This week in the Los Angeles Times, Mark Z. Barabak profiled openly gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger. Karger recounted in the piece how he did not come out until he was 56 years old and said, “I want to send the message to gay younger people and older people and everyone in between that you can do anything you want in life, and don’t feel bad about yourself and don’t feel you have to live your life the way I did.” On last night’s episode of MSNBC’s The Last Word, host Lawrence O’Donnell criticized FOX News for excluding Karger from an upcoming Republican presidential debate and said that Karger meets all of the network’s requirements for participation. In the same segment, O’Donnell also criticized former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) for comments he made this week seemingly comparing marriage to a napkin. On Friday, Santorum provided another metaphor to discuss marriage. Santorum: “It’s like saying this glass of water is a glass of beer. Well, you can call it a glass of beer, but it’s not a glass of beer. It’s a glass of water. And water is what water is. Marriage is what marriage is.” In Minnesota on Tuesday, teens, parents and others within the Anoka-Hennepin School District held the first ever Anoka LGBTQ Youth Pride at Mississippi River Community Park. More than 300 people reportedly showed up for the event. Also in Minnesota, the state’s chapter of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations this week announced that it is opposed to a ballot initiative aiming to ban marriage for same-sex couples in the state. Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson said, “The labor movement is, and has always been about protecting and advancing the rights of all people. We will not stand by and allow discrimination to become part of Minnesota’s constitution.” Lambda Legal this week announced that a settlement had been reached in an incident during which musician Ari Gold and his boyfriend Timothy Nelson were asked by the driver of a New York Shortline bus to move to the back of the vehicle. The couple was refunded for their tickets, the driver has been "appropriately disciplined," and employees will reportedly be trained on nondiscrimination laws and policies. The Associated Press reported that Brian McInerney testified Tuesday in the case against his brother, Brandon, and said books about Nazi youth found in Brandon's bedroom belonged to him, not his brother. Prosecutors have claimed that Brandon was driven by white supremacist and anti-gay beliefs when he shot Lawrence King in 2008. A childhood friend of Brandon also testified Tuesday and made claims about King. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday introduced civil unions legislation. Pinera said in a speech that all couples "deserve respect, dignity and the support of state."