Calif. Police Chief Quits After Gay Sex Sting

Palm Springs residents object to scandalous portrait

(NEWSER) - Palm Springs is a very gay place. No one is arguing with that. About half the California town’s adult residents are gay, the mayor is gay, and clothing-optional gay establishments dot the landscape. But a recent transplant's new memoir, Postcards From Palm Springs, is riling locals who see it as an over-the-top depiction of a sex-mad town. The LA Times pays a visit. More»

Cops launch hate crime probe

(NEWSER) - Police have launched a hate crime investigation into vandalism of a "gay nativity" scene outside a California church. The scene at Claremont United Methodist Church featured three wooden light boxes portraying a heterosexual and two homosexual couples holding hands beneath a Star of Bethlehem and the words: "Christ is Born." The gay couples were pushed over, reports the Los Angeles Times . The church has a history of featuring social or political messages in its nativity scenes, but they have never before been vandalized. "Christ's birth in a stable had a lot to do with being marginalized," said the church pastor. "What this church has tried to do through these scenes is say, 'What would that look like today?'" More»

Banning gay marriage but allowing existing unions will leave couples on 'marriage island'

(NEWSER) - The California Supreme Court's expected decision to uphold a ban on gay marriage but still recognize existing unions will leave the state's 18,000 married gay couples in a strange situation, the Los Angeles Times reports. Couples are relieved that their marriages are likely to survive, but they see legal and emotional confusion stemming from their unique status. "They are likely to be frequently asked to prove that they are married," one legal activist notes. More»

(NEWSER) - Protesters around California are gearing up for tomorrow's state Supreme Court session on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the voter referendum that banned gay marriage, the Los Angeles Times reports. The decision isn’t due for 3 months, but the opinion is already written, and the court's stand may be revealed in the judges' responses to oral arguments, which will be televised. More»

'Good standing' Catholic opposes church positions on gays, divorce and choice

(NEWSER) - California First Lady Maria Shriver likes the "compassion and justice of Jesus Christ" advanced by her Catholic religion, but can't abide the church's positions on gays, divorce and a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, she reveals in a Washington Post interview. "I'm a cafeteria Catholic," she declares, referring to her habit of following only Catholic teachings she believes in. More»