ALBERT LEA (AP) – In his bid to highlight opposition to same-sex marriage and unseat a state senator, the Rev. George Marin is drawing on his background as “Pastor G.”

Marin is the Republican-endorsed candidate running against Sen. Dan Sparks, a Democrat, one of several sitting legislators targeted by Christian conservatives.

“I’m for traditional marriage,” said Marin, a pastor at Grace Christian Church in Albert Lea. “I will stand up, ladies and gentlemen, and fight to defend that institution.”

But Sparks is working to keep the focus on economic issues such as flood control, schools and economic development.

“I think it’s a socially divisive issue they are going to run on,” he said.

Marin’s campaign against Sparks dovetails with a multi-state push by Focus on the Family to get evangelical churchgoers involved in politics.

Leaders describe the movement as nonpartisan, but critics claim it’s a front for GOP candidates. They warn that churches could risk their tax-exempt status by joining in partisan politics.

IRS policy doesn’t allow churches to campaign for or against candidates but lets them do “a limited amount” of lobbying, including on ballot measures, and advocate for or against political issues. Pastors can endorse candidates but not on behalf of their churches.

The Rev. Reuben Unseth of Faith Lutheran Church is playing a role in the state Senate campaign.

Earlier this year, Unseth brought Sparks to his church to explain his stance on same-sex marriage. The DFL senator said a constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions wasn’t needed since state law already limits marriage to one man and one woman. Sparks said he opposed bringing the amendment up for a Senate vote after it failed in committee because it would encourage lawmakers to circumvent committees on other issues.

TRENTON (AP) – New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine will not approve legislation banning same-sex marriage if the state’s highest court rules that such unions are legal, a Corzine spokesperson said.

The Democrat governor has said marriage should be between a man and a woman and has not voiced support for legalizing same-sex marriage, but the comments by his administration was a key indication of potential fallout from a pending state Supreme Court ruling on same-sex unions.

“If the Supreme Court rules that gay marriage is constitutional, the governor would not sign legislation to take away people’s rights,” said spokesperson Anthony Coley on the same day same-sex marriage opponents rallied at the state Capitol.

Foes and proponents of same-sex marriage are awaiting the high court’s ruling on a lawsuit filed by seven same-sex couples who contend state law allows them to marry. Advocacy groups expect a decision by Oct. 25, the day before the court’s current chief justice turns 70 and is required to retire.

Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Council, said at the rally that the lawsuit seeks “to undermine the most basic institution of our culture, marriage, which is the bedrock of a stable society.”

NEW YORK (AP) – A transgender woman convicted of assault after breaking her 84-year-old mother’s arm during a fight about money was sentenced Oct. 5 to 60 days in jail and three years probation.

Diane Wells, 53, was convicted in April of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, by a Manhattan Criminal Court jury that deliberated a little more than two hours. She could have been sentenced to as much as a year in jail.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Kabakoff, who requested the 60-day sentence with post-release supervision, told Judge Ellen Coin that after the trial Wells had called her mother, Joyce Cheney, and her brother, James Cheney, 44, and was “barking like a dog” into the telephone.

Wells’ lawyer, John Sims, said Kabakoff never proved his client had made the barking calls. He also noted the jury acquitted his client of intentional assault and said jailing her would serve no purpose.

Sims also said that because Wells, formerly a man, underwent gender reassignment surgery, she had several associated medical problems and had a complex medication regimen that jailers might not follow.

Besides the jail sentence and probation, the judge signed an order of protection directing Wells to stay away from her mother and brother for the next five years. The judge also ordered Wells to pay a $160 court surcharge.

Kabakoff said during trial that Wells, who has never held a job, broke her mother’s arm on May 10, 2005, in the Central Park West apartment where they lived. He said Wells attacked her mother because she refused to change her will to make Wells her chief beneficiary to the exclusion of her brother and sister.

The prosecutor said Wells left her mother in pain alone all night in the living room. Joyce Cheney was found the next morning by her housekeeper, who called 911 and went with her to a hospital emergency room, Kabakoff said.

MOYOCK (AP) – Danielle Smiley envisions a high school club that raises awareness and brings together gay and straight students.

But forming such a club at Currituck County High School has been anything but smooth.

Local pastors and parents have denounced the proposal. They’ve said the club could help spread AIDS, encourage children to engage in sex and persuade others to become gay.

“It just seems to me that it is very disturbing where we’ve come in society when something of this nature could come before us and be considered by so many,” Scott Pollard, pastor at Moyock Assembly of God, said during a school board meeting last week.

Smiley began thinking about putting together the club after being harassed at school. That has included students putting chewing gum on the lock on her wall locker and teachers forcing her to tell her parents about her sexual orientation, she said.

“I was thinking last year how great it would be to be able to stop this,” she said.

Smiley has asked for permission to form a chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school. It wouldn’t be a “gay club” for recruiting gays and promoting sexual activity, but instead would focus on raising awareness about gay people among all students, she said. It also would provide an opportunity for gay students to talk with their peers instead of their parents or adults, Smiley said.

More than 130 people attended the Oct. 2 school board meeting to address the proposal and the board’s policy on clubs, though board members did not discuss the matter publicly.

Members will consult with Superintendent C. Michael Warren and school attorneys before announcing a decision, board chair John Barnes said.

The issue comes down to protected free speech, officials said. Schools can’t discriminate against students who want to form a club with views differing from a community or school board, Ken Soo, the school district’s attorney, told those in attendance.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A Republican senator is holding up a Michigan judge’s nomination to the federal bench because she reportedly helped lead a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, an opponent of same-sex marriage who has presidential aspirations, said he wants to know whether there was anything illegal or improper about the ceremony in Massachusetts.

He also said he wants to question Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff about her views on same-sex marriage and how her actions might shape her judicial philosophy.

“It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism,” Brownback said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Neff’s nomination for a seat on the U.S. District Court in Michigan’s Western District. Her nomination is now pending before the full Senate.

A single senator can block a nomination from moving forward by placing a hold on it.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Neff has not returned phone calls.

Brownback said Republican activists in Michigan expressed concerns about Neff after seeing her name in a September 2002 New York Times “Weddings/Celebrations” announcement. It said Neff led the commitment ceremony for Karen Adelman and Mary Curtin with the Rev. Kelly A. Gallagher, a minister of the United Church of Christ.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said based on the newspaper announcement it didn’t sound like Neff did anything illegal.

“There’s no reason why two people can’t stand up and exchange commitments with each other provided they don’t do anything illegal,” Levin said.

Brownback cited recent instances in California and New York where local officials issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples contrary to existing laws.

“I don’t know what she did,” Brownback said. “That’s why there’s a factual question.”

Brownback has asked the U.S. Justice Department for a formal legal opinion in addition to asking Neff specific questions.

“This is nothing more than Sam Brownback looking for another opportunity to rear his bigoted head and find a way to attack gay people,” said Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign president.

Neff, 61, has served on the Michigan Court of Appeals since 1989. She was nominated by President Bush to fill three vacancies on the district court.

Levin said Neff was nominated along with Grand Rapids attorney Robert Jonker and Berrien County Circuit Judge Paul Maloney as part of an agreement he and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., reached with the White House. Brownback said Neff has a more liberal reputation while Jonker and Maloney are considered conservatives.