NewsWrap for the week ending October 12th, 1996 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #446, distributed 10-14-96) [Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Karen Wickre, Mary Salome, Ron Buckmire, Rex Wockner and Greg Gordon] London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International is investigating the situation of two dozen Filipino men working in Saudi Arabia, who have reportedly been flogged after being arrested for homosexuality. According to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Saudi authorities arrested the men for "homosexual behavior" although they were not actually engaged in sexual intercourse. While the circumstances of the arrest are not clear and the men's names are unknown, it is said that before being deported, the men will each receive a total of 200 lashes administered over 4 sessions, the first whipping having already occurred on September 30. Jailing and flogging are customary punishments for homosexual acts in Saudi Arabia. Amnesty considers flogging to violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even when it's administered by legal authorities with due process. The group also considers those imprisoned for private homosexual acts between consenting adults to be "prisoners of conscience," victims of discrimination and abuse. They are calling on the world community to write letters to King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz and other Saudi officials asking for commutation of the remainder of the Filipinos' sentence. The San Francisco-based NAMES Project Foundation's AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed in its entirety, perhaps for the last time, in Washington, D.C. October 11 through 13. It's a monumental undertaking. The quilt has been growing at an ever-increasing rate since its founding in 1987, and was expected to add another 4,000 panels while in Washington. It took 10 boxcars to transport some 40,000 3-by-6 panels, which weigh 50 tons. It then took 8 -12,000 volunteers to lay them out with the black fabric walkways that run between them over an area the size of 15 city blocks, covering the National Mall from the Capitol Building to the Washington Monument. Thousands more volunteers were on hand during the display to protect the panels and support the grieving visitors Honorary hosts U.S. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton were among the first of an expected 750,000 visitors. Vice President Al Gore and Tipper Gore were among the 2,000 volunteers who read the 70,000 names of those felled by AIDS whose names appear on its panels -- about 12% of the U.S. AIDS dead. At least 30 related events took place in Washington. On October 12, several thousand people joined "Hands Around the Capitol" to demonstrate their commitment to stopping the disease. The climactic event was the candlelight march called "Rage Against the Dying of the Light", with an anticiated 100,000 people led by film star Elizabeth Taylor walking from the Capitol steps to the Lincoln Memorial. Other events include a benefit concert, choral performances, a history presentation at the Smithsonian, the Gay Youth March, and numerous protest demonstrations by ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). Among the groups holding conferences in Washington to coincide with the display was PFLAG, Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays. PFLAG members observed National Coming Out Day early, on October 10, by setting up a one-day national hotline to support those just discovering that a friend or family member is gay. They also handed out literature in the DC subways, coming out as relatives and friends of gays and lesbians. On October 11, they honored openly gay retiring Congressmember Gerry Studds at a gala reception at the Rayburn House Office Building. The Massachusetts Democrat praised the group for their visibility and diligence. Openly gay retiring Republican Congressmember Steve Gunderson appeared as a surprise guest. On October 10, the Gay and Lesbian Campaign Committee turned over a check for 1.5 million dollars in support of on-going programming to promote understanding and tolerance of gays and lesbians at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. The guest of honor was gay Holocaust survivor Gad Beck, now a sprightly 80 years old with a twinkle in his eye, despite having been tortured and imprisoned in Nazi Germany for his sexual orientation. South African gays and lesbians, having succeeded in establishing the world's first explicit national constitutional guarantee of protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, are now organizing to see that that victory is more than just lip service. The Brammfontain-based National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality this week announced ambitious plans for its new Equal Rights Project, which seeks "to establish a commitment to gay and lesbian rights firmly and broadly within the mainstream" with a special focus on ending discriminatory laws and employment practices. The means they're pursuing to this end are litigation and public education activities, which they intend to extend into every province of the country and hope particularly will reach the townships. To achieve that scope, they plan to work in coalition with existing mainstream human rights organizations and legal and other professional groups. Part of their work will be collecting and disseminating comprehensive information regarding both cases of discrimination and available legal assistance. The first of a series of monthly information pamphlets, produced in conjunction with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University, looks at last year's Labor Relations Act as it applies to employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. On October 10 in New York City, some 200 gay and lesbian employees of some of the largest U.S.-based corporations gathered for the first Workplace/Marketplace Conference for Gay/Lesbian Consumer and Employee Issues. Along with intensive networking, they attended seminars on workplace issues of homophobia and HIV, domestic partner benefits, the gay advertising market, and the influence on Wall Street of the "pink dollar" and gay and lesbian socially responsible investing. A featured speaker was Elizabeth Birch of the Human Rights Campaign, formerly an executive with Apple. The Dole/Kemp campaign for the White House took a sharp negative turn this week, including the premiere October 9 of a radio ad geared to homophobes. The ad was placed specifically and exclusively on conservative Christian stations in the Midwest, where Clinton campaigners believe it was meant to escape mainstream attention. Entitled "Moral Center," the ad claims that's what Bob Dole could provide as President. By contrast, the ad generally blames President Clinton for the nation's "moral crisis," and decries Clinton's liberal positions on "ninth-month abortions ... gays in the military and condoms for school kids," adding, "That tells you a lot about Bill Clinton, it does." Clinton campaigners and some gay and lesbian activists believe that the ad tells you a lot about Dole: that he's trailing so badly in the polls that he's grasping at straws, hoping to at least retain the votes of the conservative Christian Republicans who were alienated by his efforts to keep the party more centrist. They have asked him to put more emphasis on moral issues and he's complying. The ad certainly suggests more the Bob Dole whose campaign once returned a check from the gay and lesbian Log Cabin Republicans than the big-tent-minded Dole Log Cabin endorsed after the party's National Convention. And finally ... The late great gay singer Michael Callen died of AIDS-related illness in 1993, but nonetheless his work dominated the glitzy first annual Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards ceremony held October 6 in New York City. His "Legacy" album from Significant Other Records won the GLAMA categories of Best Male Artist and Best Album for Callen alone, plus Best Duo/Group and Best Choral Group for Callen singing with Cris Williamson, Holly Near, Arnold McCuller, and John Bucchino. Callen was a finalist at least once in every category except Best Female Artist and Best Debut Artist. Those went to Melissa Etheridge for her "Your Little Secret" album from Island Records and to David Clement for his "Be More Like Me" from Wild Monk Records. Catie Curtis, who performed at the ceremony billed as a "folk rock goddess", was the big women's winner with 2 awards, Best Original Out Song and Best Out Recording, both for the "Radical" cut on her "Truth From Lies" album on the Guardian Records label. Comic Jason Stuart hosted the evening, along with a star-studded lineup of leading gay and lesbian musicians and comics. GLAMA was created by Tom McCormack and Michael Mitchell in 1995 to celebrate the work of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender recording artists. -------------------*------------------- Sources for this week's report included: The Associated Press; United Press International; The Washington Post; Rex Wockner International News; PR NewsWire (U.S.); The Philadelphia Gay News; The Chicago Sun-Times; The Chicago Tribune; The San Francisco Examiner; PlanetOut; and cyberpress releases from Amnesty International; the International Lesbian & Gay Association; the Human Rights Campaign; Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays; the Names Project Foundation; the AIDS Action Council; the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power; the National Coalition for Gay & Lesbian Equality (South Africa); the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses; and the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards.