Reprinted with permission of Charisma News Service.

Citing their Christian faith, two teen-age sisters from the Houston area vowed yesterday to not return to their mother until she changes her homosexual lifestyle.

According to local TV station KPRC, Lakenna Green, 17, and Nikki Green, 15, said God helped them make their decision to run away from home, but their faith wasn't the main reason. They believe their mother's homosexuality is wrong.

"I do think it's a bad influence because I don't want to be gay. I don't want to have to like women," Nikki said. "I won't go home unless she changes...She doesn't even realize that what she's doing is hurting us. What she sees is that we left. We're rebellious. We didn't obey."

Lakenna added: "I don't want her to be alone [with] those lesbians. I don't want her to be talking to girls. I want her to concentrate more on us."

But their mother, Kimla Green, told KPRC that her daughters have been brainwashed into thinking her lifestyle is wrong. "For me to sit here by myself trying to fight for my kids to get my kids back, that hurts," she said.

Green filed an interference with custody report against the church her daughters attend -- Body of Christ Ministry. The girls, though, said their stand had nothing to do with the church; they just don't want to livve in a homosexual environment, KPRC reported.

"I don't think I should have a cause," Nikki said. "I think it's mental abuse." Harris County Children Protective Services (CPS) is investigating the case, but officials said the girls don't have the legal right to make their own decision.

"The law says that if you're the age of 17 and under, you really can't leave the home without your parents' permission," said Estella Olguin of CPS. No charges have been filed in the case, but the pair were sent to a shelter where they will receive counseling, KPRC reported.

Meanwhile, the contentious battle over gay marriage previously fought in Hawaii and Vermont was due to move into the New Jersey court system today. A national gay-rights group plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of seven same-sex couples who have been denied marriage licenses, "The New York Times" reported.

But groups opposed to gay marriage, including the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the New Jersey Family Policy Council, said they would seek to head off the effort by pushing for legislation to prohibit same-sex unions. That is the method opponents used in Hawaii after a court decision in 1993 recognized gay marriage. The Legislature there explicitly limited marriage to unions between a man and a woman.

Elsewhere, pro-family groups have criticized President Bush for signing a bill allowing federal death benefits to be paid to the domestic partners of firefighters and police officers who die while on duty, permanently extending such a benefit to same-sex couples for the first time, "The Washington Post" reported.

"Homosexual folks see this as a first step toward recognizing homosexuality on the same level as marriage, and that's what it will be used for," Traditional Values Coalition chairman Lou Sheldon said.

The new law allows $250,000 for survivors of public safety officers to be paid to any beneficiary listed on the victim's life insurance policy. The money was previously available only to spouses, children and parents.