateful conduct” and interfered with the man’s right to live in peace.

The attorney general’s newly formed civil rights advocates office sued Theresa R. Deschenes in its first case, accusing her of harassing a gay neighbor with AIDS and threatening him with violence.

Superior Court Judge Netti Vogel ruled that Deschenes, 33, had deprived Kenneth W. Potts of his right to live peacefully under the state’s Fair Housing Practices Act, which protects against discrimination, and issued an injunction forcing her to stop her behavior.

Deschenes’ lawyer, Christopher Millea, said his client’s comments were protected by the First Amendment and were merely part of a “kindergarten name-calling contest.”

But the judge rejected that argument.

“She has intimidated him,” Vogel said. “She has threatened him with physical violence … all connected to his sexual orientation.”

Potts, 48, accused Deschenes of making anti-gay insults, threatening to kill him “if you do anything to my daughter,” playing loud music and stomping on her floor.

He said that when Deschenes was arrested in June on a disorderly conduct charge, she threatened to assault him once she was released.

Deschenes admitted making anti-gay comments to Potts under questioning by her lawyer but said she was not homophobic. She said she had made the remarks out of anger, and had been mad when she was arrested and when Potts had called child-welfare officials.

“I shouldn’t have said what I said,” Deschenes said. “I’ll apologize right now. I’m sorry.”

Millea said he would talk with his client about whether to appeal the judge’s decision.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The strict “black-box” warning on the label of an HIV drug approved just last year is being updated to warn of sometimes fatal bleeding within the brain or skull tissue, health officials said.

The Food and Drug Administration said it has received 14 reports of intracranial hemorrhaging in patients treated in clinical trials with the drug, Aptivus, in combination with the older HIV drug ritonavir.

Eight of those patients died, among the 6,840 enrolled in trials of the drug combination.

Many of the hemorrhage patients had other medical conditions or were taking other drugs that could have contributed to the bleeding, the FDA said. Further investigations seek to assess the drug’s role.

The new warnings recommend doctors use caution in prescribing Aptivus, also known as tipranavir, to patients at risk for increased bleeding. Examples include people who have suffered trauma or undergone surgery, or who are taking anticoagulants.

The FDA approved Aptivus in June 2005; it approved ritonavir, sold as Norvir, in 1996.

Aptivus’ black-box warning, the strictest a prescription drug can bear, previously warned only of the risk of severe liver disease when used with ritonavir. The two drugs are always taken together, along with other HIV drugs.

Aptivus is made by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.