NewsWrap for the week ending October 11th, 1997 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #498, distributed 10-13-97) [Compiled & written by Lucia Chappelle and Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill and Alan Reekie, and anchored by Tory Christopher and Jean Freer] Britain's unequal age of consent for gay men -- 18, as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals and lesbians -- was ruled discriminatory by the European Commission of Human Rights in Strasbourg October 7th, and almost immediately the Labour Government announced it would ask for a free vote by Parliament to change the law by 1999. However, Peter Tatchell, of the direct action group Outrage!, condemned any delay, and urged Home Secretary Jack Straw "to announce an immediate moratorium on prosecutions relating to consensual gay sex involving young men of 16 and 17." Previous attempts to equalize the age of consent in the Conservative-dominated Parliament have fallen short, but with the more liberal Labour Party now in the majority, equalization is expected to pass handily, especially with the personal backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Angela Mason, of Britain's lesbigay lobbying group Stonewall, told a news conference, "A free vote in parliament will be an opportunity to break with the centuries of discrimination and bigotry and begin the process of accepting gay men and lesbians as equal citizens in society." Revelations about police surveillance and infiltration of civil rights and community organizations, including gay and lesbian individuals and groups, rocked the Australian state of Victoria this week. Among the 1,240 individuals and 317 organizations targeted by the covert operations between 1985 and 1992 were the gay and lesbian "Melbourne Star Observer", the "Lesbian News" and the "Women's Liberation Newsletter", the Gay Electoral Lobby, the Gay Legal Rights Coalition, Radical Women, and several individual lesbigay rights and AIDS activists. Victoria Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Graham Sinclair admitted that, although spying continues on some political groups in preparation for the Olympic Games in Sydney in the year 2000, "We are looking at, solely, the issues of politically motivated crimes and criminal terrorist activities." Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett said that the police actions were necessary "to protect and uphold law and order, property and safety," and that the uproar had been "blown up out of all proportion." Gay and lesbian community groups have, of course, expressed outrage at the reports. About 160 people attended an October 9th meeting to form a coalition to call for an inquiry and propose a new monitoring body to oversee the police. California Republican Governor Pete Wilson has vetoed a bill that would have given gays and lesbians more legal protection from discrimination on the job and in housing, calling it "unnecessary". AB257, authored by Democratic Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, would have repealed existing law in the state Labor Code, which exempts all nonprofit groups and requires claims to be filed within 30 days, and added expanded protections to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to extend the law's prohibitions to cover nonprofit groups that aren't church-related; it would have also increased the time period for filing discrimination claims to one year. In 1991 Wilson vetoed a similar measure, AB101, which provoked unprecedented street protests by gays and lesbians up and down the state. Ellen McCormick, of California's LIFE Lobby, the state's lesbigay and AIDS advocacy group, accused Wilson -- who's been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate -- of "pandering to the right-wing votes he thinks he needs for a Republican primary." Wilson also vetoed legislation that would have helped expand Medi-Cal eligibility to HIV positive Californians before they progressed to a full disability AIDS diagnosis, and a measure, authored by openly-lesbian Assemblywoman Carole Migden of San Francisco, that would have entitled a woman with breast cancer to an independent review following the denial of a physician-recommended treatment by her insurance company or HMO [Health Maintenance Organization]. Currently, many women must file lawsuits to gain access to certain forms of therapy after such a denial. The U.S. Navy's Clemency and Parole Board held a hearing October 8th in Washington, D.C. to consider convicted gay-bashing murderer Terry Helvey's petition for a reduction in the life sentence he received for brutally killing fellow shipmate Allen Schindler in a bathroom at the U.S. Navy complex in Sasebo, Japan in 1992. Helvey has admitted that his primary reason for the attack was that he believed Schindler was gay. Kirk Childress, staff attorney for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, represented Schindler's family at the hearing. He asked the Board to consider Helvey's motive for the murder, and warned that Helvey could perpetrate more anti-gay violence if he is released, reminding the Board that this high-profile case -- portrayed in the recent Lifetime cable docudrama "Any Mother's Son" -- represents the continuing threat of harassment and violence in all branches of the U.S. military against service personnel who are, or who are perceived to be, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Childress reports that the Clemency and Parole Board listened attentively and thanked him for presenting the family's views. The Board is expected to issue its decision on Helvey's request for a reduced sentence in 2 to 3 weeks. The U.S. Supreme Court began its 1997-98 session October 6th by rejecting without comment some 1,500 cases submitted during the summer months, and among the debris were appeals on behalf of former Air Force Captain Richard Richenberg, Jr., who tried to challenge the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and Sandy Nelson, an openly lesbian journalist who was challenging her employer's prohibition of her off-duty political activities. Highly-decorated Gulf War combat veteran Richenberg's case is the third involving the Clinton Administration's policy on lesbian and gay servicemembers to be turned down by the Supreme Court in the past year. Richenberg had told lower courts that, although he was attracted to men, he had not and had no intention of ever engaging in so-called "prohibited conduct" during his time in the service. His First and Fifth Amendment arguments had earlier been rejected by both a federal judge and the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Tacoma News Tribune reporter Nelson had spent non-working time volunteering for pro-lesbigay electoral campaigns in the city. The News Tribune relieved her of her reporting responsibilities and moved her into a copy editor position, ostensibly for the duration of those campaigns, but she was eventually told that she had to refrain from all political activities in order to get her old job back. Nelson sued the paper, invoking a 1992 Washington state law that bars employers from discriminating against their workers because of their political involvements, but two state proceedings ruled that newspapers were immune under that law based on constitutional free press provisions and the press' need of an appearance of objectivity. A third lesbigay-related case was also rejected by the Supreme Court. The justices refused to hear the appeal of a Massachusetts man whose son was placed in temporary foster care with a gay male couple. The father was arguing that the placement unconstitutionally interfered with his religious freedom to raise his son as a Catholic. And finally, open lesbian Ellen DeGeneres is described as "furious" because of an advisory the network slapped onto the beginning of this week's episode of her ABC-TV sitcom "Ellen", apparently because it included a playful on-the-mouth kiss between "Ellen Morgan" and her heterosexual best friend "Paige": ABC announcer: "This program contains adult content. Parental discretion is advised." Critics have noted that a similar kiss last season between the lead character played by Michael J. Fox and a gay character played by Michael Boatman on another ABC sitcom, "Spin City", aired without such an advisory, which is generally used to alert viewers to excessive violence, adult language, or partial nudity. DeGeneres said she feels the "parental warning" is sending a message to lesbigay teens that there's something wrong with being gay. She told the New York Times that "It's like if they had a black show and put on a warning that said this show isn't suitable for viewers who don't like black people." Ellen's mom Betty DeGeneres, this year's spokeperson for National Coming Out Day -- the first heterosexual to assume that role -- told the syndicated TV program "Entertainment Tonight" that the advisory was "unnecessary" and "an overreaction": Betty DeGeneres: "To see that warning on the screen -- it's ridiculous. I don't know if everybody's just running scared, and ... it's just too bad that there have to be these groups that make everyone afraid." Earlier reports had DeGeneres threatening to walk off the show, but that seems highly unlikely because of her contractual agreements with the network. ABC shows have not fared well during the new season thus far, and "Ellen" is one of its few bright spots in the Neilsen ratings. The network reportedly had planned to precede other episodes of the sitcom with a similar parental warning, but behind-the-scenes discussions are no doubt underway to resolve the conflict. DeGeneres, who is on the cover of this week's TV Guide and the subject of a lengthy article, told the magazine, "It's only happening because I'm gay ... I never wanted to be an activist, but now they're turning me into one."