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LGBT demonstrators will protest outside the Waldorf-Astoria on New York’s Park Avenue on Saturday, Feb. 4. The focus will be on the nation’s largest LGBT group, the Human Rights Campaign.

HRC, at a gala dinner, again will honor Goldman Sachs, this time for “corporate equality.”

Two gay men say they were punched and pinned to the ground by an off-duty Cleveland police officer before being called offensive names and jailed without their trousers.

The two men filed a suit against the city and the police department this week, according to AP.

Discount Gun Sales has teamed up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to offer a pink version of its popular Walther P-22 handgun in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Komen Foundation, which sponsors pink-ribbon walks and other events to raise money for breast cancer research, is embroiled in controversy following its decision to defund Planned Parenthood.

An undisclosed portion from the sale of each Walther P-22 “Hope Edition” will be donated to the Seattle Branch of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The gun retails for $429.99.

The right-wing Liberty Counsel and the American College of Pediatricians are calling on the superintendent of the Shawano school district to apologize to a high school student he reprimanded for advocating the execution of gays in a student newspaper.

A Shawano high school published a point-counterpoint feature in which two students argued the merits of gays adopting and parenting children. One student, Brandon Wegner, quoted biblical passages calling for the execution of gays as he made his argument against gay parents.

A coalition of civil rights, labor, progressive, faith, student, health, legal, women’s and LGBT organizations this week called for passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.

The bill would repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act signed into law in 1996, when Bill Clinton was president and Newt Gingrich was speaker of the House. Bob Barr of Georgia introduced DOMA, but the former congressman has since said he no longer supports its provisions.

JCPenney is reaffirming its decision to hire lesbian talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson for the department store.

The company stated on Feb. 3, that it “stands behind its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres.”

Sir Elton John appears as the “King of Rock” in the Pepsi ad set to air during the Super Bowl XLVI telecast, which is on NBC on Feb. 5.

The 60-second ad, titled “King’s Court,” features “The X Factor” 2011 winner Melanie Amaro singing for Elton John.

Gay civil rights activists planned to protest early Feb. 2 outside the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event often keynoted by the president and co-organized by a secretive, anti-gay religious group known as “The Family.”

Each year, the breakfast draws political leaders, business leaders and heads of state to Washington, D.C.

New Mexico state Rep. David Chavez, who in late January introduced a bill to protect “traditional marriage” and ban gay marriage, was served with an order of protection from domestic abuse and divorce papers in October 2010.

DemocracyforNewMexicoNow.org, an activist news site, reported that Chavez’ wife filed a domestic abuse complaint in mid-October 2010 and, the same day, sought a protective order and filed to dissolve their four-year marriage.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced mid-morning Friday that it was reversing its decision to defund cancer-screening programs at Planned Parenthood clinics.

The announcement came in the form of statement from the board, which follows:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Feb. 2 decided not to unseal the video record of the trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown).

The Perry case is a federal constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, the voter-approved amendment that banned same-sex marriage in California. In a landmark August 2010 ruling, a U.S. District Court ruled that Prop 8 is unconstitutional.

The Washington Senate late Feb. 1 approved a marriage equality bill by a 28-21 vote. The measure faces likely success in the House and Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire has pledged to sign the bill into law if it reaches her desk.

With her signature, Washington would become the seventh state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.