A biracial teen girl could make history as the first lesbian Miss South Carolina.

Analouisa Valencia, 19, has already won her hometown’s beauty queen title, Miss Lyman.

In July she will compete for South Carolina’s state crown, and if she wins, will go on to vie for the coveted Miss USA crown.

‘I want to show the judges who I really am,’ said Valencia in an interview with CNN.

‘I just really wanted to be an advocate for equality for everyone this year.’

Olympia Snowe, the ex-Senator of Maine, stated yesterday (5 April) she now supports marriage equality.

'I think obviously this has evolved over time on the whole issue for the whole country and the nation,' she said to CNN, as reported by the newspaper the Portland Press Herald. 'We've seen a sea change in society's whole attitude on this particular issue and it's only natural for government to be responsive to those changes.'

Anderson Cooper has not yet commented on reports that NBC News has approached him about taking over Matt Lauer's job as host of The Today Show.

But his CNN colleague Howard Kurtz, host of the show Reliable Sources, reported on Sunday (31 March) that Cooper is not interested in the gig.

Kurtz said Cooper, who hosts a nightly show Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, prefers to stay with the cable network.

With Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show ending soon, the CNN star has some intriguing possible gigs including a show with pal Kathy Griffin and becoming host of NBC's The Today Show.

Deadline is reporting that Cooper and Griffin, who have co-hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage for at least six years, filmed a pilot this week at CNN studios in New York.

Details are sketchy but it was filmed in front of a live audience that included new CNN boss Jeff Zucker.

Beleagured singer Michelle Shocked said today that her onstage rant against gay marriage has been misinterpreted and that she is not in any way anti-gay.

'I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His followers believe that,' the singer tells CNN in a statement.

Republican Senator Rob Portman's recent reversal on same sex marriage continues to reverberate in the GOP.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich continues to be against marriage equality, but isn't running away from Portman's new position.

The gay son of Ohio Senator Rob Portman tweeted today he is 'especially proud of my dad' who's become the highest-profile Republican to support gay marriage.

Portman told CNN that after his son, Will Portman, came out to him, he began to rethink his previous position against gay marriage. He said his son told him 'it was not a choice' and that 'it's just part of who he is.'

Marco McMillian was a trailblazer, and the pride of the Mississippi Delta.

In 2004 when he was still in his 20s Ebony magazine hailed him as on the nation’s 30 leaders under the age of 30. And in his 30s the Mississippi Business Journal hailed him as one of the ‘Top 40 Leaders under 40’.

But at age 34 McMillian’s life was mysteriously cut short.

The upcoming GLAAD Media Awards instantly turned a little bit more fabulous-er. The media rights organization announced today (2 March) Madonna will make a presentation to Anderson Cooper.

Madonna will give the CNN reporter the Vito Russo Award on 16 March.

'From speaking out against bullying to raising support for marriage equality, Madonna has always been one of our community's strongest allies, said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick in a statement. 'We are honored to have her stand with GLAAD and Anderson Cooper.'

An anti-gay Christian group has slammed US President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech because ‘homosexuals already have all the same civil rights as anyone else.’

In Obama’s second inauguration speech, he said: ‘Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.’

Richard Blanco had already made history as the first gay and first Latino inaugural poet in US history when he stepped onto the podium Monday (21 January) to deliver his poem One Today.

But he had no idea that day would be so history making in other ways in the fight for LGBT equality. President Barack Obama likened to the gay rights movement's Stonewall Riots to the civil rights milestones Seneca Falls (women's equality) and Selma (black equality).

After the ball dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York City, CNN's guest broadcaster Kathy Griffin got her knees and attempted to kiss Anderson Cooper's crotch.

He giggled and tried to stop her and get her back on her feet but Griffin, never one to back away from a challenge persisted.

One group that isn't laughing about Griffin's antics is the Parents Television Council which said Wednesday that Griffin 'has shown increasing contempt for the audience.'