gays

Democrats shouted "Shame! Shame!," but seven Republicans switched their votes under pressure from House leaders Thursday and defeated a measure to protect gay rights.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Indiana Statehouse on Saturday, some carrying "no hate in our state" signs, to rally against a new law that opponents say could sanction discrimination against gay people.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of U.S. gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience Wednesday.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A judge in New Jersey has ruled that claims of gay conversion therapy that describe homosexuality as a curable mental disorder are fraud.

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio (AP) -- Like thousands of other young men in the 1940s, Rupert Starr joined the Army, fought overseas and saw his share of hardship, including several weeks as a German prisoner of war. He returned to Ohio with a Bronze Star for heroism and a secret.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Three suburban Philadelphia defendants being charged in the beating of a gay couple during a late-night encounter on a city street have turned themselves in.

A federal judge declared a same-sex marriage ban in deeply conservative Texas unconstitutional on Wednesday, but will allow the nation's second-most populous state to enforce the law pending an appeal that will likely go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Historic votes Tuesday in the Illinois Legislature positioned that state to become the largest in the heartland to legalize gay marriage, following months of arduous lobbying efforts by both sides in President Barack Obama's home state.

A New Jersey judge has turned down a request by the Christie administration to delay a ruling that allows same-sex couples to marry starting on Oct. 21, but that won't stop the legal wrangling over the issue.

A judge on Thursday denied the Christie administration's motion to delay the start of same-sex marriage in New Jersey. The administration has appealed, but if a stay isn't granted, gay couples can apply for a marriage license starting Oct. 21, and in some cases get married.