NewsWrap for the week ending December 6th, 1997 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #506, distributed 12-08-97) [Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Alan Reekie, Chris Ambidge, Rex Wockner, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Cindy Friedman and Tory Christopher The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week as to whether sexual harassment constitutes sex discrimination when the supervisor and the employee are both of the same gender. The Department of Justice had urged the court to take up this question it has long side-stepped because lower courts have reached a range of different conclusions. The case before the court is "Oncale versus Sundowner", in which Jody Oncale claims harassment by his supervisor including genital contact, in the course of his work with an all- male crew on an offshore oil rig. Both a federal district court and the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Oncale the chance to bring a lawsuit under the national civil rights act in the belief that no conduct involving two people of the same gender could qualify as sex discrimination. That's an extreme position which no other federal appeals court has taken, and it became clear in the course of the hearing that the high court will overturn the ruling. However, the further details of the final ruling will be crucial in their implications for gays and lesbians. Numerous civil rights and anti- violence organizations, as well as the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, joined the case to advocate for all sexual harassment to be considered sex discrimination, regardless of the genders or sexual orientations of the parties involved. Some lower courts have taken that position, which serves to afford some protections for gays and lesbians which most states have not enacted. Some other courts have held that to constitute sex discrimination, the harassment must be targeted to individuals of one gender in contrast to better treatment o ose of the other. A few of the high court justices were clearly interested in exploring this option. Perhaps the most dangerous alternative for gays and lesbians, which some lower courts have chosen, is to define same-gender harassment as sex discrimination only where the perpetrator is lesbian, gay or bisexual and so might experience sexual attraction for the victim. Of this approach, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer said, "That has to be wrong." There is existing precedent clarifying that the sex discrimination clause of the civil rights act does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling before it goes into recess in July. The U.S. Supreme Court also refused to review two cases of interest this week. One was the case of pastor Eugene Lumpkin, who in 1993 was terminated from his appointment to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission after publicly affirming a Biblical injunction that homosexual acts should be punished with death. The high court let stand a lower court's decision including the statement that although Lumpkin was free to state his opinions, "the First Amendment does not assure him job security [on the Human Rights Commission] when he preaches homophobia." The other was the case of a gay couple who had both been publicly elected to the Republican Central Committee of El Dorado County, California in 1994, only to be thrown out by agreement of the rest of the committee. Because a state Assemblymember had made remarks about "getting rid of the fags," Paul Johnson and Kevin Wadworth Johnson believed their civil rights had been violated, while three local voters who joined the couple’s case believed their own civil rights had been violated when the committee overruled the two men's elections. The high court let stand a lower court's decision that civil rights laws did not apply in the case because the Assemblymember was acting as a private individual rather than as a public official, and because political parties are considered organizations which are exempt from government interference. Unless a "compelling state interest" can be shown, political parties are free to discriminate at will. Party loyalty took a backseat to homophobia this week for one member of the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Commission. Because Democratic incumbent Commission Chair Parke Helms had come out in support of an openly gay candidate for the commission, Andrew Reyes, Democratic Commissioner Hoyle Martin voted with the Republican minority to replace Helms as chair with Republican Tom Bush. Hoyle himself was voted vice chair at the same meeting. Hoyle had previously joined the Republicans in anti-gay votes on funding for the arts, youth counseling and sex education. An openly gay man has been elected to the Washington, D.C. City council for the first time. Republican newcomer David Catania ousted veteran Democrat Arrington Dixon in a four-way race for an at-large seat in a special election this week. Maine Governor Angus King has set a date of February 10th for a special election to decide if the state's newly enacted law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation should be repealed. Enforcement of the law has been suspended unless and until it survives the electoral challenge. The initiative was placed on the ballot through the efforts of the Christian Civic League of Maine and the Christian Coalition of Maine, although for campaign purposes they have formed a new group misleadingly titled Yes for Equal Rights. The campaign against repeal is being spearheaded by the group Maine Won't Discriminate, which in 1995 succeeded in defeating another initiative against civil rights protections for gays and lesbians. Civil rights protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation were passed without debate this week by Newfoundland's House of Assembly. Although the proposal was on the table in three previous sessions, provincial premier Brian Tobin finally made good on a campaign promise of well over a year ago by putting th bill near the top of the legislative agenda. Now the only Canadian provinces without such protections are Prince Edward Island, which has promised to pass them, and Alberta, which is defending its right not to pass them in a case now awaiting judgment by the Canadian Supreme Court. A gay employee of the European Union's Council of Ministers has filed a complaint demanding spousal allowances for his domestic partner. The Swedish couple legally registered their partnership five years ago, which at home brings them most of the legal benefits of marriage. The full European Parliament approved extending spousal benefits to registered gay and lesbian partners earlier this year. This week the Pacific Stock Exchange announced it is extending spousal benefits to the partners of all its unmarried employees effective January 1st. The Pacific Exchange, with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, is the third-largest in the U.S. and the first to offer domestic partner benefits. A spokesperson said the exchange would have liked to offer the benefits sooner, but they only recently became affordable for the mid-size employer. An Athens District Attorney has been disbarred by Greece's high court for his extramarital affair with a transsexual woman, but public reaction has been on his side. Because of the affair, Giorgos Sakellaropoulos' "social character" was called into question, but he believes his punishment was unfair and is considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. The woman in the case is Jenny Hiloudaki, a former sex worker who frequently makes media appearances to discuss sex and gender issues, so she was soon on television talking about the case. "It is as if he sacrificed his career on the altar of love," she said. She went on to propose that Sakellaropoulos marry her, saying, "I will be hurt if he stays with his wife now." One newspaper columnist wrote an open letter to Sakellaropoulos, saying, "The system destroyed you because you fell in love with a woman who wasn't always a w " When one TV station held a call-in poll, about 20,000 people responded, with more than 80% opposing Sakellaropoulos' firing. Many believe he would have been treated differently for an affair with either a woman or a man who had not undergone gender reassignment. And finally ... in Australia, a Senate committee report issued this week makes broad recommendations for law reform towards equal status for gays and lesbians, and a Law Commission report also issued this week specifically recommends a uniform national age of consent for gay sex that is the same as that for heterosexual and lesbian acts. While an age-of-consent debate isn't on the agenda in the Northern Territory, the NT's vehemently anti-gay Deputy Chief Minister Mike Reed admitted this week that he'd already begun to collect evidence and do research to oppose equalization. What he actually did was purchase two gay erotic videos and a magazine on a visit to Sydney, where it was his bad luck to be spotted and followed by someone from the NT as he visited four or five sex shops. What Reed apparently didn't realize is that while sale of x-rated videos is legal in the Northern Territory, it's not legal in New South Wales -- and one of the videos he bought is currently not legal to sell anywhere in Australia. Since one of the several hats Reed wears in the NT is that of state Police Minister, Sydney police are rather miffed that he has so far refused to reveal where he made the buys. Reed has waffled on just how much of the videos and magazine he actually looked at. He's taking considerable ribbing from the Opposition in the NT Legislative Assembly, but is not going to resign or be removed from the government. The video "Hot Firemen," which Reed says he chose for portraying homosexual acts being accepted in the workplace, has -- thanks to the national media attention he's brought it -- become a runaway bestseller.