United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s ban on its clergy celebrating same-sex marriages

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — `United Methodist delegates on Friday repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy and in its churches. The action marked the final major reversal of a collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals...

United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s longstanding ban on its clergy celebrating same-sex marriages

United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their official social teachings that deemed “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching” — part of a wider series of historic reversals of the denomination’s...

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially divorced and single

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially divorced and single. The dissolution of the couple’s marriage was finalized Friday by a Los Angeles County judge, nearly two years after the two were married. The judgment comes hours after the...

United Methodists begin to reverse longstanding anti-LGBTQ policies

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates began making historic changes in their policies on sexuality on Tuesday — voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies. The delegates voted to delete mandatory penalties for conducting same-sex marriages and to...

New Jersey and union ask judge to dismiss anti-smoking lawsuit targeting Atlantic City casinos

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City's main casino workers union and the New Jersey attorney general on Monday asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a different union that seeks to ban smoking at the city's nine casinos. Local 54 of the Unite Here union said in a filing...

United Methodists prepare for votes on lifting LGBTQ bans and other issues at General Conference

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates are heading into the homestretch of their first legislative gathering in five years — one that appears on track to make historic changes in lifting their church's longstanding bans on same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. ...

Jack Wagoner, attorney who challenged Arkansas' same-sex marriage ban, dies

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Attorney Jack Wagoner, who helped successfully challenge Arkansas' ban on same-sex marriage before state and federal courts, has died. He was 62. Wagoner died in Little Rock on Tuesday, said Bruce Tennant, an attorney who worked with him at his law firm....

United Methodists open first top-level conference since breakup over LGBTQ inclusion

Thousands of United Methodists are gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their big denominational meeting, known as General Conference. It’s a much-anticipated gathering. Typically it is held every four years, but church leaders delayed the 2020 gathering until now due to...

Las Vegas lawyer and wife killed amid custody fight for children from prior marriage, family says

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas lawyer and his wife had been in the middle of a contentious battle for custody of her children from a previous marriage when the woman's former father-in-law, also an attorney, fatally shot them last week during a deposition hearing in the case, according to...