************************************************* NewsWrap for the week ending June 15th, 1996 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #429, distributed 06-17-96) [Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Brian Nunes, Bill Stosine, Jason Lin, Greg Gordon and Ron Buckmire] The Canadian Human Rights Commission ruled this week that the federal government must extend spousal benefits to the gay and lesbian partners of its employees. The ruling came in the case of two gay couples who claimed discrimination based on sexual orientation when the government denied their applications for spousal benefits. The ruling was based not on the recent action of Parliament to add sexual orientation as a protected category under the Canadian Human Rights Act, but on a 1992 decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal that extended interpretation of the Act to include sexual orientation. Said Human Rights Commission spokesperson Donna Balkan, "This decision only applies to federal public servants. But if a similar case would go to a tribunal involving an airline or a railroad, which are federally regulated companies, we'd hope it would be the same kind of decision." Balkan added that there are few discrimination complaints, since many federally regulated companies, including banks, airlines, and communications services, have already established spousal benefits for same-gender couples. The Presbyterian Church of Canada has reversed its first ordination of an openly active gay man. Darryl MacDonald was ordained a minister last year with the support of 90 percent of the congregaation of Saint Andrews Church in Lachine, a suburb of Montreal. But his ordination was appealed by the Presbytery of Montreal -- the same Presbytery that had originally declared him a suitable candidate for ordination -- and a special church committee was assembled to investigate it. Following the recommendation of the committee, the ordination was overturned by a wide margin in a vote by the General Assembly of the 800,000-member denomination. MacDonald's opponents said his ordination would drive conservative members out of the Church and violate the denomination's understanding of the Bible. The Presbyterian Church of Canada does not have an actual policy against ordination of gays and lesbians, but stated in a 1994 report on human sexuality that homosexuality is not a Christian option. MacDonald has been in a committed gay relationship for more than two years and says he's always been very open about his orientation. The campaign to deny equal marriage rights to same-gender couples continues in the U.S.. This week, a U.S. House committee approved DOMA, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, by a 20-10 vote generally along party lines. It will next be considered by the full house. DOMA would restrict the definition of "marriage" and "spouse" to legally married heterosexual couples only for purposes of all federal regulations, and allow the states to ignore each others' legislative and judicial marriages and marriage-like treatment of same-gender couples. No state allows legal gay and lesbian marriages at this time, although an upcoming court case in Hawaii could create them there in the next two years. The Tennessee State Supreme Court this week let stand a ruling striking down the state's sodomy law, which applied only to homosexual acts. After the American Civil Liberties Union brought suit challenging the law, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that sex acts between consenting adults of the same gender were protected by the state Constitution's privacy guarantees. The South Korean Supreme Court ruled this week that a sexual assault against a male-to-female transsexual could not be charged as a rape. Justice Chong Kwi-Ho said, "Though the victim in this case behaves as a female, the person cannot be recognized as one because, among other things, his chromosomes remain unchanged and he cannot get pregnant." Instead, two assailants were convicted of a lesser sexual assault charge and sentenced to 2-1/2 years' imprisonment. The gay and lesbian Log Cabin Republicans of Texas this week won a temporary court order forcing the Republican Party of Texas to allow them to purchase exhibit space and an ad in the program for the state Republican Convention. The Republican Party had agreed to the sales but later backed out, ostensibly because of conflicts with the state party platform. But State District Judge John Dietz found merit in Log Cabin's lawsuit, and scheduled a trial for December. The Swedish government will have to draft a bill to extend housing allowances to same-gender couples equal to those of heterosexual couples, following a vote by acclamation of the Housing Committee of the Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament. The support of the ruling Social Democrats, the Center Party, the Liberals, and the Green Party, overcame the effective gag on gay and lesbian issues imposed by the Christian Democrats and the additional opposition of the Moderate Party. Expansion of eligibility for housing allowances was recommended by a government white paper back in 1984, and the issue has been raised by the Parliament three times in the last five years without leading to any government response. In Spain, all political parties except the ruling Partido Popular appear to be strongly supportive of a national partnership bill to legally recognize both heterosexual and same-gender unmarried couples for purposes including inheritance, pensions and social security. In meetings with Spain's gay and lesbian organization Fundacion Triangulo, leaders of four parties promised their support for such a measure regardless of which party introduced the bill. The conservative Partido Popular has so far refused to meet with Fundacion Triangulo, and their Secretary of State for Social Affairs Amalia Gomez said such a measure was not a priority at this time ... but the Partido Popular is heavily dependent on other parties to retain its power in the Spanish Parliament -- especially the Catalan coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, which has promised passage of a partnership bill. The city of Pisa, Italy has granted full legal and financial recognition to gay and lesbian couples. The city last week established an official domestic partnership registry open to both heterosexual and same-gender unmarried couples. The only requirement is that both partners have been free of any other union for at least one year. "Recognition of Lesbian and Gay Couples" is the theme of the upcoming pride celebration in Marseilles, France, where 5,000 are expected to attend. Participants will also be urging local authorities to support creation of a gay and lesbian community center in Marseilles. A first ever gay and lesbian pride celebration is planned at the end of June in Malta. The celebration in Floriana will feature a forum on health care and a variety of arts exhibitions and performances. Salt Lake City, Utah saw its largest-ever pride celebration last week, climaxed by a parade with 60 entries ... including one lone gay man representing Utah's Log Cabin Republicans. The festival's keynote address was given by Chastity Bono, the openly lesbian daughter of Republican U.S. Congressmember and former entertainer Sonny Bono. Boston, Massachusetts held its 19th Annual Gay Pride March last week before a record crowd police estimated at over 100,000. It was a fun day for most participants, but some came out a little too far for the public's taste. Reportedly one man marched naked on stilts and a pair of women fondled each other on a bed. March organizers helped police track down those unregistered participants, and promised to exclude all unregistered participants next year. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino promised that any lewd acts in the future would lead to arrests. Washington, D.C.'s 21st annual Lesbian and Gay Freedom Festival last week was estimated by organizers to have 100,000 participants, despite some rain. The Grand Marshall was Candace Gingrich, the openly lesbian half-sister of House Speaker Newt Gingrich. North Carolina's Pride '96, held on June 9th in Charlotte, led 40 area churches to take out a full-page ad in a Winston-Salem newspaper calling on the gays and lesbians to turn away from what it called their "awful and unnatural desire". A measure to denounce homosexuality was recently killed by the Winston-Salem Board of Aldermen. In San Jose, California last week, the 21st annual pride event was about the same size as last year's -- estimated by organizers at 18,000 people and by police between 5,000 and 6,000. And finally ... the pride celebration in Tempe, Arizona at the end of May drew a record attendance of well over 13,000 people ... but a small city grant in support of next year's pride festival raised some tempers in Tempe. Despite strong protests by the Arizona Christian Coalition, Tempe's Sponsorship Review Committee last week voted unanimously to grant $1,500 to Arizona Central Pride, the event's first public funding. -------- Sources for this week's report: Reuter News Service; The Associated Press; The Washington Post; U.S.A. Today; The (Nashville) Tennessean; Kom Ut/Sweden; El Mundo/Spain; Euro-Queer Digest; The Salt Lake (City, Utah) Tribune; The Boston Globe; The Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer; The San Jose (California) Mercury News; The Arizona Republic; and cyberpress releases from the International Lesbian & Gay Association. ===========================*=========================== Some THIS WAY OUT operating expenses are funded by grants from The C.P. Estes Guadalupe Foundation, The Gill Foundation, The Kicking Assets Fund Of The Tides Foundation, and by individual donations from listeners worldwide. Special thanks to Uncommon Clout Visa cardholders who have designated THIS WAY OUT as one of several nonprofits to receive a percentage of their chargecard purchases. THIS WAY OUT is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit under the corporate name of OVERNIGHT PRODUCTIONS, INC. *************************************************