AP - Gov. Bob McDonnell directed state agencies not to discriminate against gay people in employment practices Wednesday, essentially overriding the Virginia attorney general's advice to public colleges.

AP - At least a dozen couples tied the knot in the District of Columbia on the first day same-sex ceremonies were legally allowed, and many more unions were on the way.

AFP - After waiting for years for the chance to legally wed, gay couples walked down church aisles and exchanged vows in civil ceremonies in Washington on the first day same-sex marriage was allowed in the US capital.

AFP - For gay US businessman Brad Fister, experiencing the joy of fatherhood meant flying half way around the world to India where he first held his baby daughter, born to a woman who had signed away any right to her child.

AP - Throngs of Mexico City gay and lesbian couples registered for marriage licenses Thursday, the day Latin America's first gay-marriage law took effect.

AP - Gay and lesbian couples will soon be able to marry in Washington, but the debate over same-sex marriage has sounded different here, with references to interracial marriage and Martin Luther King.

AP - Thousands of people in lavish costumes and various states of undress danced and partied their way through Sydney's streets on Saturday, in Australia's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.

AFP - Almost 10,000 people shimmied, strutted and strode through the ages on Saturday as Sydney celebrated its 32nd gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade.

AP - More than a year after disclosing he is gay, Clay Aiken is speaking before a gay-rights event in his hometown.

AFP - Clerics from the Anglican church in England on Tuesday called for an end to rules that stop gay couples marrying in religious venues such as churches or synagogues.

AP - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman interferes with her state's right to regulate the institution.

AFP - Julianne Moore and Annette Bening star as a married lesbian couple whose two children go looking for their sperm donor in a movie met with cheers Wednesday at the 60th Berlin Film Festival.