By Moira Warburton, Julia Harte and Joseph Ax

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Passage of a bill protecting federal recognition of same-sex marriages that has the support of both LGBT advocates and religious groups, has been delayed in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill was initially expected to be debated and passed by the full House on Tuesday. It is now expected to be attached to an unrelated defense bill that is still under discussion by House and Senate negotiators.

Lawmakers are weighing attaching a few such unrelated measures to the defense bill as Democrats rush to pass as many bills as possible before Republicans take majority control of the House on Jan. 3.

The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate last week, was designed as a backstop to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, known as Obergefell v. Hodges.

The legislation would allow the federal government to continue recognizing same-sex and interracial marriages in states where they were legally performed, should the court strike down Obergefell, a concern raised after the court ended the nationwide right to abortion in June.

A bipartisan amendment added in November affirmed that the bill would not subvert existing religious freedoms, helping quell initial opposition by conservatives. The bill, which was spearheaded by a group of Democratic and Republican senators, gained the backing of several national religious groups.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, an American Baptist reverend and president of Interfaith Alliance, said the support for the bill from religious groups showed that many had undergone a “remarkable transformation” in the way they perceive same-sex marriage.

He attributed the shift partly to the fact that such marriages had ceased to be unusual in the United States since the Supreme Court legalized them.

“The sky didn’t fall because same-sex marriage began happening,” said Raushenbush, who is in a same-sex marriage himself. “The specter of same-sex couples getting married no longer feels scary because it’s quite commonplace.”

The amendment’s support from various religious groups that are theologically opposed to same-sex marriage reflects the fact that attitudes have changed, said Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, which advocates for religious liberty.

“Fighting a permanent culture war over gay rights is not in their interest as religious organizations,” he said. “They believe that seeking common ground is in the interest of religious freedom, the common good and how they portray their faith to the world.”

Other religious groups, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, strongly opposed the legislation even after the religious freedom protections were added.

“The ability of (Baptist) organizations to follow their consciences as they carry out their work has already been a source of conflict,” Brent Leatherwood, president of the convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said. “Those waters will only be further muddied by [the law].”

Several conservative senators pushed back against this characterization of the bill, which ultimately received support from a dozen Republicans.

The legislation “offers far more in the way of religious liberty protections than currently under Obergefell, which leaves all such decisions up to the courts,” Republican Senator Todd Young wrote in a newspaper opinion piece declaring his support for the bill last week.

The vote comes the day after the Supreme Court appeared ready to rule that a Christian Web designer has the right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages, in arguments challenging a Colorado law banning discrimination.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington, Julia Hart and Joseph Ax in New YorkEditing by Scott Malone, Matthew Lewis and Alistair Bell)

By Ananda Teresia and Kate Lamb

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia’s parliament approved a new criminal code on Tuesday that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, despite worries the laws may scare away tourists from its tropical shores and harm investment.

The new code, which will apply to Indonesians and foreigners alike, also prohibit cohabitation between unmarried couples. It will also ban insulting the president or state institutions, spreading views counter to the state ideology, and staging protests without notification.

The laws were passed with support from all political parties.

However, the code will not come into effect for three years to allow for implementing regulations to be drafted.

Currently, Indonesia bans adultery but not premarital sex.

Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia’s tourism industry board, said the new code was “totally counter-productive” at a time when the economy and tourism were starting to recover from the pandemic.

“We deeply regret the government have closed their eyes. We have already expressed our concern to the ministry of tourism about how harmful this law is,” he said.

Foreign arrivals in the holiday destination of Bali are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of six million by 2025, the tourism association has said previously, as the island recovers from the impacts of COVID-19.

Indonesia is also trying to attract more so-called “digital nomads” to its tropical shores by offering a more flexible visa.

Speaking at an investment summit, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim said the news could result in less foreign investment, tourism and travel to the Southeast Asian nation.

“Criminalising the personal decisions of individuals would loom large within the decision matrix of many companies determining whether to invest in Indonesia,” he said.

Albert Aries, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s justice ministry, said the new laws regulating morality were limited by who could report them, such as a parent, spouse or child of suspected offenders.

“The aim is to protect the institution of marriage and Indonesian values, while at the same time being able to protect the privacy of the community and also negate the rights of the public or other third parties to report this matter or ‘playing judge’ on behalf of morality,” he said.

These laws are part of a raft of legal changes that critics say undermine civil liberties in the world’s third-largest democracy. Other laws include bans on black magic.

‘A DEATH FOR INDONESIA’S DEMOCRACY’

Editorials in national newspapers decried the new laws, with daily newspaper Koran Tempo saying the code has “authoritarian” tones, while the Jakarta Post said it had “grave concerns” about their application.

Decades in the making, legislators hailed the passage of the criminal code as much needed overhaul of a colonial vestige.

“The old code belongs to Dutch heritage … and is no longer relevant now,” Bambang Wuryanto, head of the parliamentary commission in charge of revising the code told lawmakers.

Opponents of the bill have highlighted articles they say will curb free speech and represent a “huge setback” in ensuring the retention of democratic freedoms after the fall of authoritarian leader Suharto in 1998.

“This is not only a setback but a death for Indonesia’s democracy,” said Citra Referandum, a lawyer from Indonesia’s Legal Aid Institute. “The process has not been democratic at all.”

Responding to the criticism, Indonesia’s Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly told parliament: “It’s not easy for a multicultural and multi-ethnic country to make a criminal code that can accommodate all interests.”

Legal experts say that an article in the code on customary law could reinforce discriminatory and sharia-inspired bylaws at a local level, and pose a particular threat to LGBT people.

“Regulations that are not in accordance with human rights principles will occur in conservative areas,” said Bivitri Susanti, from the Indonesia Jentera School of Law, referring to existing bylaws in some regions that impose curfews on women, or target what are described as “deviant” sexualities.

The new laws will also include more lenient sentences for those charged with corruption.

The morality charges have been partially watered down from an earlier version of the bill so that they can only reported by limited parties, such as a spouse, parent or child.

The government had planned to pass a revision of the country’s colonial-era criminal code in 2019 but nationwide protests halted its passage.

Lawmakers have since diluted down some of the provisions with President Joko Widodo urging parliament to pass the bill this year, before the country’s political climate heats up ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for early 2024.

The public response to the new code has been muted so far, with only small protests held in the capital on Monday on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Writing by Kate Lamb;Editing by Ed Davies and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) – The suspect accused of killing five people inside a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub last month before patrons stopped the attack was formally charged on Tuesday with murder, hate crimes and assault.

The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, appeared for a hearing in El Paso District Court where the charges against the 22-year-old were read. Aldrich has been held without bond since the Nov. 19 rampage at Club Q in Colorado Springs. In addition to the five people killed, 22 others suffered gunshot wounds or other injuries.

Aldrich, wearing yellow jail clothing and sitting at a table with defense attorneys, did not speak during the hearing. Aldrich did not enter a plea to the 305 charges that were filed.

Aldrich, who was clad in body armor, stormed the club armed with a rifle and handgun and opened fire indiscriminately, police and witnesses said.

Those killed were identified as Kelly Loving, 40; Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, 38; Ashley Paugh, 34; and Raymond Green Vance, 22.

Two men with military backgrounds subdued Aldrich until police arrived. A former Army major and decorated Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, Richard Fierro, told reporters that he disarmed Aldrich and pistol-whipped the suspect into submission.

In a booking photo and during an earlier court appearance, Aldrich appeared battered, apparently because of a beating by the bar’s patrons. On Tuesday, Aldrich’s face and neck did not appear to be bruised.

The other man credited with subduing Aldrich, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas James, said in a written statement that he just wanted “to save the family I found.”

Although authorities have not publicly identified a motive, the Colorado shooting was reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, where a gunman killed 49 people before police shot him dead.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Aldrich faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Colorado no longer has a death-penalty statute. However, Aldrich could face a death sentence in federal court if prosecutors decide to bring charges under the U.S. code, which still has capital punishment on its books for certain crimes.

Lawyers assigned to represent Aldrich from the Colorado public defender’s office have said in court filings that their client identifies as nonbinary and prefers “they” and “them” pronouns.

District Attorney Michael Allen said after Aldrich’s initial court appearance on Nov. 23 that the suspect’s gender identity would have no bearing on how the case would be prosecuted. On Tuesday, Allen told reporters he thought evidence supported bias motivated charges.

“We’re not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity,” Allen told reporters after the hearing. “Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long.”

Prosecutors were set to present evidence at the next hearing, scheduled for Feb. 22-24.

Aldrich was previously arrested in June 2021 in Colorado Springs after the suspect had threatened to detonate a bomb and harm their mother with multiple weapons, according to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman, Robert Birsel and Jonathan Oatis)

Now that Olympian Gus Kenworthy is officially retired, he has a lot of time on his hands, meaning he’s working on a bunch of projects.

“I have more control of my schedule which is a learned skill. I’m not good at scheduling my days, but I’m trying to write a book. I’m so bad, though, because I put writing to the side and will do basically anything else. I’ve also been in a few different acting classes and workshops. I’ve been auditioning, and I am pursuing acting and trying to write whenever I have time,” the 31-year-old, who retired from freestyle skiing at Beijing 2022, exclusively tells OK! while talking about starring in Amazon Essentials‘ new Fall / Winter 2022 campaign in which he self-directed.

Kenworthy’s book will be a memoir but “less formal,” he shares. “It’s all true stories from my childhood and growing up. It kind of lends itself to the theme of coming out and my coming out journey. It’s told through a collection of personal essays, so some of them are a little more somber. There’s definitely some heartbreaking ones, but a lot of them are meant to be funny.”

“My dad said the hardest part about writing is cleaning out the fridge, which is very true,” he adds. “I’ll find any chore to do. It’s been cathartic, and I definitely have talked about certain things. There are some essays I haven’t written yet that I know I have to write. I’ve been talking to people like, ‘How do I even approach this? How do I do this?’ There are things that are traumatic from my childhood that I haven’t talked about.”

The athlete has dabbled in the TV world before, as he appeared in Colton Underwood‘s Netflix show, Coming Out Colton, in addition to starring in FOX’s Special Forces: The Ultimate Test, which put 16 celebrities through rigorous military-style training.

“It was fun, but I want to be doing real acting stuff,” he notes. “The classes I am taking are more traditional acting classes. I’ve been auditioning for regular roles and sitcoms. Growing up my dream — other than skiing — was to be the lead of a rom-com. I think that is still what I would love to do, in addition to comedy.”

“My focus is on acting, and I would be excited to be back on set,” he gushes. “It would be fun to be a series regular on a comedy and get to have time to develop a character and grow with castmates. That’s definitely my goal.”

Since the skier is trying different things, he may even be interested in the fashion world — especially after working with Amazon Essentials on their Fall / Winter 2022 campaign, which also stars two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Chloe Kim, family and lifestyle influencer Alyssa Fluellen and health and fitness influencer Cleopatra Lee.

WATCH: GUS KENWORTHY DISHES ON MEETING CELEBRITY CRUSH SHAWN MENDES: ‘HE HAD HIS SHIRT OFF’

“What I love about Amazon is that I use it in my every day life, and there’s such an ease to it,” he shares. “You can order whatever you need from home, it arrives quickly and it’s easy to return. Everything is so seamless. This campaign was very much the same way. I was kind of in charge of my own creative vision and own styling. I got to pick out a bunch of different stuff from their Essentials line. I organized my own shoot at home and got to have total control over it. It was really fun and felt authentic to my experiences with Amazon.”

He adds, “I picked out things that looked exactly like things that are already in my closet or things that I would want. There were a couple of photos that looked like a studio shot and the rest was me on the deck with my dogs wearing a rugby sweater. It felt very natural.”

Kenworthy also notes that Amazon Essentials is perfect for anyone’s wardrobe, as they have “simple things that go with everything.”

“It makes it super easy to pull together a cohesive look that is indicative of who you are and what you want to put out there,” he concludes.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s Netfix docuseries is just days away. On Monday, December 5, Netflix dropped an extended trailer for the show, which will premiere on Thursday, December 8.

The second half of the episodes will premiere on Thursday, December 15.

In the new clip, the 38-year-old prince spoke about his brood.

“There’s a hierarchy of the family,” he said of the royals. “You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories.”

“There was a war against Meghan to suit other people’s agendas,” he continued. “It’s a dirty game.”

PRINCE WILLIAM & WIFE KATE MIDDLETON ARE ALL SMILES AFTER PRINCE HARRY & MEGHAN MARKLE’S BOMBSHELL NETFLIX TRAILER

In a voiceover, the red-headed royal, who shares son Archie and daughter Lilibet with the former actress, 41, also said, “The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution — this feeding frenzy.”

PRINCE WILLIAM & WIFE KATE MIDDLETON ARE ALL SMILES AFTER PRINCE HARRY & MEGHAN MARKLE’S BOMBSHELL NETFLIX TRAILER

For her part, the Suits star looked visibly upset as she said, “I realized, they’re never going to protect you.”

“I was terrified, I didn’t want history to repeat itself,” Prince Harry said, referring to when his mother, Princess Diana, was constantly chased by paparazzi in the ’90s.

“No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth,” the Duke of Sussex said in the video.

The new reality show will “explore the clandestine days of their early courtship and the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution.”

“With commentary from friends and family, most of whom have never spoken publicly before about what they witnessed, and historians who discuss the state of the British Commonwealth today and the royal family’s relationship with the press, the series does more than illuminate one couple’s love story, it paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other,” the description added.

Meghan previously shared her thoughts on making the series, as she wants to tell her side of the story.

“It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it,” the podcast host said of director Liz Garbus. “But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”

Volume one of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s six-episode docuseries, titled Harry & Meghan, will hit Netflix on Thursday, December 8, while volume two will premiere on Thursday, December 15.

SHADY SIBLINGS? FANS THINK PRINCE HARRY & MEGHAN MARKLE DROPPED NETFLIX TRAILER TO OVERSHADOW PRINCE WILLIAM & KATE MIDDLETON’S BOSTON TRIP

For more on the royal family, tune into the critically acclaimed podcast, “The Firm: Blood Lies and Royal Succession.” Listen below.

By Andrew Chung and Nate Raymond

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday began hearing arguments in a major case pitting LGBT rights against a claim that the constitutional right to free speech exempts artists from anti-discrimination laws in a dispute involving an evangelical Christian web designer who refuses to provide her services for same-sex marriages.

The justices were hearing Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith’s appeal seeking an exemption from a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors. Lower courts ruled in favor of Colorado, including the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021.

Smith, who runs a web design business called 303 Creative, contends that Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act violates the right of artists – including web designers – to free speech under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment by forcing them to express messages through their work that they oppose.

The case follows the Supreme Court’s narrow 2018 ruling in favor of Jack Phillips, a Christian Denver-area baker who refused on religious grounds to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. The court in that case stopped short of carving out a free speech exemption to anti-discrimination laws.

Like Phillips, Smith is represented by attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious rights group. The Supreme Court did not take up one aspect of her challenge to Colorado law based on religious rights also protected by the First Amendment, focusing on free speech instead.

Colorado, civil rights groups and numerous legal scholars have said that endorsing Smith’s free speech arguments could lead to widespread discrimination against LGBT people and others.

“It would encompass not only a business’s objections to serving certain customers motivated by sincerely held religious beliefs, but also objections motivated by ignorance, whim, bigotry, caprice and more – including pure expressions of racial, sexist or anti-religious hatred,” the state wrote in a legal brief to the Supreme Court.

Public accommodations laws exist in many states, banning discrimination in areas such as housing, hotels, retail businesses, restaurants and educational institutions.

Colorado first enacted one in 1885. Its current law bars businesses open to the public from denying goods or services to people because of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and certain other characteristics, and from displaying a notice to that effect.

The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has become increasingly supportive of religious rights and related free speech claims in recent years even as it has backed LGBT rights in other cases. The court legalized gay marriage nationwide in a landmark 2015 decision and in 2020 expanded protections for LGBT workers under federal law.

Smith, 38, said she believes that marriage should be limited to opposite-sex couples, a view shared by many conservative Christians. She preemptively sued Colorado’s civil rights commission and other state officials in 2016 because she feared she would be punished for refusing to serve gay weddings.

Similar legal fights involving other small business including a wedding photographer and a calligrapher owners have been waged in other states.

A ruling in Smith’s case is expected by the end of June.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham)

By Jeff Mason and Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Actor George Clooney, singer-songwriter Amy Grant, singer Gladys Knight, composer Tania León and rock group U2 were celebrated on Sunday for their contributions to the arts at a White House reception ahead of the Kennedy Center Honors show.

The Kennedy Center event, now in its 45th year, recognizes stars from music, stage and screen for their contributions to American culture.

At a reception for the five honorees at the White House beforehand, President Joe Biden addressed each personally, praising their individual talents and said they embodied the spirit of the country.

“To see each other, to see ourselves in one another, to unite in common cause – tonight we celebrate a truly exceptional…group of artists,” Biden said.

The room was packed with celebrities, the White House’s second star-studded event in recent days. Actors Julia Roberts and Matt Damon were seated next to each other, in front of journalist Katie Couric. In the front row former Washington, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was seated next to singer Eddie Vedder. Clooney, an actor and filmmaker who played a doctor on the popular NBC television show “ER” before launching a movie career that earned him two Academy Awards, has also drawn praise for his humanitarian work.

Grant rose to prominence as a contemporary Christian music singer who later crossed over to pop stardom, amassing six Grammy Awards.

Knight, who has won seven Grammy Awards, is famous for hit songs including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia” as the lead singer of The Pips, which became Gladys Knight & The Pips in 1962.

Cuban-born León is a conductor as well as a composer, whose orchestral piece “Stride” won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

Irish band U2, with members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., has won 22 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Will Dunham, Heather Timmons and Cynthia Osterman)

Kelly Ripa never shies away from showing off her hunky husband, Mark Consuelos, on Instagram — and it turns out fans have none other than Madonna to thank for the endless shirtless snaps!

Last month, the TV star explained on an episode of the “Everything Iconic” podcast that she purposely started posting sexy photos of her man after finding out the music icon followed her on social media.

“I immediately sort of changed everything I posted,” confessed the mother-of-three. “I started posting only shirtless photos of Mark because I was like, ‘Madonna doesn’t want to see my kids. She wants to see eye candy.'”

Nonetheless, the actor is guilty of sharing quite a few scantily clad photos himself — scroll down to see some of Consuelos’ hottest pics!

This past August, Ripa shared what she called “a thirsty reminder” to watch her game showGeneration Gap, posting this sultry snap of the Riverdale star.

“Objects may be thirstier than they appear ,” she quipped in the caption.

Pals like Lisa Rinna couldn’t help but comment on the pic, with the reality star writing, “Thank you Kelly .”

The Ed alum shared a cheeky post as her man worked on his tan poolside, captioning the photgraph, “Adequate sun protection? .”

Oh, la, la! The parents-of-three never worry whether or not their PDA embarrasses their kids, as evidenced by this suggestive swimsuit-clad shot.

Hot stuff! “#Tbt one year ago, when the air conditioner gave up, so did @instasuelos ,” the actor’s wife wrote alongside a photo depicting him sweating through his tank.

Who wears short shorts? The blonde beauty decided to get in on the fun while celebrating a pal’s special day.

“Happy birthday @jakeshears thank you for letting us be a part of your new album’s cover art. Coming soon!” she joked of the trio’s poses.

A few years ago, the dad-of-three got to work on cleaning, joking he now has a “love story” with his power washer.

“I’m not sure you have to wear these glasses or flex while using but it seemed appropriate,” the former soap opera star added. “I smell a side business.”