Bills to legalize same-sex marriage are expected to see action this year in Maine, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. In addition, the Iowa Supreme Court will decide a case that could legalize same-sex marriage there.

In California, the state Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in June on whether Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

Same-sex marriage currently is legal in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Internationally, it is legal in Belgium, Canada, Nepal, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Spain.

Three other U.S. states — Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington — are expected to consider passing civil-union laws this year that extend all or nearly all of the rights and obligations of marriage.e.

Such laws already are in place in California, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont.

The District of Columbia, Maine, Hawaii and Washington presently have laws that extend limited spousal rights to same-sex couples.

Martin Delaney Dies

Longtime AIDS activist Martin Delaney died at his home in San Rafael, Calif., Jan. 23. He was 63. Delaney, who was HIV-negative, died of liver cancer caused by hepatitis B infection. Delaney founded the groundbreaking HIV education and advocacy group Project Inform in 1985. Among his accomplishments, he was a key player in the development of the “parallel track” system at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1989. Under that system, seriously ill people with HIV (and, later, other conditions) received access to promising treatments that had not yet finished the FDA approval process. The change in FDA procedure saved many lives, and continues to do so today.

Mel White to Appear on ‘The Amazing Race’

Gay activist Mel White, 68, and his son Mike, 38, are contestants on the 14th season of TV’s The Amazing Race, which begins Feb. 15 on CBS. White, president and co-founder of the gay organization Soulforce, was a speechwriter for conservative Christian figures Pat Robertson and Billy Graham before he came out in 1994.

The Amazing Race, a reality show, involves 11 teams of two people with a pre-existing relationship who race literally around the world to a finish mat and a winners’ prize of $1 million. Season 14 will begin at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Center near Long Beach, Calif., and cover 40,000 miles and nine countries in 22 days compressed into 12 weekly hour-long TV episodes.

Sam Adams Declines to Resign in Portland

Openly gay Portland, Ore., Mayor Sam Adams, 45, has decided not to resign following revelations that he had a sexual relationship in 2005 with then-18-year-old Beau Breedlove just two weeks after Breedlove reached the age of consent, and that he kissed Breedlove twice when Breedlove was still 17. Adams lied about the relationship when inquiries were made during his 2007 mayoral campaign — and persuaded Breedlove to deny that the relationship had occurred, as well..

Giuliano Quits GLAAD

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation President Neil Giuliano announced Jan. 28 that he will quit his job later this year. He said he wants to pursue personal interests while completing a book about his public and political life. Giuliano has been in the position since September 2005. Before that, he was mayor of Tempe, Ariz., for 10 years and, prior to that, a university administrator and faculty associate at Arizona State University for 25 years. He came out publicly in 1996.

-Assistance: Bill Kelley