(Washington) The nation's largest LGBT civil rights group is calling on Congress to act swiftly to pass a wide number of bills expanding gay rights - many of which were promised by Democrats during the election campaign. The Human Rights Campaign notes the 111th Congress includes more allies of the LGBT ...

(St. Paul, Minnesota) Minnesota's grueling U.S. Senate race, already dragging on two months past Election Day, has now moved even further from the voters - and into the hands of lawyers. Republican Norm Coleman filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging Democrat Al Franken's apparent recount victory, likely keeping one of Minnesota's two ...

(Washington) Roland Burris said Wednesday he should be able to join the Senate "very shortly," after talking to newly supportive Democratic leaders and working on lingering legal obstacles. Talking to reporters on the second day of a Washington power odyssey that would intimidate many, the 71-year-old Burris declared himself "very happy" ...

(New York City) New Yorkers who binge drink tend to have many more sex partners, putting themselves at an increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases compared with those who drink less or don't drink at all, according to a new Health Department. The report - Alcohol Use and Risky Sex in ...

(San Diego, California) A federal appeals court has asked for a legal opinion from the California Supreme Court in a lawsuit over whether San Diego acted illegally in granting leases to the Boy Scouts of America. At issue is whether the BSA is a religious organization, and if the leases violate ...

(Trenton, New Jersey) Drugmaker Merck & Co. has asked federal regulators to approve use in males for its vaccine against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical and other sexually transmitted cancers. The application was submitted in late December, Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said this week. It was long planned as part of ...

(Montreal, Quebec) A transsexual Quebec inmate who hasn't physically completed the transformation to a woman has created an incarceration quagmire for federal corrections officials after being transferred into a men's prison. Tania Veilleux, 43, has been detained at the federal penitentiary in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines since mid-December ...

(Seattle, Washington) Seattle police say they are taking seriously threats of ricin attacks on 11 gay bars in the city. The threats were made in letters received by the bars on Tuesday and have been turned over to police. Seattle weekly newspaper The Stranger received a 12th letter saying it should ...

(Martinez, California) Two men and a teenager were formally charged Tuesday in the alleged gang rape of a lesbian in the San Francisco Bay area. Humberto Hernandez Salvador, 31, and Josue Gonzalez, 21, were charged with kidnapping, carjacking and gang rape in the attack last month in Richmond. Hate-crime enhancements were added ...