Welcome to the gay rights battleground of Virginia.

Yes, you read that right. In the 2013 off-year elections, a state that once leaned solidly to the center-right has become the newest focal point in the national debate over same-sex relationships. A gubernatorial race already defined partly along culture-war lines has grown even more contentious since last weekend, when Virginia Republicans nominated as their lieutenant governor candidate a firebrand minister who has called gays “very sick people psychologically” and suggested a connection between homosexuality and pedophilia.

WASHINGTON -- Three Californians are among 10 openly gay LGBT leaders who are being honored today at the White House as 2013 Harvey Milk Champions of Change.

The event is being live streamed at noon PDT on Wednesday, May 22, HERE.

The Californians are:

• Ricardo Lara – California State Senator, Long Beach, Calif.

• John Laird – California Secretary of Natural Resources, Santa Cruz, Calif.

• Michael A. Gin – Mayor of Redondo Beach, Redondo Beach, Calif.

The other winners are:

WASHINGTON – Gay rights supporters and their allies expressed bitter disappointment that LGBT binational couples are being excluded from immigration reform.

Bowing to enormous pressure from Republicans who threatened to derail the entire bill, Democrats reluctantly withdrew an amendment that would have added LGBT binational couples to the much-needed overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had repeatedly warned Democrats against added LGBT protections to the immigration reform bill and vowed to pull his support for the proposed bill.

McKINNEY, Texas – A lesbian couple will comply with a Republican judge’s order to no longer live together due to a morality clause included in one of the women’s divorce papers, even though their attorney contends that the ruling is a violation of their constitutional right to privacy.

An attorney representing the couple issued a statement this week and revealed new information about the court action by Judge John Roach Jr., who has come under widespread criticism for his decision that split apart the couple.