NewsWrap
                           for the week ending October 18th, 1997
        (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #499, distributed 10-20-97)
[Compiled & written by Lucia Chappelle and Greg Gordon, with thanks to
Graham Underhill, Doug Case and Jason Lin, and anchored by Jean Freer and
Tory Christopher]

  Effective this week, foreign nationals in long-term gay or lesbian
relationships with British citizens will have an easier time settling there.
 The decision to amend the regulations governing gay, lesbian and
heterosexual common-law couples was announced October 10th, following the
Labour Government's review of immigration regulations covering unmarried
couples.  The decision seems to have also been spurred by the recent ruling
by the European Commission of Human Rights against Britain's unequal age of
consent laws.  Home Office Immigration Minister Mike O'Brien said that the
old guidelines -- which stipulated that gay and lesbian couples had to prove a
 much longer-standing relationship than their heterosexual counterparts --
were "unsustainable and may have breached human rights law."
Under the revised regulations a couple will have to verify four years of
co-habitation and prove that they intend to live together for life.  After
being admitted into the country, the couple must remain together for another
year before being allowed to settle permanently.
Some of the opposition Conservative Party's old guard condemned the new
policy.  Lord Tebbit said, "It is clear that the Government's policy is to
place sodomite marriage on the same standing as the honourable estate of
matrimony.  Presumably now we will have to endure a succession of real or
alleged homosexual partners being brought in to avoid our immigration rules."
 Tebbit had only days earlier predicted that Britain would "become a
Yugoslavia unless it stamped out multi-culturalism," for which he was
denounced as a "dinosaur" by Tory leader William Hague.  Hague has been
trying to promote a new "compassionate" image for the Conservatives, even
offering the olive branch to gays and lesbians at his party convention
earlier this month.

  A bill to ban same-gender marriage is currently being considered by the
legislature in Puerto Rico, even though such marriages are already prohibited
under the Civil Code the new measure seeks to amend.  Nevertheless, the
bill's author, House of Representatives member Epifano Jimenez -- along with
his main cheerleader, Assemblies of God preacher the Rev. Jorge Raschke --
have made it clear that their intention is to counter a perceived "homosexual
agenda" that they believe will corrupt the culture and morals of the the
Caribbean U.S. territory.
Jimemez told fellow legislators that his bill would tell gays and lesbians
"that this society does not tolerate their conduct," claiming that "they want
to get married, adopt children and have medical plans to pay for their sex
changes."
Raschke held up copies of "Daddy's Roommate" and "I Love My Two Mommies"
during his testimony before a House committee hearing on the bill last week,
warning that, "Eventually school textbooks could be replaced to redefine the
concept of family according to the homosexual community ... No Puerto Rican
in his right mind would be willing to allow such a minority group to impose
books like these on our children."
Alma Matos, pastor of the Other Sheep of the Flock Christian Center, a church
catering to Puerto Rico's gays and lesbians, condemned the measure as being
based on an "erroneous conception of homosexuality", and told reporters that,
although the lesbian and gay community is a strong social, cultural and
market force on the island, "There are many homosexuals that don't come out
of the closet for obvious reasons of discrimination and rejection."  A vote
on the bill is scheduled in the full House in a few weeks.  If it passes
there, as expected, it will go on to the Senate, where it's expected to pass
as well.

  Afternoon shoppers in Tokyo got something they hadn't bargained for late
last week:  Japan's first-ever lesbian pride march.  Under banners such as
"Happy Dyke Day" and "Homosexuals Are Citizens Who Work, Study And Pay
Taxes," about 200 lesbians literally stopped traffic as they marched through
some of the city's crowded afternoon streets, with drums banging, whistles
blowing, and the music of k.d. lang as their soundtrack.  Reaction from
onlookers ranged from amused support to bewilderment.
The country's lesbians and gays suffer not from legal oppression -- there are
no laws against consensual adult homosexuality in Japan -- but from an
extremely conformist society that tacitly allows a lesbigay culture to exist
as long as it remains underground.  While some of the marchers acknowledged
that official bias could intensify if lesbians and gays were more open, "We
are not visible," one of them told the press.  "The problem is not there to
fight or to talk about, and that in itself is a problem."

  An apparent network change of heart and a Vice Presidential commendation
kept the "Ellen" fires burning this week.
ABC announced that there wouldn't be a parental advisory on this week's
installment of "Ellen" [tape: "The following program contains adult content.
 Viewer discretion is advised"] but reserved the right to introduce future
episodes with the warning as the network deems necessary.  The advisory
slapped on the previous week's episode, which had "Ellen" lip-kissing her
hetero friend "Paige," apparently prompted the "adult content" warning, and
well-publicized anger by star Ellen DeGeneres.  Chastity Bono GLAAD -- the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation -- applauded the network "for
recognizing that 'Ellen' deserves the same treatment as other shows like it
that may not have lesbian and gay characters," and praised DeGeneres for "not
only standing up for her show, but for the equality of the entire community."
"Ellen" continues to be one of the network's few bright spots in the ratings
wars: last week's episode, which focused on Ellen's use of the Gay Yellow
Pages to find a plumber, ranked 8th among the 18-to-49-year-old viewers
coveted most by advertisers.

  U.S. Vice President Al Gore weighed in with his own positive comments about
"Ellen" this week, telling a gathering of the Hollywood Radio and Television
Society:
[tape:]  "So many television shows, songs and movies have dramatically
changed the way we see vital issues.  In this sense the very term
'entertainment industry' is incomplete, for while you entertain, you also
open minds and hearts.  When the character 'Ellen' came out, millions of
Americans were forced to look at sexual orientation in a more open light."
Right-wing commentators and organizations predictably jumped on Gore's
comments as an opportunity to attack the probable future presidential
candidate.  The Family Research Council's Robert Knight said Gore's comments
"have tipped the hand of the administration's pro-homosexual agenda",
complaining that "what they and their policies deliver is forced acceptance."
In 1992 another Vice President, Republican Dan Quayle, attacked another
female sitcom leading character, "Murphy Brown" for what he said was a
storyline "glamorizing" having a child out of wedlock.  Quayle -- who may run
for the presidency himself -- issued a brief statement criticizing Gore's
remarks, saying ``I'm always surprised to hear politicians promoting the
agenda of Hollywood elites ... If there's anybody whose agenda needs
promoting, it is the middle-class American family."

  Other names in the news this week include the state of Washington's
openly-lesbian retired Army Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, who is considering a
run for the U.S. House of Representatives.  She was the highest-ranking
officer ever to be discharged for coming out, but later won reinstatement to
the Washington State National Guard and retired with honors.  Cammermeyer,
whose life story was told in the Emmy-winning TV movie, "Serving in Silence",
is currently serving as co-chairperson of the group working for passage of
state Initiative 677, the Washington ballot measure to ban employment discrimi
nation based on sexual orientation.

  Sandra Gillis, Executive Director of Parents, Families and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays -- PFLAG -- is stepping down, according to a press release
issued October 16th.  Despite reports in August of internal dissent and what
have been characterized as "dysfunctional relationships" between the national
office and its local chapters, no specific reasons were given for Gillis'
departure.  Her resignation letter did seem to obliquely refer to the reports
of organizational discontent by noting that "all growth is accompanied by
growing pains ... The group has the potential to become even stronger, and I
hope PFLAG's membership will unite to achieve that potential."  Neither a
specific departure date for Gillis nor a timetable to select her replacement
have been announced.

  Openly-gay pop music superstar Elton John has decided to write his memoirs.
 "If it's a 'kiss and tell' book," one publisher told the press, "the sales
potential is absolutely huge.  People who buy only one book in a year will
buy this one." 
According to several media reports, John will collaborate on the as yet
untitled book with Ingrid Sischy, the openly-lesbian editor-in-chief of
"Interview" magazine and a contributing editor for "Vanity Fair".
John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" Princess Diana tribute/fundraiser this week
topped the 32 million mark in global sales, surpassing Bing Crosby's "White
Christmas" as the best-selling single of all time.

  And finally ... fans of a popular TV series gathered in San Francisco this
weekend for a convention that could rival those of other shows with fanatic
fan followings.  Mike Antonucci, in the San Jose Mercury News, wrote, "Forget
all that stuff you've heard about 'Star Trek' viewers who speak Klingon to
each other over dinner.  The new leaders in the 'TV stole my brain'
subculture appear to be the fans of 'Xena: Warrior Princess'."  The
fuzzily-defined but extremely close relationship between the lead character
and what Antonucci calls "her suggestively intimate sidekick, Gabrielle",
have won the show a rabid lesbian following, which has no doubt helped
catapult "Xena" to the top ratings spot among syndicated U.S. TV programs.
The show airs in San Francisco on KOFY, which televised the city's Lesbian &
Gay Pride parade this year and also had a booth at the post-parade festival,
at which people could have their photo taken with a life-size cardboard
replica of Xena.  There were repeated attempts to steal the Xena stand-up,
and several requests to buy it, with some offers exceeding $500.  According
to Antonucci's report, the TV station's marketing director said that the
cardboard Xena came back to the station "'mauled' from being squeezed and
kissed".