Homosexuality | featured news

The passage of the “marriage for all” law came after months of sometimes angry debate and a series of major protests.

Officials of the Boy Scouts of America said Friday that they propose ending their ban on openly gay scouts but continuing to bar gay adults from serving as leaders. The decision, which follows years of heated controversy within the organization and growing outside criticism, must be approved by the roughly 1,400 voting members of the Scouts’ National Council at a meeting in Texas the week of May 20.

A measure allowing civil unions for same-sex couples is headed to the governor's desk, where it's expected to be signed.

The Boy Scouts of America put off a decision Wednesday on whether to lift its ban on gay members and leaders, saying the question will be taken up at the organization's national meeting in May.

Tennessee state senator Stacey Campfield has reintroduced his infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, with enhancements, including the tattletale clause requiring school teachers and counselors to tell parents if their kids are gay, under various scenarios. Campfield recently introduced a bill that would cut welfare to families if their children don’t perform well in school, calling it a step toward “breaking the cycle of poverty.”

As early as next week, the Boy Scouts of America may announce it will allow gay Scouts and troop leaders, a spokesman for the group has told USA TODAY. If this policy shift is approved by the national board meeting next week, it will be a sharp reversal of the Scouts' decades' old national policy banning homosexuals.

Boy Scouts of America is discussing ending a longstanding ban on gay members and whether to allow local organizations to decide their own policy, a spokesman said on Monday.

Jubilant gay rights advocates called the results a historic turning point, a sign that public opinion is shifting in their direction.

A gay man sued a Kentucky jail and a fellow inmate Tuesday, saying the other prisoner bit off part of his nose after harassing him for days. The suit says that Brandon Milam, of Bowling Green, Ky., was sitting on his bed on July 2 when Timothy Schwartz, the other inmate, approached him, pinned him against the wall and began punching his face.

The number of gay and bisexual characters on scripted broadcast network TV is at its highest-ever level in the season ahead, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.