By Jessica Geen • March 10, 2010 - 16:24
The Washington Post's internal ombudsman has unequivocally defended the newspaper's decision to carry a front-page photo of a gay couple kissing.

The newspaper printed the image last week on the first day gay couples in the district were able to apply for marriage licences.

Couple Jeremy Ames and Taka Ariga are shown sharing a peck on the lips outside the DC Superior Court.

But Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander said that he had received complaints from readers over the last week.

He wrote: "A few of the readers have engaged in rants, often with anti-gay slurs. One called me to complain about 'promoting a faggot lifestyle'. Another complained about the photo in an email to the two Post reporters who wrote Thursday’s story about the licences: 'That kind of stuff makes normal people want to throw up'."

At least 27 people cancelled their subscriptions over the front-page photo, Mr Alexander added.

Others said the image should not have been on the front page and one wrote that it should not have been shown "where my kids can see it easily on the kitchen table".

After listing some of the complaints, Mr Alexander wrote: "Did the Post go too far? Of course not. The photo deserved to be in newspaper and on its website, and it warranted front-page display.

"News photos capture reality. And the prominent display reflects the historic significance of what was occurring. The recent DC Council decision to approve same-sex marriage was the culmination of a decades-long gay rights fight for equality."

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • March 10, 2010 - 11:19
A gay man who murdered a teenager and dismembered his body has lost an appeal to clear his name.

William Beggs, 46, became known as the 'Limbs in the Loch' killer for the murder of 18 year-old Tesco worker Barry Wallace in December 1999.

It is thought he drugged and raped the teenager before dismembering his body. Wallace's limbs and torso were found in Loch Lomond, while his head was washed up on an Ayrshire beach.

Beggs was jailed for life in October 2001 and ordered to serve at least 20 years in custody. After the murder, he escaped to Amsterdam where he eventually surrendered to police.

He claimed he was denied a fair trial because of publicity surrounding the case and was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Following his conviction, he lodged an appeal against his conviction with the Appeal Court in July 2002.

Yesterday, three senior judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh ruled that his appeal should be refused.

The judges said: "The court has carefully considered the arguments submitted in relation to each of the various grounds of appeal… the conclusion to which it has come is that none of the grounds is well-founded. Accordingly, the appeal must be refused."

Speaking after the Appeal Court's decision, Les Brown, district procurator fiscal for Kilmarnock, said: "I am pleased that the Appeal Court has today refused the appeal against conviction. In doing so the court has concluded that Mr Beggs received a fair trial and was justly convicted of the horrific murder of Barry Wallace.

"I hope that the decision of the court will be of some comfort to Barry's parents and brother, who have borne their loss with great dignity and fortitude. I have great admiration for them."

Beggs worked in an Edinburgh call centre and lived in Kilmarnock, the town where Wallace was last seen on December 4th 1999.

A regular on the city's gay scene, he once told a friend he liked to cruise in his car at night, looking to pick up "young guys"

He was jailed in 1987 for killing a barman he met in a gay club and was described by police as "a serial killer in the making".

The 1987 conviction was later overturned on a technicality.

Beggs also served three years for drugging and slashing the leg of a man in 1991. The victim, who Beggs picked up in a gay bar, escaped by jumping from a window.

By Jessica Geen • March 10, 2010 - 18:03
California senator Roy Ashburn was heckled in 2005 at an anti-gay marriage rally by gay campaigners who knew he was in the closet.

Mr Ashburn, who was outed last week after years of voting against gay rights measures, spoke at the rally while gay rights activists shouted: "We know you're one of us, Roy!", the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Republican was arrested last Wednesday morning in Sacramento when police saw him driving erratically. He was found to be over the alcohol limit and had another man in his car. The pair had been in a gay bar.

He told a local radio station on Monday: “I am gay. Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.”

He justified his votes against gay rights measures by saying he voted how he expected his constituents wanted him to.

Mr Ashburn has been supported by his Senate colleagues, who greeted him with hugs and handshakes on Monday.

One conservative, Randy Thommason, president of SaveCalifornia.com, called for him to resign and implied he could get help to leave his "unnatural lifestyle".

Mr Thommason said: "Now that he has openly identified with the 'LGBT' lifestyle, Ashburn is dramatically out of step with his constituents, has lost their trust, and is in danger of voting against their conservative family values."

The Bakersfield senator said months ago he will not seek re-election when his term ends later this year.

Meanwhile, an item in the San Francisco Chronicle published today said he had been spotted with a male friend in a Sacramento restaurant. The pair were described as "comfortable and affectionate".