NewsWrap
for the week ending July 11th, 1998
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #537, distributed 07-13-98)
[Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Brian Nunes, Jason Lin,
Graham Underhill, Martin Rice, Rex Wockner, Alejandra Sarda,
Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle]

Anchored by Cindy Friedman and Brian Nunes

  New Zealand Presbyterians held their General Assembly in Christchurch this
past week but failed to reach a conclusion on the hot-button question of
ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians.  Two years ago, the General
Assembly had agreed not to knowingly put openly active gays and lesbians into
positions of church leadership, and two church polls since had indicated
support for the ban, but the current meeting did not go on to ratify it as
church law.  The Assembly agreed that ratification should require a 60%
majority, but the ban drew only 54.5% of the vote.  A special committee was
established at the Assembly to help the gathering reach a conclusion, but
instead the session drew to a close with only a temporary "don't ask, don't
tell"-style agreement for the coming year.  By a vote of about 2 - 1, the
Assembly decided to continue the ban for another year, but also agreed not to
ask candidates for the ministry and other leadership roles about their sexual
activity.  In addition, all debate on the issue will be suspended for the year
throughout the church.  A four-member Commission of Diversity has been
established to promote study on the question and to prepare for a special
meeting next year.  A number of conservatives had threatened to leave the
church if the ban was not ratified, but grudgingly accepted the temporary
compromise while promising to continue their opposition to gay and lesbian
leadership.  In a dramatic moment, the moderator of the General Assembly, the
Right Reverend Bruce Hansen, registered his dissent from the ban, and offered
to resign his post, but his resignation was not accepted.

  An international meeting in Ottawa in late June affirmed a "Declaration on
Sexual Orientation and Human Rights" for the Secretary-General of the United
Nations to use in preparation for discussions later this year.  The conference
organized by Human Rights Internet brought representatives from 100 non-
governmental organizations from around the world to review progress in the
five years since the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights.  The products of
that Vienna meeting included no mention whatever of sexual orientation, but
the so-called "Vienna+5" conference in Ottawa included a working group devoted
specifically to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.  Its
declaration included recommendations for the United Nations, for national
governments, and for non-governmental organizations, towards ending all
discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Recommendations regarding sexual
orientation were not restricted to that declaration, however -- lesbigay and
transgender issues were specifically mentioned in the documents produced by
committees focused on other areas as well.
The Declaration On Worker's Rights discussed job discrimination, sexual
harassment and benefits for same-gender couples; the Declaration On Torture
included recognition of forced "treatment" to change sexual orientation or
gender identity as a form of torture which must be eliminated; the Declaration
On Violence, Gender And Bodily Integrity discussed the practice of surgery on
intersexed infants; the Declaration On Impunity described the kidnappings,
murders and "disappearances" of lesbigays and transgenders that police fail to
investigate; and the Declaration On Refugees recognized that persecution based
on sexual orientation and sexual identity often forces migration but is
recognized by only a few countries as a basis for granting asylum.

  But human rights legislation drafted by Britain's direct action group
OutRage! this month went down to a resounding defeat in the House of Commons.
The measure would have amended the national Human Rights Bill to prohibit
"discrimination on any grounds" with respect to the rights and freedoms in the
European Convention on Human Rights.  But when Labour Party leadership opposed
it, it was voted down by 234 to 18, with only one Labour Member of Parliament
joining the Liberal Democrats in supporting it; even Labour MPs Andrea Eagle,
an open lesbian, and Ben Bradshaw, an openly gay man, voted nay.  However,
there were two hopeful elements in the debacle.  Home Office Minister Mike
O'Brien said clearly that the list of protected categories under the European
Convention -- which does not include sexual orientation -- is "not an
exhaustive one and should not be treated as one."  That statement can be used
by judges in interpreting the Human Rights Bill in discrimination cases.
Also, the government revealed that the Council of Europe is preparing to enact
a new and broader measure against discrimination, covering new areas such as
employment, housing, pensions, and provision of goods and services.

  A shocking violation of human rights was reported this month to have
occurred last year in rural Peru, where the government family planning program
allegedly sterilized an unknown number of gay men, often without their
knowledge or consent.  The sterilizations were performed on poor people in the
province of San Martin.  Some of the men were unwittingly sterilized while
being treated for other conditions, such as surgical repair of a hernia.  Some
were given alcohol as both an inducement and an anesthetic, without being
given any explanation of the procedure.  One presumably transgendered man said
he was told only that, "This will make you more feminine and sexy."  The
Peruvian government had already promised to end its sterilization program,
which primarily targeted women, after some of its victims gave testimony
before a U.S. Congressional committee in February.

  The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings this week on the Hate
Crimes Prevention Act, which for the first time would make sexual orientation,
gender and disability protected categories for bias crimes under federal law.
Currently federal law enforcement and criminal justice authorities have no
jurisdiction for investigation and prosecution of gay-bashings, as they do for
crimes motivated by bias against a religion, race, color, or national origin.
Only 22 of the 50 states have hate crime laws which recognize sexual
orientation, even though gays and lesbians are disproportionately the victims
of bias-motivated attacks.  Concerns were expressed that the bill's other
provisions for expanded federal involvement in hate crimes might create legal
and caseload problems.  But the Committee's conservative Republican Chair
Orrin Hatch called the measure a "good step in the right direction" and
promised that, "The committee is going to move on a hate crimes bill."

  When Colorado's Roy Romer in 1997 became the first governor in the U.S. to
veto a bill to prohibit legal same-gender marriages, he set up a commission to
look into the status of gay and lesbian couples.  This week, that group issued
its final report.  Although recommending against extending existing marriage
laws to include same-gender couples, the panel made a strong call for
establishing a statewide domestic partners registry that would grant gay and
lesbian pairs the same rights and responsibilities as traditional marriage.
Those included recognition of gay and lesbian non-biological co-parents,
inheritance rights, various benefits, and the right not to testify against a
partner in court.  The recommendations were condemned both by anti-gay
conservatives who saw domestic partnership as legal marriage by another name,
and by some gays and lesbians who saw a separate marriage law as legal
apartheid.

  Alaska's initiative to restrict legal marriage to "one man and one woman"
now has a name:  Ballot Measure 2.  If passed in November, it would also say
that "no provision of the Alaska Constitution may be interpreted by a court to
recognize or permit marriage between individuals of the same sex."  A
political action committee called Alaskans for Civil Rights has formed to
oppose the initiative.

  But the Oregon Citizens Alliance has failed to collect enough signatures to
place its so-called Family Act on the November ballot.  That measure would
have defined "family" as a marriage between a man and a woman, plus any
children they might have.  As a result, it would have denied some benefits to
same-gender couples.  With the fate of another OCA initiative against abortion
in some doubt, the group's chair Lon Mabon will be asking his board this month
whether it's time for the organization to close down altogether.  The OCA has
been pursuing anti-gay ballot initiatives for more than a decade, including
four statewide initiatives, one of which repealed a governor's executive order
against discrimination in public employment.

  This week also saw the world premiere of what's believed to be the first
opera about a lesbian relationship.  It's an interpretation of the classic
historical romance novel "Patience and Sarah" with music by Paula Kimper and
libretto by Wende Persons.  The New York City audience, including many lesbian
couples, was wildly enthusiastic.

  Openly lesbian comic Sandra Bernhard, best known for her bisexual continuing
character on "Roseanne," gave birth to a daughter, Cicely Yasin, on July 4th. 

  And finally ... in Canada, the New Brunswick provincial Human Rights
Tribunal this week heard the case of Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside, who is
charged with discrimination for refusing to issue a proclamation of Gay Pride
Weekend two years ago.  The complaint was brought by two members of the group
FLAG, Fredericton Lesbians And Gays.  Woodside contends that his own rights to
free speech take precedence over the national and provincial civil rights
laws.  That defense failed in Canada's two previous cases of mayors who
refused pride proclamations, Dianne Haskett of London and Bob Morrow of
Hamilton; they were both punished with fines by the Ontario Human Rights
Commission.
The sole witness in the hearings was University of Toronto sociology professor
Dr. Mariana Valverde, who had also testified in the London and Hamilton cases.
Her expert testimony was intended to present gays and lesbians as having a
community identity beyond the bedroom, and to underscore the importance for a
minority community of validation through pride events and proclamations.  At
one point Fredericton city attorney Bruce Noble, defending Woodside, asked
Valverde whether there could be any point to a public official issuing a
proclamation when everyone knew he did not believe in what it said.  "Sure,"
she answered.  Politicians do it all the time."