Reporting from Washington - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide the outer limits of free-speech protection for protests and to rule on whether a dead soldier's family can sue fringe religious protesters who picketed near their son's funeral carrying signs that read, "Thank God for dead soldiers."

Like the famous case of the American Nazis who marched in Skokie, Ill., the new case of anti-gay picketing at military funerals tests whether the most hateful protests must be tolerated under the 1st Amendment, even if they inflict emotional harm.

SACRAMENTO - California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, whose personal life became the subject of rumors in the wake of a DUI arrest last week, announced Monday that he is gay, but he defended his numerous votes against gay rights bills.

"I am gay . . . those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long. But I am gay," Ashburn told conservative radio talk show host Inga Barks in an on-air interview.

Early Wednesday morning, State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.) was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving. Sources report that Ashburn -- a fierce opponent of gay rights -- was driving drunk after leaving a gay nightclub; when the officer stopped the state-issued vehicle, there was an unidentified man in the passenger seat of the car.

Ashburn has issued an apology for the incident:

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A California state senator who reportedly has voted against every gay rights measure since he took office eight years ago was charged with driving under the influence on Wednesday, reportedly after leaving a gay nightclub in Sacramento.

Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, was spotted driving erratically at about 2 a.m. Wednesday in downtown Sacramento, officials said. He was arrested after taking a sobriety test, and he was taken to Sacramento County Jail, where he was administered a blood-alcohol test prior to being booked and released.

blantyre, malawi-police in malawi say they have arrested a man in what they describe as a sweep against homosexuals. there is a debate over gay rights in this conservative southern african country, sparked by the trial of a gay couple charged

u.s. president barack obama has sharply criticized an anti-gay bill in uganda that would impose the death penalty in some cases. speaking thursday, president obama described the measure as "odious." he said that while people may disagree about gay

mr obama added his voice to a chorus of criticism from the us and europe us president barack obama has criticised as "odious" proposed anti-homosexuality legislation in uganda. the bill calls for long jail terms or the death penalty in some cases

san francisco-the founder of a family values think-tank testified wednesday that the rights of same-sex couples should come second to preserving the cherished social institution of marriage, as a trial challenging states' gay marriage bans

SAN FRANCISCO-Children raised by same-sex parents are as well-adjusted and safe from abuse as kids who grow up with a mother and father, a Cambridge University psychologist testified Friday in a federal lawsuit challenging California's same-sex marriage ban.

"For a significant number of these children, their adjustment would be promoted were their parents able to get married," developmental psychologist Michael Lamb said while undercutting arguments made by sponsors of Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot measure passed in 2008.

SAN FRANCISCO - A Yale professor testifying in a case challenging California's same-sex marriage ban said Tuesday that the 2008 campaign to pass Proposition 8 played on stereotypes historically used to portray "homosexuals as perverts who pray on young children, out to entice straight people into sick behavior."

George Chauncey, a historian who specializes in the subject of 20th century gay life, was the second expert witness to appear for two couples unable to marry because of the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban. Their lawsuit has led to the first federal trial to decide the constitutionality of laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman.

Joe and I have been trying since last night to get a copy of the government's brief just filed in this case. This is not the GLAD case that we've written about previously, it's another in California. We just got the brief. It's pretty despicable.

Campaigners for gay rights have welcomed a landmark decision by Scotland's largest Protestant church to appoint an openly gay minister to a new post.

The Church of Scotland voted late last nightto allow the Rev Scott Rennie to become minister at a church in Aberdeen, despite a vigorous protest campaign against his appointment by conservative and anti-gay evangelical groups.