ANCHORAGE (AP) – The governor called a special session of Alaska’s legislature on Oct. 27 to determine how the state should pay court-ordered benefits for same-sex domestic partners of state employees and retirees.

Gov. Frank Murkowski called the special session despite the objections of Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, who questioned his authority to implement the regulations.

The state is facing a Jan. 1 deadline.

Scott Nordstrand, commissioner of the Department of Administration, said he wants to make sure the regulations that are adopted can withstand any legal challenge.

“This is to solve a very real problem in short order,” he said.

The 30-day session is scheduled to start Nov. 13.

However, Nordstrand said if the legislature – which did not take up the issue during its regular session and two subsequent special sessions on the natural gas pipeline contract – failed to implement regulations, he would.

The issue goes back to 1999 when the American Civil Liberties Union and nine couples filed a lawsuit challenging the lack of benefits for same-sex couples employed by the state and the municipality of Anchorage.

About a year ago, the state Supreme Court ordered the state of Alaska to extend benefits to same-sex couples, finding that denying them violated the state’s guarantee of equal protection for all Alaskans because the state constitution restricts marriage to between a man and a woman.

The Supreme Court set a deadline of Jan. 1 for having the benefits in place and sent the lawsuit back to a lower court for implementation.

Last month, Superior Court Judge Stephanie Joannides sided with the ACLU in finding that the regulations proposed by the state were too restrictive. The judge also found that the types of benefits to be offered to same-sex couples were too narrow.

The proposed rules, for example, required that same-sex coupled attest to being in a committed relationship for at least 12 months and document each year they are still together. Joannides found that requirement to be “excessively burdensome.”

Michael Macleod-Ball, executive director of the ACLU of Alaska, said the state’s preliminary regulations required same-sex couples to satisfy six of nine criteria. After the judge’s ruling, the state “tweaked” them to require five of eight be met, he said.

Macleod-Ball said he expected a response from the court on the state’s most recent proposal within days.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A former winner of the prime-time reality series “The Amazing Race” alleges he was sexually assaulted while he was a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs.

Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” he never reported the incident to his superiors because he was afraid of repercussions.

But he says he was stripped of his clothes, had a bag put over his head, and was forced to perform sexual acts with two male cadets in the early 1990s.

Lehmkuhl remained silent, and served out his commitment as a captain in the Air Force.

Pentagon officials say there’s little they can do now unless he asks for an investigation and identifies his attackers.

The openly gay Lehmkuhl details his experiences in a new book entitled Here’s What We’ll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Lehmkuhl is now an actor and model, and recently went public with his relationship with former ’N Sync star Lance Bass.

ATLANTA (AP) – A research center has dropped a controversial proposal to conduct medical experiments on as many as 100 endangered African monkeys that are natural carriers of a form of the AIDS virus but do not get sick from it.

Yerkes withdrew the proposal last month in a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which regulates use of endangered species. Government officials confirmed the decision on Oct. 23. Yerkes officials refused to discuss it.

“If the application had been approved, it would have established a dangerous precedent,” said Tanya Sanerib, a Washington-based lawyer representing a coalition of animal-protection organizations.

Federal officials listed the primates as endangered in 1988, leaving the center with the world’s largest collection of captive sooties but little hope of using them for research.

Yerkes, a part of Emory University, decided to withdraw its research proposal “in light of the possible reconsideration of the sooty mangabey classification status,” according to a Sept. 14 letter to the federal government from James Else, Yerkes associate director for research resources.

In a request for a permit renewal, Yerkes officials also asked for a variance that would allow them to do medical experiments on the captive sooties “given our contribution” to sooty mangabey conservation.

Fish and Wildlife officials said they received 400 to 500 public comments about the proposal, including opposition statements from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and at least nine other animal-protection groups. The famous primate expert Jane Goodall also opposed the plan.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – President Bush said the “sacred institution” of marriage between a man and a woman must be defended against what he called activist court rulings.

Bush briefly brought up the topic, unprompted, while raising money for a Republican congressional candidate, a day after the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that same-sex couples must be given the same rights as married people.

The court left it up to the state’s Legislature to decide whether to extend those rights under the structure of marriage, civil unions or something else.

The president said the ruling “raises doubts about the institution of marriage.”

“I believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman,” he said. “I believe it’s a sacred institution that is critical to the health of our society and the well-being of families, and it must be defended.”

Bush did not say how it must be defended. But he has advocated a federal ban on same-sex marriage. Earlier this year, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage failed to win the needed two-thirds support in both the Senate and House.

Same-sex marriage is legal only in Massachusetts. Other states, including Vermont and California, have laws permitting civil unions or domestic partnerships that offer virtually all the state benefits of same-sex marriage, except the name. New Jersey and some other states have domestic partnership laws that offer fewer marriage benefits.

Twenty states have passed constitutional amendments aimed at blocking same-sex marriage, mostly by large margins.

NATCHITOCHES (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a lawsuit on Oct. 27 on behalf of a man who was chased away from the front of a Wal-Mart store when he tried to protest what he believes is the company’s stand on gays and lesbians.

A Natchitoches police officer told Edwin Crayton to leave on or about Oct. 4 after he stood in front of Wal-Mart with a protest sign that read: “Christians: Wal-Mart Supports Gay Lifestyles And Marriage. Don’t Shop There,” according to a news release from the ACLU.

Crayton was told he could not return until he obtained permits from the police and the mayor, said Joe Cook, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana.

“Government violates the principles in the First Amendment when it puts an over-broad permit scheme in place to restrain free speech in a public place,” Cook said. “The sweep of the ordinance is so wide that it could encompass a chance meeting on the street corner by two strangers.”

Last year, Wal-Mart disclosed that it was expanding the definition of “immediate family” in its ethics policy to include an employee’s same-sex partner. Efforts to increase diversity in the company work force include new groups of minority, female, and gay and lesbian employees who have started meeting at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to advise the company on marketing and internal promotion.

Crayton received permission from the Natchitoches chief of police to hold an “open air meeting,” but has not received permission from the mayor, although it has been several weeks since he applied for the permit, Cook said.

“The right to be heard on matters of religious and political significance is at the core of our constitutional system,” said Katie Schwartzmann, staff attorney for the ACLU of Louisiana.

The lawsuit contests not only Crayton’s need for a permit but also asks that the court declare the permit requirements themselves unconstitutional. The Natchitoches City Code completely forbids any public gathering, but provides exceptions for parades or for an “open air meeting” where one has a permit for same.

Mayor Wayne McCullen said he could not comment on the suit without seeing it. He did say, however, that he did not think Crayton’s permit application had been pending for weeks.

The ACLU successfully challenged a similar New Iberia ordinance in 2002. In that case, a lone protester carried a sign in front of a store to protest its gun sale policies and was threatened with arrest by a police officer.

ST. CLOUD (AP) – A Pride flag has been stolen from St. Cloud State University. Someone took down the rainbow flag from the university’s administrative services building.

The flag was raised in honor of GLBT and Allies History and Awareness Month and was intended to be on display through October.

In a mass e-mail, SCSU sociology professor Tracey Ore points out that some students had started a group called “Remove the GLBT Flag” on the Facebook Web site.

On the Web site, the group contends the flag misrepresents people on campus. The message also says the flag pole should not be used to represent any one organization.

It’s not clear if one of the members of the group removed the flag.

TRENTON, N.J. – Former governor James McGreevey, who resigned after acknowledging a gay affair, said he would tie the knot with his partner if state legislators decide to allow same-sex marriage.

“Marriage would offer the ability to bless our relationship in a committed way,” McGreevey, 49, told The New York Times.

McGreevey’s comments followed a state Supreme Court ruling on Oct. 25 that same-sex couples must be given the same rights as married people. The court left it up to the state legislature to decide whether to extend those rights under the structure of marriage or something else.

Some gay rights advocates said the decision didn’t go far enough.

McGreevey, who told The Associated Press last month that he had publicly opposed same-sex marriage while in office as a way to keep his homosexuality hidden, hailed the ruling.

“I applaud the court’s courage,” McGreevey told the AP. “I regret not having had the fortitude to embrace this right during my tenure as governor.”

The former governor stepped down in 2004 after announcing that while married to a woman he had an affair with another man.

McGreevey now lives with Mark O’Donnell, a 43-year-old Australian businessperson.

Before they could marry, the former governor would have to finalize his divorce from his second wife.

NEW YORK (AP) – Transgender people won the right to use any restroom operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in an agreement reached with a woman who had sued the agency for the right.

Under the agreement, reached Oct. 23, the MTA also agreed to pay Helena Stone – formerly known as Henry McGuinness – $ 2,000 in damages to pay for her legal fees, according to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented Stone.

It also calls for the MTA to hold transgender sensitivity training for its workers.

The MTA confirmed the settlement but declined to comment further.

Stone, 70, filed a complaint with the city’s Human Rights Commission after being arrested three times for using the women’s restroom at Grand Central Terminal where she worked as a telephone technician. She was charged with disorderly conduct each time.

Stone, who dresses like woman, has been in transition from male to female for about 10 years.

“I’m thrilled with it,” Stone said after the agreement was reached.

During one arrest, Stone said an officer called her “a freak, a weirdo and the ugliest woman in the world” and warned her, “If I ever see you in the women’s bathroom, I’m going to arrest you.”

The MTA dropped its charges in March against Stone after the TLDEF staged a rally outside Grand Central in February.

Stone was arrested on disorderly conduct charges on Sept. 29, on Dec. 17 and on Jan. 12. She said the arrests forced her to use a cup in her office, which has no bathroom.

The Human Rights Commission has previously instituted a similar policy for government and other public bathrooms in the city.

COLUMBIA (AP) – Wal-Mart’s affiliation with a gay and lesbian business coalition has prompted a local church and its 150 members to boycott the discount retailer.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said in August it had become a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, joining several other major companies that work with the chamber.

“We’re reaching out to a number of groups to better connect to our customers,” Wal-Mart spokesperson David Tovar said. “Our commitment to welcome and serve all customers with respect and without discrimination remains unchanged.”

The new affiliation prompted Trinity Family Church, a nondenominational church, to call on members to quit patronizing Wal-Mart operations because NGLCC supports same-sex marriage. A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is on the November ballot in Tennessee.

“We may sound like a small voice, but we have to let our voice be heard,” pastor Carol Jacobs said. “I can’t keep quiet about it. I just can’t.”

The church found out about the partnership through an e-mail from the American Family Association.

The pastor also cited books on gay and lesbian issues sold by Wal-Mart as a reason for the boycott.

Jacobs said the church had been spending thousands of dollars at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club for supplies but now shops elsewhere.

“It’s difficult, because it was … a familiar place, a comfortable place to go and get anything we needed in one place,” Jacobs said.

Bob McAdam, vice president of corporate affairs with Wal-Mart, said the popularity of his company’s nearly 4,000 stores will overcome any call for a boycott.

“Wal-Mart continues to serve the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their political persuasion or their personal beliefs,” he said.

NASHVILLE (AP) – A former soldier convicted in connection with the murder of another soldier because he was believed to be gay was released from a local halfway house, according to an advocacy group for gays and lesbians in the military.

Steve Ralls, spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), said former Spc. Justin Fisher was released Oct. 24 based on “information from the parents” of the victim, Pfc. Barry Winchell.

Army officials have not confirmed the release and attempts to reach Fisher were unsuccessful. When The Associated Press called the halfway house in the Nashville area, a resident who answered said Fisher had been released.

Winchell, a soldier from the Kansas City area who was 21 at the time of his death in 1999, was beaten with a baseball bat as he slept in his cot on the base at Fort Campbell, Ky., which sits on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Pvt. Calvin Glover of Sulphur, Okla., was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Winchell. Fisher, who is from Lincoln, Neb., was given a 12.5-year sentence for lying to investigators.

However, he only served seven years before going to the halfway house operated by Diersen Charities Inc.

NASHVILLE (AP) – A ministry that counsels gays and lesbians to change their sexual orientation has settled a lawsuit with the state of Tennessee concerning its program.

A pair of visits last year by Tennessee’s Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities found that Love in Action International’s two Memphis facilities were controlling patients’ access to their prescription medication and must therefore be licensed as a mental health facility. The state asked Love in Action to close its facilities and apply for a state license.

The organization then sued the state, claiming that it did not restrict access to medication, but kept it in a central location to prevent theft and tampering. It claimed the state was discriminating against the ministry because of its controversial religious mission.

Love in Action said the state had agreed that the facilities did not need to be licensed and agreed to pay the organization’s attorneys’ fees and expenses in the lawsuit.

In return, Love in Action agreed that its employees would not administer or regulate the medications of program participants.

“TDMHDD is pleased that the case has been settled to the satisfaction of all parties involved,” department spokesperson Jill M. Hudson said in a statement.

Love In Action’s stated mission is “the prevention or remediation of unhealthy and destructive behaviors facing families, adults and adolescents,” categories in which it includes promiscuity, pornography and homosexuality.

Its work has drawn the ire of many gay rights advocates. Love in Action claims such groups were instrumental in getting the state to inspect the facility and push for its closing.

RICHMOND (AP) – The Family Foundation’s first broadcast ad uses a chatty phone conversation between two women to persuade voters to support a proposed constitutional amendment blocking same-sex marriage.

The 60-second ad features imaginary voters “Linda” and “Kelly” discussing the amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot and whether it will threaten the rights of non-same-sex couples by also banning civil unions.

The conversation turns into a debate about whether the amendment could impact wills and other contracts between all unmarried couples – a key argument used by amendment opponents.

“According to the State Board of Elections and the attorney general, all those rights will continue to be available to all unmarried people,” Linda says. “The real issue is how we are going to define marriage for our children.”

The women agree to support the amendment, and their voices are replaced by a male announcer urging voters to vote yes.

The ad will run on Christian and AM talk show stations through Election Day, spokesperson Chris Freund said. A second ad is planned.

The group has spent $60,000 on the radio spots.

WOODBRIDGE (AP) – A Woodbridge church has voted to pull out of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church (U.S.A) in part about issues involving gays and lesbians.

The 200-member Christ Our Lord Church is the third northern Virginia Episcopal church to withdraw from the diocese and affiliate with the Anglican Province of Uganda.

It joins other conservative congregations upset with denomination leadership.

The dispute goes back to the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop by the national church. Also upsetting to congregations was the election this summer of a female bishop who supported the blessing of same-sex unions in Nevada.

South Riding Church in Loudoun County left the diocese in November. The Church of the Holy Spirit, also in Loudoun County, left in February.

Two other northern Virginia Episcopal churches will soon decide whether to leave the denomination. Both of those are in Falls Church.

CHEYENNE (AP) – Republican gubernatorial candidate Ray Hunkins says he would support a law saying that Wyoming would not have to recognize same-sex marriages from places like Massachusetts or San Francisco.

“Without the legislation I propose today, marriages of same-sex couples performed in these and other places will be and are valid in Wyoming,” Hunkins said.

Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal said he didn’t object to such legislation.

State law defines marriage as between a man and woman.

However, Hunkins said the law has a provision recognizing marriages done elsewhere.

“That is the loophole that would require recognized gay marriages [that are] performed elsewhere,” he said.

Hunkins also said he would support harsher prison terms for sex offenders when the victim is a child, as well as when a woman known to be pregnant miscarries due to battery.

Freudenthal has advocated harsher sentences for child sex offenders and he has no objection to imposing harsher penalties in current law on assaults against pregnant women.