Craig Stowell and his gay brother, Calvin.

The Respect for Marriage Coalition has acquiesced to Former First Lady Laura Bush’s request not to have her public comments used in a new ad campaign highlighting bipartisan support for marriage equality. The group told Politico it was moving on “to new and different voices:”

We used public comments for this ad from American leaders who have expressed support for civil marriage. We appreciate Mrs. Bush’s previous comments but are sorry she didn’t want to be included in an ad. The ad launched a public education campaign that will now move to new and different voices that reflect the depth and breadth of our support.

The ads will now include former Marine Craig Stowell, who identifies as a conservative Republican but supports marriage equality because of his gay brother. In 2011, Stowell emotionally testified before the New Hampshire legislature defending same-sex marriage, calling attempts to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law “wrong” and “shameful.” Watch it:

Earlier this month, the Laurel Leader-Call, a tri-weekly newspaper covering Jones County, Mississippi, published a story about an “historic” wedding between Jessica Powell and Crystal Craven. Craven is currently battling brain cancer and is not sure of her prognosis, which is partly why the couple decided to celebrate their union with family, friends, and even Craven’s doctors. However, the newspaper’s readers were outraged by the coverage of the wedding and objected.

This week, newspaper owner Jim Cegielski published an editorial defending the article and pointing out readers’ hypocrisy about what they think harms children:

Many of the calls I received had the caller stating something to the effect, “I don’t need my children to read this.” Ugh. We have stories about child molesters, murders and all kinds of vicious, barbaric acts of evil committed by heinous criminals on our front page and yet we never receive a call from anyone saying, “I don’t need my child reading this.” Never. Ever. However, a story about two women exchanging marriage vows and we get swamped with people worried about their children. [...]

You have a right to believe whatever you want. We weren’t trying to change your mind about that. We were simply reporting the story to the best of our ability. We are also happy to report the other side, too. We have run numerous letters that have attacked gay marriage in the LL-C since that story ran.

However, I can’t help but be saddened by the hate-filled, viciousness of many of the comments directed toward our staff.

Cegielski should be commended for not hedging in referring to the calls as as “hate calls.” It’s unclear what it is these readers believe they are protecting their children from. So far, 15 have canceled their subscription.

Former GOP Presidential candidate and Utah governor Jon Huntsman has endorsed marriage equality. Huntsman, a Mormon whose previous support for civil unions set him (and libertarian Gary Johnson) apart from an otherwise virulently anti-gay field, came out in favor of equal marriage rights in an essay in The American Conservative entitled “Marriage Equality Is a Conservative Cause.” In the piece, Huntsman argued that if the Republican Party wants to survive, it needs to be able to appeal to gay Americans and the growing majority of all Americans that support marriage equality:

[I]t’s difficult to get people even to consider your reform ideas if they think, with good reason, you don’t like or respect them. Building a winning coalition to tackle the looming fiscal and trust deficits will be impossible if we continue to alienate broad segments of the population. We must be happy warriors who refuse to tolerate those who want Hispanic votes but not Hispanic neighbors. We should applaud states that lead on reforming drug policy. And, consistent with the Republican Party’s origins, we must demand equality under the law for all Americans…

Today we have an opportunity to do more: conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry. I’ve been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life. There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love.

Huntsman has a bit of an uphill climb in persuading the rest of the Republican Party to join his inclusive vision of conservatism. Republicans in Congress are still resolutely defending the Defense Of Marriage Act, whose provisions denying equal rights to gay couples in areas ranging from immigration to health care benefits are widely viewed as discriminatory. However, a handful of influential Republicans have come to recognize that the GOP has lost this fight.

The former Utah governor has a long history of iconoclasty. During his 2012 campaign for President, Huntsman got in hot water for saying “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.” He also suggested the GOP had lurched so far to the right that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t make it through a primary.

The Associated Press announced today a reversal of guidance that was issued last week suggesting the words “husband” and “wife” only be used for people in opposite-sex marriages. According to the new entry that will be printed in the journalism stylebook, “husband” and “wife” will apply to any legally recognized marriage, “regardless of sexual orientation:

The following entry was added today to the AP Stylebook Online and also will appear in the new print edition and Stylebook Mobile, published in the spring:

husband, wife Regardless of sexual orientation, husband or wife is acceptable in all references to individuals in any legally recognized marriage. Spouse or partner may be used if requested.

“The AP has never had a Stylebook entry on the question of the usage of husband and wife,” said AP Senior Managing Editor for U.S. News Mike Oreskes. “All the previous conversation was in the absence of such a formal entry. This lays down clear and simple usage. After reviewing existing practice, we are formalizing ‘husband, wife’ as an entry.”

Just last week, AP was defending its stance, arguing that it was good enough that “husband” and “wife” were optional choices for reporters to use for same-sex couples, even if they weren’t “generally” recommended. Of course, such options violate the very purpose of standards the stylebook is meant to maintain.

There could remain an inherent conflict in this new standard. Many same-sex couples have gotten married through their religion or through a nondenominational celebration and identify each other as spouses, but they live in a state that does not recognize their marriage. Given the entry’s caveat that the language applies to “legally recognized marriage,” there is still a potential that this language could disrespect gays and lesbians. Still, it is a vast improvement over the previous guidance that relegated same-sex couples to second-class rhetoric.

Christian football star Tim Tebow was scheduled to make a big appearance later this year at First Baptist Church Dallas, the megachurch operated by Robert Jeffress. Jeffress is known for his anti-gay, anti-Catholic views, including calling President Obama the “antichrist,” calling Mormonism a cult, and calling AIDS a “gay disease.” After much outcry, including a Change.org petition, Tebow announced today that he has canceled his appearance after learning “new information”:

TEBOW: While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ’s unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance. I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope, and Love to all those needing a brighter day. Thank you fora ll of your love and support. God Bless!

Tebow is known for his very public displays of his Christianity, and notably for producing an anti-choice Super Bowl ad with Focus on the Family in 2010.

Whether or not to have a straights-only prom has embroiled Indiana’ Northeast School corporation in a national controversy, particularly because of the comments made by special education teacher Diana Medley. Not only does she believe being gay is a choice influenced by “life circumstances,” but she doesn’t even believe gay people have any sort of purpose in life. Last week, Northeast Superintendent Mark A. Baker defended Medley’s right to free speech, apparently offering no concern about the potential harm to students by such comments. Given the controversy has not died down, it seems Medley has now been placed on administrative leave and the school has also increased security measures, according to a new statement from Baker:

As many of you know and appreciate, our school corporation is continuing to manage as responsibly and respectfully as possible the fallout from comments made by an employee as she attended a meeting outside of school or a school activity.

We have conveyed our disappointment and our disagreement with these statements and have emphasized her comments do not reflect our schools’ views or opinions.

The administration and one school employee in particular at North Central Jr/Sr High School have received aggressive email messages. We are turning over to law enforcement all such communications. Further, and as a precaution, the Indiana State Police and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department have deemed it necessary to station an officer at our high school. Additionally, these law enforcement agencies, while they are here, are familiarizing themselves with our buildings, as is part of their regular training.

For that, we are grateful for their support of our school and our students. This matter has created some heartbreaking differences in opinion. Please know we are always going to put the safety of our students and faculty first and any disruption of our educational process will be managed quickly.

In response to our concerns for the safety and security of everyone in our buildings, we have placed the employee at the center of this concern on administrative leave.

It’s unfortunate that safety has become a concern at the school, but it’s also disappointing that the school has not taken any responsibility for the impact of Medley’s comments on students. From this statement, it seems Medley’s suspension is only for her own safety and not to protect students from her very negative message of rejection. Though the district is to be commended for distancing itself from her remarks, it’s not clear that administrators have taken any steps to improve (or even assess) the climate for LGBT students.

This week, the Respect for Marriage Coalition launched a new $1 million print and television ad campaign highlighting bipartisan support for marriage equality. Unfortunately, it seems Former First Lady Laura Bush is not happy about being included in the ads, according to a statement obtained by the Dallas Morning News:

But Bush spokeswoman Anne MacDonald said in a statement Wednesday that the former first lady “did not approve of her inclusion in this advertisement nor is she associated with the group that made the ad in any way.”

“When she became aware of the advertisement last night, we requested that the group remove her from it,” MacDonald said.

This request is a cowardly escape from her role as a public figure. If Bush did not want her support for marriage equality to be widely known or cited, she should not have written about it in her book or openly discussed it with Larry King on CNN. Her comments and her position are part of the public record, and unless her position has changed and she now opposes same-sex marriage, she doesn’t really have room to be making such a request.

Here is the full conversation from her 2010 interview with Larry King. She conceded that she disagrees with her husband, President George W. Bush, on the issue of same-sex marriage and that she believes its full legalization is inevitable. Her comments as excerpted in the ad are in no way taken out of context. Watch it: