Reuters as a company is pro-gay marriage. Has AP now joined the club? How could a reporter get the basic facts so wrong -- and yet so exactly what Dan Savage wanted published?

A Washington state official has called an Associated Press report misleading for suggesting that the government was banning the Catholic Church from taking collections to support a traditional marriage initiative.

An AP report Tuesday entitled “Catholic churches can’t collect donations to overturn gay marriage law, Washington state rules” was widely cited on homosexual news blogs and other outlets this week. Catholic Church leaders in the state are preparing to take collections in September supporting a “no” vote on R-74, which will appear on the November ballot to give voters a chance to endorse or reject the state’s same-sex “marriage” law.

The report was followed by a Thursday report spotlighting Protect Marriage Washington for supporting the allegedly illegal gift method, with the headline: “Washington anti-gay marriage law group encourages ‘bundling’ donations.” The second article noted that state officials planned to send a letter to church officials and Protect Marriage on the issue.

But when Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state’s Public Disclosure Commission, was asked whether the agency had ruled against the Catholic Church’s planned collection, she responded, “Oh gosh, no.”

...“The strange part was, we only read this in the press. The press contacted us and we said, ‘What?’” she said.

One source pointed to a blog article in Seattle’s prominent alternative newspaper The Stranger, where LGBT activist Dan Savage is editorial director, that had questioned the legality of the campaign one day before the first AP story was published. -- LifeSiteNews