Pew says most Americans continue to support same-sex civil unions, although a slight majority (53 percent) oppose same-sex marriage. In a related story, WaPo looks ahead to the looming fight over gay marriage in Maine.The House on Thursday added sexual orientation to the “hate crimes” list of protected classes, a bill that President Obama says he’ll sign.
Speaking of life at 1600, the Dalai Lama (in D.C.) says he wasn’t bothered by the apparent snub from Obama. In Saudi Arabia, female students at a new Islamic academy are living life on the wild side by playing PlayStation and getting driver’s licenses. Meanwhile, the exiled former president of Iran says Afghanistan doesn’t need more troops, but a different kind of Islam.
In Miami, a former Catholic priest who fathered a child with a stripper is now fighting for custody. Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic says he expects a Vatican ruling on the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the Bosnian village of Medjugorje to be issued “soon.”
In New Hampshire, anti-Pledge crusader Michael Newdow says he will appeal a court decision that ruled against him. Conservatives are touting an AP story that they say confirms their fears that health care reform will cover abortion. Episcopalians say they’re cool to the idea of a global Anglican “covenant” that would carry disciplinary sanctions for coloring outside the lines. Evangelical leaders on Thursday endorsed “comprehensive immigration reform,” but remained mum on many of the details.