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A music-oriented poll from Public Policy Polling finds Americans united in their dislike for teen pop sensation Justin Bieber.

PPP surveyed people to test the favorability ratings of music stars and found above 50 percent favorability ratings for Taylor Swift (53-27), Adele (54-18), Beyonce (51-30) and Justin Timberlake (52-24).

The Minnesota House voted 75-59 on May 9 for legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage while protecting religious freedoms.

Lawmakers, as they said repeatedly in floor speeches, voted for love, equality, freedom when they hit the green lights.

A judge ruled on May 8 that cheerleaders at a Southeast Texas high school can display banners emblazoned with Bible verses at football games.

But the ruling might not have settled the issue of whether the banners are protected free speech, according to an attorney for the cheerleaders' school district.

The Democratic National Committee says NBA veteran Jason Collins, who this month came out as gay and made sports history, will headline the DNC's annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender gala.

Collins is the first active player in any of four major U.S. professional men's sports leagues to come out as gay. President Barack Obama called the 34-year-old athlete the same day to congratulate him and tell him he was proud of his courage.

A former college football star and National Football League hopeful has come out as gay.

Former University of Richmond wide receiver Kevin Grayson told Virginia CBS affiliate WTVR-Channel 6 that he’d kept his sexual orientation secret to avoid the attention that coming out brings.

PNC Financial Services Group has joined the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce as a Gold Founding Member, the organization announced on May 9.

The announcement comes just days before the chamber hosts its Madison launch event at 5:30 p.m. on May 14 at Plan B, 924 Williamson St.

Minnesota appears poised to legalize gay marriage, as the Democratic speaker of the state House said this week that a gay marriage bill endorsed by the governor and likely to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber.

The House will vote on the measure today (May 9), and if it passes, the Democratic-led Senate could vote on it as soon as May 11.

Openly gay U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan’s husband has received an ID issued only to the spouses of federal lawmakers. It is the first time the House has recognized the same-sex husband of a member with the House Spouse ID.

“We’re very happy that my husband Phil (Frank) was able to get a House Spouse ID,” said Pocan, a Democrat from Madison.

Religious leaders said on May 8 that adding protections for LGBT families to federal immigration legislation could risk their support for the bill, setting up a potential Senate showdown.

But civil rights leaders say that the measure isn’t comprehensive unless it includes protections for binational same-sex couples who, because of discriminatory laws, do not have federal recognition of their relationships.

An autopsy report says a man admitted to killing a Mississippi mayoral candidate in February and that the victim died from lack of oxygen, but it doesn't give an exact reason for the death beyond calling it a homicide.

The report says blunt force trauma most likely contributed to Clarksdale mayoral candidate Marco McMillian's death, but the cause of death is listed as "asphyxia by undetermined etiology," which is the medical branch dealing with causes. That means McMillian died from a lack of oxygen, but exactly what caused that could not be determined.

It was among the first states to legalize gay marriage and served as the 2008 campaign liftoff site for the first black president, but in other arenas Iowa isn't quite so progressive – it's also one of just two states to never elect a woman governor or member of Congress.

The other is Mississippi, a fact that causes a certain amount of handwringing among Iowa's political classes.