NewsWrap for the week ending February 14th, 1998 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #516, distributed 02-16-98) [Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by David Hunt and Cindy Friedman Voters this week made Maine the first U.S. state ever to repeal a law against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Although polls had consistently indicated that perhaps two-thirds of citizens support civil rights protections for gays and lesbians, in unofficial returns the vote went to repeal by about 3%. That's probably because there was only about a 30% turnout for the special election on the single question, which was about twice what had been predicted but still less than half of the typical Maine turnout for a general election. It had taken activists fully 20 years to achieve passage of the law, but in the wake of the referendum, even the lead spokesperson for the law, Governor Angus King, believes there must be a delay before the law is reintroduced. Because of Maine's reputation as a liberal state, leaders of the religious right view their victory as a sign that they can repeal civil rights protections elsewhere as well. The last of the once-popular right-wing initiatives to proactively prohibit enactment of civil rights protections for gays and lesbians, is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. Cincinnati's 1993 ballot measure Issue 3 has gone up and down the judicial ladder, last year winning approval for a second time by a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeal, after the high court had ordered that court to rehear it. The Equality Foundation of Greater Cincinnati had asked the 6th Circuit to rehear the case with all of its judges, but was rejected. The only option left to the Foundation is to appeal back to the U.S. Supreme Court. Britain has been continuing to urge its overseas territories to reform their sodomy laws to bring them into line with the European Convention on Human Rights. This week the discussions which had begun at a conference in Britain continued in connection with the 20-nation Caribbean forum meeting in Nassau. Several of the territories in the Caribbean have strongly objected to reform, and Bermuda's chief minister asserted that the Caribbean has led the world in human rights. Although British officials deny it, it appears that sodomy reform may become a bargaining chip in the territories' campaign to regain British citizenship for their residents. Anti-gay sentiment in the Caribbean was highlighted recently when a gay cruise ship was denied docking privileges in the Cayman Islands and was protested in Belize and the Bahamas. In the wake of the passing of one of Britain's most renowned Conservatives, it was revealed that he had once been in love with another man. Enoch Powell spent almost 37 years in the House of Commons and is recognized as one of the key architects of what came to be known as Thatcherism. Although he was married to the same woman from 1952 through his death this month, he had confessed to a Church of England canon that in his undergraduate years at Cambridge, he suffered mightily from what he called a "homosexual friendship." That relationship had inspired some of the works in Powell's book "First Poems," pieces that had previously been believed to refer to a woman. The canon had been sworn to secrecy until after Powell's death, when the politician felt it was important that the truth be known for literary reasons. Brazil's Supreme Court, the Superior Tribunal of Justice, issued a landmark ruling this week that recognized the inheritance rights of a gay domestic partner for the first time. Milton Alves Pedrosa and Jair Batista Prearo were partners for 7 years, but when Prearo died of AIDS in 1989, his father claimed the apartment the two men had bought together. The unanimous decision said, "A judge today cannot ignore that two peopleof the same sex become involved. Their sexual behavior may go against moral standards, but the civil union between them is legitimate." The court found that Pedrosa is entitled to half the value of the apartment and to half of any future rental income from it, and Prearo's father was ordered to pay Pedrosa's court costs. A strong domestic partnership measure has been stalled in the Brazilian Parliament for some time, but is expected to come to the floor of the Chamber of Deputies this year. A strong bill to recognize unmarried couples has also been in process in the French Parliament for some time, but a measure now being prepared by the French government is taking a very different form. The civil union proposal by the Jospin cabinet would extend to any two unmarried people, even blood relatives. That's hoped to make the measure more palatable to right-wing Socialists who have criticized a gay and lesbian partnership measure as a "pederasts' charter." The government's package is expected to include most of the legal and taxation benefits of marriage, but will not grant rights to adoption or to publicly-funded fertility services. There will be some kind of waiting period before couples can sign the contracts, ostensibly to prove the stability of the relationship, but a delay of as long as five years is under consideration. Toronto was transformed into a new super-city January 1st as a merger with surrounding municipalities went into effect -- and now the new entity has voted to extend equal spousal benefits to the same-gender domestic partners of its employees. All but two of the formerly separate towns had been offering the benefits previously. Also this week, Monroe County became the first county in Florida to grant domestic partner benefits to its employees ... while a legal challenge to Chicago's new domestic partners benefits for city workers, was dismissed. The Amoco and Mobil Oil companies have extended spousal benefits to their employees' same-gender domestic partners, according to a report by the right- wing American Family Association. The Shell and Chevron oil companies had already granted the benefit to their gay and lesbian employees. Billionaire and former 3rd-party U.S. Presidential candidate Ross Perot is considering withdrawing the spousal benefits his Perot Systems Corporation extended to the partners of its gay and lesbian employees last year. It's believed that no major U.S. corporation has ever before rescinded domestic partner benefits. Perot feels it is unfair to deny the same kind of compensation to other kinds of couples who share housing, but he also feels it's too expensive to make the benefits available to everyone. On February 12, National Freedom to Marry Day was observed in more than 40 cities across the U.S., in a demonstration of support for equal marriage rights for same-gender couples. Most of the events featured couples symbolicly "tying the knot" in pink and lavender ribbons, from tiny knots worn on clothes all the way up to a huge knot on a ribbon around the city hall of West Hollywood, California. But although the demonstrators are hoping for a decision soon from the Hawai'i state Supreme Court to open marriage to same- gender couples there, bills have been introduced in several more state legislatures to deny legal recognition to gay and lesbian marriages performed out of state. Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, and West Virginia will consider joining the 27 states which have already refused to recognize same-gender marriages another state may someday perform. The month-long Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival is well underway in Australia, but New South Wales Minister of Police Paul Whelan has finally caved in to public pressure regarding a contingent of police marching in the climactic parade. Police Commissioner Peter Ryan had agreed to allow the officers to march in uniform for the first time, and regulations required that they therefore be paid for their time. But with criticism not only from the religious right and other police agencies, but also from within the cash- strapped New South Wales police force itself, Whelan is ready to have the officers do the marching on their own unpaid time. Other major gay and lesbian festivals have also been in the news. Melbourne's Midsumma celebration peaked with 38,000 participants in the city's third annual Pride March this month. In New Zealand, Wellington's annual Devotion festival has just opened with a huge dance at a waterfront venue decorated on the theme of an international airport. Auckland's HERO festival went before the Human Rights Commission this week with its claim that the city's refusal to grant $15,000 to the event was illegal discrimination. Singer Rob Halford, best known for his work fronting the popular heavy metal band Judas Priest, publicly identified himself as a gay man this month in an interview with MTV. He said that although he has been gay all his life, it's only recently that he's become comfortable with openly talking about it. Halford is currently half of the duo known as Two with guitarist John Lowery, and they chose a director of gay porn films, Chi Chi Larue, to direct their upcoming video entitled, "I'm a Pig." And finally ...Valentine's Day always marks the return of those ubiquitous little candy hearts with messages printed on them. In fact, NECCO's "Conversation Hearts" have been around since 1902. One of the messages that used to turn up on the colorful candies was "You are gay." It was discontinued only about 10 years ago, when the old-fashioned office responsible for the slogans finally realized that "gay" had taken on a new connotation. However, among the statements added to the assortment more recently are "Sister Friend" and "You Go, Girl."