Equality/Rights

Riverside, Calif. (AP) -- A federal judge in Southern California has declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips on Thursday granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military.

San Francisco, Ca (AP) -- California's highest court on Wednesday refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state's attorney general to appeal a federal ruling that overturned the state's gay marriage ban.

The state Supreme Court denied a conservative legal group's request to force the state officials to defend the voter-approved ban.

A Contributor Perspective: San Francisco Showcases the Latest Inquisition

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman says in a magazine interview that he is gay.

Minneapolis,Mn(AP) -- Richard Mahan and Anita Hill are both Lutheran pastors who were inside a Minneapolis convention hall last summer when delegates for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to allow non-celibate gay and lesbian pastors.

Afterward, each cried for different reasons.

San Francisco, Ca (AP) -- A retired Presbyterian minister is facing a church trial for performing weddings of gay couples during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in California.

The Rev. Jane Spahr has been accused of publicly, intentionally and repeatedly violating church doctrine when she presided at the weddings of 16 couples between June and November of 2008.

Hagerstown, Md. (AP) -- The Army private suspected in one of the largest unauthorized disclosures of classified information in U.S. history has become a hero to many anti-war activists who have joined an international effort to free him.

At demonstrations this month in New York, Oklahoma City and Quantico, Va., where Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held, dozens of supporters have shouted that "Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime."

St. Paul, Minn. (AP) -- MSNBC rejected a TV ad calling for a boycott of Target Corp. after the retail giant made a political donation in Minnesota, continuing the controversy over corporate involvement in elections.

Jackson, Miss. (AP) -- Another teenage lesbian is suing a rural Mississippi school district, this time over a policy banning young women from wearing tuxedos in senior yearbook portraits.

The following time line illustrates that GLBT legislation began 500 years ago. While this material is far from exhaustive - it does provide a good overview.