Authorities look into gay teen's murder as possible hate crime
The Associated Press


BAY MINETTE, Ala. (AP) -- An 18-year-old Bay Minette man who was robbed, beaten, cut and strangled at his trailer home and then set on fire along a dirt road may have been targeted because he was gay, a Baldwin County investigator said.

Capt. Huey "Hoss" Mack Jr. told the Mobile Register that Baldwin County sheriff's investigators still believe robbery was the primary motive in Scotty Joe Weaver's killing. But given that he was robbed of less than $100, they are looking at the death as a possible hate crime, Mack said.

"That's some of the information and rumor that's surrounding this case," said Mack, chief investigator for the Sheriff's Department.

Two of Weaver's roommates — Christopher Ryan Gaines, 20, and Nichole Kelsay, 18 — were charged Saturday with capital murder in Weaver's death. Gaines' friend, 18-year-old Robert Holly Lofton Porter, who spent time at the trailer home, was also charged with capital murder.




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Couple vows to fight court's nullification of France's first homosexual marriage


BORDEAUX, France The first gay couple to be married in France vows to fight a court decision nullifying the marriage.

The men (Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier) exchanged vows on June fifth.

They promise to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. They also predict victory in the courts.

The local mayor who presided over the ceremony was stripped of his official duties for a month.


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Court Clerk Wants Gay Marriage Suit Thrown Out


ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Anne Arundel County's Clerk of the Court asked a Baltimore judge Tuesday to throw out the American Civil Liberties Union's suit for the right of same-sex couples to marry.

County Clerk Robert Duckworth claimed a courtroom victory for the ACLU would put him in an untenable position.
Duckworth, a Republican candidate for Congress who opposes gay marriage, argued in a motion that he would find it difficult to uphold state law if the courts side with the ACLU.

Earlier this month, the group sued claiming Maryland's law that marriage is only between a man and a woman is unconstitutional.