Catholic school boots student with gay parents

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A Catholic school in Colorado is kicking out a preschooler because the child’s parents are lesbians.

The child also will not be allowed to re-enroll next year at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School. The Denver Archdiocese posted a statement Friday saying the parents are “living in open discord with Catholic teaching.’’

The statement says students in Catholic schools are expected to have parents who abide by church and school policies. The archdiocese said students with gay parents in Catholic schools would become confused.

“To allow children in these circumstances to continue in our school would be a cause of confusion for the student in that what they are being taught in school conflicts with what they experience in the home,’’ the statement read.

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Weiner wants to end ban on gay blood donors

NEW YORK (AP) — Some New York lawmakers are calling for an end to a federal ban on blood donations by gay men.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner said Saturday that overturning the prohibition could save lives at times when the city’s blood supplies run low.

The Food and Drug Administration prohibits men who have sex with men from donating blood, regardless of their HIV status. The ban was put in place in 1983. Weiner says it was implemented amid ignorance of how the virus is transmitted.

The Democrat says the policy doesn’t make blood any safer.

On Thursday a group of 18 U.S. senators called for changes in the law, including New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.

Shows with gays excluded from proposed tax credit

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Movie and TV productions with gay characters could be ineligible for a tax credit being considered in the state House.

Current state law grants tax credits on productions considered “family friendly’’ — with no smoking, sex, nudity or profane language.

The proposal by Republican Rep. Stephen Precourt of Orlando would increase the credit and expand the field of disqualified productions as those that include any “exhibit or implied act’’ of nontraditional family values and gratuitous violence.

Precourt says he’s not targeting the gay community but that shows with gay characters would not be something he’d want “to invest public dollars in.’’

Florida Together director Ted Howard said “instituting 1950s-style movie censorship does nothing to support real-life families.’’

Mass. Senate to debate sweeping anti-bullying bill

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts schools would be required to take a tougher stand against classroom bullies if a bill set to be debated by the state Senate this week becomes law.

The bill would prohibit bullying in schools. It would also crack down on so-called cyberbullying by banning the use of e-mails, text messages, Internet postings and other electronic means to create a hostile school environment for others.

Administrators would be required to publish an anti-bullying policy and create an anti-bullying curriculum for students. Every adult working in a school would have to report bullying incidents and principals would have to investigate and take disciplinary action if they determine bullying has occurred.

Rep. Marty Walz, the bill’s author, said the legislation’s goal is to create learning environments where students know they can’t harass one another. A key to that is convincing teachers, staff and other school workers to send the message that bullying won’t be tolerated.

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Va. AG: Colleges can’t ban gay discrimination

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s attorney general has advised the state’s public colleges that they don’t have the authority to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying only the General Assembly has that power.

The letter sent by Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli to state college presidents and other officials Thursday drew swift criticism from Democrats and gay rights activists.

Cuccinelli said the legislature has repeatedly refused to exercise its authority. As recently as Tuesday, a subcommittee killed legislation that would have banned job discrimination against gay state employees.

“It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like classification, as a protected class within its nondiscrimination policy, absent specific authorization from the General Assembly,’’ Cuccinelli wrote.

The Republican advised college governing boards to “take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law.’’

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Udall: Military should end gay ban immediately

DENVER (AP) — Colorado's senior senator has joined other Democrats calling for an immediate end to the military's ban on gay service members.

Sen. Mark Udall co-sponsored a bill Wednesday to repeal of a 1993 law banning gay servicemen and women. A similar measure is being considered in the House.

Udall told reporters Wednesday that his plan would repeal the ban immediately, barring the military from discharging anyone for sexual orientation.

The Pentagon is preparing a nine-month study of how to repeal the gay ban. Some in the GOP have also criticized the study, saying it is likely to be biased because Pentagon officials have already signaled the gay ban will end.