NewsWrap for the week ending March 8th, 1997 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #467, distributed 03-10-97) [Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Ron Buckmire, Rex Wockner, Graham Underhill, Tom Ramsey, Martin Rice, Bjorn Skolander, Lucia Chappelle and Greg Gordon, and anchored by Brian Nunes and Cindy Friedman] Gays and lesbians came under attack in Zimbabwe this week at a rally against so-called sexual perversions, believed to be the first such rally ever held in the country. Former nationalist politician Michael Mawema attracted a crowd of about 100 in Harare with an ad in the government-controlled "Herald" newspaper. He hopes to build that gathering into a pressure group to demand stronger sentences for sex crimes, which in Zimbabwe include private homosexual acts between consenting adults. The current sodomy statute there prescribes a maximum sentence of 7 years in jail. Mawema told the crowd, "I am proposing that those convicted of these sexual crimes, such as homosexuality, rape, incest and bestiality, be whipped at least 100 times in a public square, and that, if they are men, they be castrated." But he also called for mandatory 20-year prison terms and claimed that in Christianity, "God commands the death of sexual perverts." In his eyes, "Zimbabwe is at a moral and political crossroads," between what he views as the country's national traditions and more liberal European values. The group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe called Mawema's equation of rape and homosexuality "destructive and ill-informed", but the group is unable to air its views in state-controlled media. A closely-watched military trial in the U.S. was cancelled at the last gasp this week, as the Air Force decided to accept the resignation of Captain Robert Saragosa, rather than try him on charges that could have meant up to 30 years in prison for consensual homosexual acts. Witnesses and attorneys had already been flown to Hawai'i from all over the world when the go-ahead for the resignation came directly from the office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Saragosa was the highest-ranking of 17 servicemembers named in exchange for reduced jail time by an airman convicted of a sexual assault against another man. The gay and lesbian Servicemembers Legal Defense Network insists that process was part of a witch hunt at Hawaii's Hickam Air Force Base, noting that "There is no known case of a heterosexual servicemember who has been convicted of rape to be allowed to reduce his sentence by naming women with whom he has had consensual sex." The Inspector General of the Air Force has issued a report denying any violations at Hickam of the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Saragosa has not admitted any wrong-doing and says the convicted airman's word has been the only evidence against him. A U.S. federal appeals court this week became the first to affirm that asymptomatic HIV is covered under the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. The First Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Maine dentist Randon Bragdon violated the ADA when he refused to fill a cavity for Sidney Abbott, a woman with HIV, except in a hospital setting. Bragdon is expected to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Legal observers say that a ruling in Bragdon's favor would have allowed any health care provider to deny care to people with HIV. France this week followed the U.S. in reporting its first decrease in AIDS-related deaths since the epidemic began, with a drop of almost one-fourth from 1995 to 1996. Unlike the U.S., France also saw a drop in new cases of about one-fifth from the first half of 1996 to the second. There was a total of almost 2,300 AIDS-related deaths in France in 1996, and nearly as many new cases reported. In Australia this week, there was both a call for uniform anti-discrimination measures throughout the states and a legal loophole to allow discrimination in immigration. Commissioner Chris Sidoti ceremonially presented a new report from the Australian national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission called "Human Rights for Australia's Gays and Lesbians". It reported pervasive violence against gays and lesbians and recommended a school-based prevention curriculum. It noted that different states have different ages of consent, sometimes higher for homosexual acts than for heterosexual ones, and called for their equalization. In addition to national protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation, the Commission called for legal recognition of same-gender couples. Meanwhile, Australia's Conservative government was able to pass an exemption from the existing national Sex Discrimination Act to allow immigration rules to favor legally married couples over unmarried ones, including gay and lesbian couples. So-called de facto couples will now face an additional requirement to live together for at least one year outside of Australia before the non-Australian member can apply to immigrate. Those couples also face a number of challenging economic restrictions. Immigration quotas have been lowered overall for the visa category commonly used by gay and lesbian and other unmarried couples. Recognition of same-gender couples was the leading theme at the 20th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, the biggest and generally agreed to be the best ever. With perfect weather, crowds estimated as high as 750,000 turned out to cheer on some 6,500 marchers and 200 floats in a procession more than 3 hours long. A couple of new parade favorites were impersonators of a popular broadcast news reader skating behind rolling newsdesks and "Gayviation", a float with a number of real-life flight attendants performing a dance interpretation of the standard passenger safety rap. Some leading conservative politicians were satirized in huge papier-mache renderings as well as drag interpretations. This week saw the first meeting of the Hawai'i state legislature's House-Senate conference committee charged with ironing out differences in two measures relating to same-gender marriages. Although both sides are eager to break the stalemate that's paralyzed legislative action for the last four years, this initial meeting featured more grandstanding for the media than reasonable debate. Bills approved by both houses would reserve legal marriage for heterosexual couples only while extending some rights to other kinds of couples. However, the Senate version extends a much wider range of rights to unmarried pairs and makes provision against gender-based discrimination. Following elections this week, there's a gay majority on the City Council of West Hollywood, California for the first time since 1986. Long known as "Boystown", the area was expected to be "the gay city" when it first incorporated, but soon ceased to be dominated politically by gays and lesbians. Seven of ten candidates for two seats on the Council were openly gay, with Jeff Prang the only openly gay winner. Voter turnout was a mere 22%. The White House liaison to the gay and lesbian community has been boosted in status, as Richard Socarides became the first open gay ever to be named a Special Assistant to the President. As Senior Advisor for Public Liaison, Socarides will have additional outreach responsibilities to some other constituencies, but he promises a major effort towards passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. There was a bit of political guerilla theater in Mexico this week, as 3 caped crusaders symbolically closed down the headquarters of PAN, the right-wing political party Partido de Accion Nacional. One of the three was "Super Gay", decked out in a rainbow-colored mask, horn-rim glasses suitable for Elton John, tight black shorts, and a black cape with purple sequins. He was accompanied by "Super Ecologista" and "Super Barrio", on their own missions for environmental and urban concerns. PAN may well win control of Mexico City in July elections and has a chance at the national Presidency in the year 2000. At the moment, PAN is strongest in Guadalajara, where Mayor Cesar Coll Carabias' city council recently passed laws that would punish public displays of affection between members of the same gender. There was political silliness in New York City this week as well, as Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- never known previously for playfulness -- appeared in full drag before a stunned audience at an annual journalists' banquet. In his drag persona of "Rudia", Giuliani went on to dance, to strip behind a screen, and to impersonate Marilyn Monroe's breathy singing to John F. Kennedy of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President". He convinced four of his five deputy mayors to attend in drag as well. And finally ... the ABC-TV sitcom "Ellen" this week finally began taping the long, long, long-awaited episode in which the title character becomes the first primetime network series lead ever to identify as lesbian or gay. As if that in itself weren't enough to grab a ratings boost when the show airs during sweeps week April 30th, in addition to guest appearances by film actress Laura Dern and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, openly lesbian Grammy winners Melissa Etheridge and k.d. lang will both appear. Etheridge performs the show's musical opening, while lang plays the role of a singing waitress. It's been a nervous time for star Ellen DeGeneres and everyone involved with the show since the episode's final approval was announced this week, but as the taping went on before an audience packed with lesbians and gays, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. According to one audience member, DeGeneres told a guest afterwards, "I'm free." --------*-------- Sources for this week's report included: The Age (Australia); The Associated Press; The American Broadcasting Corporation; The Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Australian TV Channels 7 & 10; The Boston Globe; Cable News Network; The Honolulu Advertiser; The Honolulu Star Bulletin; The Los Angeles Times; Maui News; The Melbourne (Australia) Star Observer ; Nando Times; The PanAfrican News Service; The Philadelphia Inquirer; Reuters; The New York Times; The San Francisco Chronicle; The San Jose (California) Mercury News; The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald; USA Today; Variety; Frontiers; The Washington (DC) Blade; and cyberpress releases from West Hollywood City Hall; The White House; and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).