Steve Jobs, Equality California Decides Not To Fight To Overturn Proposition 8 In 2012, Pro-Gay Grinnell College Students Spoke Michele Bachmann, Federal Appeals Court Rejects Claims Made By Killer Of Gay Man That Was Unfairly Prosecuted, Google Removes “Is My Son Gay?” App, Rachel Maddow Does Not Feel “Any Urgency” About Same Sex Marriage

Steve Jobs has died. The charismatic technology pioneer who co-founded Apple Inc. and transformed one industry after another, from computers and smartphones to music and movies, was 56. The Los Angeles Times reports that Apple announced the death of Jobs — whose legacy included the Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," Apple said. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." He had resigned as chief executive of Apple in August, after struggling with illness for nearly a decade, including a bout with pancreatic cancer in 2003 and a liver transplant six years later.

California's largest gay rights group has decided against trying to have the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex unions overturned in 2012. The Associated Press is reporting that Equality California announced Wednesday that it would not lead a ballot campaign to undo Proposition 8. The constitutional amendment limited marriage to a man and a woman five months after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages. Executive Director Roland Palencia says polls show voters are still divided and a court challenge that could overturn the measure is still pending. As a result, he says the time is not right to undertake a risky and expensive ballot fight. Instead, Equality California plans to devote its resources to a public education and messaging campaign to counter beliefs that allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry harms children.

"Representative Michele Bachmann is committed to crisscrossing Iowa to court as many voters as possible, but it is a good bet she won’t be returning to the college town of Grinnell any time soon. The New York Times reports that some 50 students from Grinnell College showed up at Carroll’s Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday evening, where Bachmann had scheduled a fund-raising event on behalf of the anti-gay conservative Christian group, the Family Leader. Soon after, police officers arrived, overreacted, and threw a cordon sanitaire around the students while Mrs. Bachmann toured the baby goat corral and pumpkin-washing station. A few students, who had been alerted to the visit by an e-mail from the campus Democrats, unfurled signs protesting Mrs. Bachmann’s opposition to gay rights (“Pumpkins are the Gayest”). But there was no chanting and no heckling. Most students said they had come to hear her speak and to ask a question or two. “Grinnell’s known for being a very liberal and politically active campus, but we’re very peaceful,’’ said one student, Jillian Johnson. “We weren’t going to throw anything. We just wanted her to talk to us.”As students milled about waiting for the event, which was to start at 5:30 pm, officers stretched yellow police tape across part of the farm, a popular family destination with hay rides and pumpkin picking. Bachmann’s spokeswoman, Alice Stewart, denied the police effort had anything to do with the students. But Bachmann skipped a planned appearance in a hayloft festooned with her campaign banners, where students filled many of the seats. Instead she met privately in the home of the farm’s owners, Joy and Danny Carroll, along with supporters who had contributed to the Family Leader. Earlier this year Bachmann was one of only two presidential candidates to sign the Family Leader’s Marriage Pledge opposing gay marriage, abortion and “Sharia Islam.” Asked why she was avoiding the students, Bachmann said, “This was never intended to be a big public event.” Carroll, a former state representative, said the event was hastily re-organized so that donors to the Family Leader “had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Congresswoman Bachmann.’’ As she drove off, one student grumbled: “Most of the people here are registered voters. If they’re not going to talk to us they’re not going to get our votes,” while another said “We were waiting doing absolutely nothing for an hour. No signs were up. We all just wanted to hear her.” One called out after her van, “Bye Michele, we love you!”

A federal appeals court upheld an Ohio man’s death penalty for killing a man he met in a gay bar in 1985, rejecting claims yesterday that prosecutors violated his rights by not providing psychological reports showing he might have been motivated by “homophobic panic.” The Associated Press reports that a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a lower court’s ruling upholding the death penalty for Robert Van Hook, 51. The panel also rejected claims of ineffective counsel. Van Hook’s attorney, Keith Yeazel, said Tuesday that he will either appeal to the full 6th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court after he has a chance to review the ruling. The Supreme Court in November 2009 reversed a decision by the 6th Circuit panel that had found ineffective trial counsel, and the panel said yesterday that it was bound by the high court’s decision. Van Hook’s latest appeal argued that the psychological reports showing he might have been motivated by “homophobic panic,” or rejection of his homosexual urges, rather than robbery, could have been used to support his claim of mental disease. Van Hook claimed temporary insanity but never denied strangling and fatally stabbing David Self at his Cincinnati apartment.

An update on a previous post, Google has removed an app for Android phones that allegedly answered a mother’s question – “Is My Son Gay?” Predictably, Google has declined to comment on how the app met the criteria for approval initially, and why it was eventually pulled.

Rachel Maddow graces the cover of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood and Politics issue. Inside, Maddow says that she and girlfriend Susan Mikula, who have been together since 1999, have no immediate wedding plans. "We know a lot of people who have gotten married but I don't think we feel any urgency about it." Later she admits she's actually ambivalent about the cultural impact of gay marriage. "I feel that gay people not being able to get married for generations, forever, meant that we came up with alternative ways of recognizing relationships," she explains. "And I worry that if everybody has access to the same institutions that we lose the creativity of subcultures having to make it on their own. And I like gay culture."