Social Issues

Dozens of gay and lesbian former military service members who were discharged due to their homosexuality will receive the rest of their severance pay under a settlement approved Monday by a federal court.
Minnesota Sen. Al Franken is meeting with education officials at an Eagan middle school to discuss ways to ensure school safety in Minnesota.
Sleepy Eye police investigated the threats after they were notified of a Facebook posting. Investigators say the threats were directed at several area schools.
Officials in Putnam County, N.Y., say they will reject a newspaper's request to release the names and addresses of residents with pistol permits -- a move an open government advocate calls illegal.
Do gays need a church of their own anymore?
In 1968 the founding of the Metropolitan Community Churches offered a lone spiritual refuge to openly gay Christians, an idea so far from the mainstream that the founders were often chased from places where they tried to worship. Four decades later, some of the most historically important American denominations, which had routinely expelled gays and lesbians, are welcoming them instead.