NewsWrap for the week ending August 28, 1999 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #596, distributed 8-30-99) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Martin Rice, Rex Wockner, Chris Ambidge, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Leo Garcia and Cindy Friedman Morocco's new King Mohammed IV is gay, according to a Netherlands national television report and "De Gay Krant" newspaper. The "outing" has sparked continuing demonstrations by the Moroccan community in Utrecht, but the king's gay orientation is said to be common knowledge among Morocco's intelligentsia. In his college days in Belgium, Sidi Moulay Mohammed was reportedly a regular in Brussels' gay bars. But in Morocco, where homosexual acts are crimes punishable by up to three years in prison, no one talks about the new king's orientation. The police and armed forces are said to prefer Mohammed's non-gay younger brother, specifically because of their discomfort with Mohammed's orientation. But the commander of Argentina's army has called for an end to prison terms for gay soldiers. General Martin Balza, due to retire in December, isn't ready to have gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. But he does believe those found to be gay should be discharged rather than serve as much as six years in prison. He also seemed to be suggesting there would be no problem with closeted gays in uniform as long as their conduct didn't reflect poorly on the service. Military code reforms are currently under discussion in Argentina's Parliament. Currently under investigation by the U.S. Army is openly gay Arizona state Representative Steve May, the only openly gay Republican now serving in a state legislature. He was moved from inactive ready reserve to active reserve status in February because of the Kosovo crisis, shortly after making headlines in Arizona for speaking out in the first person against an anti-gay bill. Once the crisis was over, the Army began an investigation that will probably end in his discharge for homosexuality. He told reporters: Steve May: "I have been openly-gay in public life for over 3 years! And then I was called back into service... I mean, it doesn't make any sense! Maybe our military intelligence officers should read the papers more often." May was due to be promoted to captain within the next few months. A celibacy requirement for gay and lesbian ministers was left in place by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in its first national vote on the subject. The expectation of abstinence had been established in 1990 by a church board, but until last week had never been considered by a Churchwide Assembly, the denomination's highest law-making body. That biennial national convention voted overwhelmingly to make no change at this time. It also defeated a motion to temporarily suspend the sex ban pending discussion. Without specifying any timetable or details, the denomination did agree to continue what it called "discerning conversations" on the subject. Unmarried heterosexual ministers are also expected to abstain from sex, but the Lutheran meeting did not discuss recognition of same-gender relationships. The United Methodist Church's ban on the celebration of same-gender unions by its ministers or in its churches, is being adhered to by a lesbian couple in Texas. Linda Enger and Eleanora Piombino of Bering Memorial church in Houston have been together for 25 years and raised four children. They obtained a permit to hold their union ceremony in the street outside the church, although it will be immediately followed by a Holy Communion service inside. Bering pastor Marilyn Meeker-Williams will "witness" the ceremony from the church steps. The Bering associate pastor who will actually officiate at the union was ordained in the Orthodox Catholic Church rather than the United Methodist. Meeker-Williams said, "The church is perpetuating a very great injustice to all persons who are gay or lesbian." New Zealand's Ministry of Justice is seeking to rectify the legal status of same-gender couples with the national Human Rights Act. About two years later than had been expected, the Ministry this week published a discussion paper called "Same-Sex Couples and the Law," to seek input from the public over the next seven months. It covers a wide range of issues including property, inheritance, relationships with children including adoption and child support, assisted reproduction, entitlement to various benefits, taxation, and immigration. Although the paper clearly favors registered domestic partnerships over opening traditional marriage to gays and lesbians, the debate in the media so far has focused almost exclusively on marriage and adoption. Surprisingly, a formal survey found that more New Zealanders favored legal same-gender marriage than opposed it, by 44 percent to 41 percent, with 15 percent undecided. But only 37 percent supported adoptions by gay and lesbian couples, compared to 48 percent against. An Israeli Family Court judge has rejected a lesbian couple's bid to co-adopt each other's biological children. The same judge had previously made a pioneering move to grant them custody rights. But he found there was no room in the national Adoption Law for a child to have two mothers, even when it would be in the child's best interests. The couple of ten years, whose names have been withheld, are appealing to the District Court. But in Canada two lesbians have become the first same-gender couple to co-adopt a child in the Yukon Territory. Patricia Bacon and Kathy Traplin had an attorney begin the legal research while Bacon was pregnant and filed for the adoption shortly after their daughter Madisen was born. A case worker made home visits over the next six months to assess their fitness as parents, and a judge approved the adoption last week without requiring argument. By a quirk of the law, not only was Traplin adopting Madisen, but Bacon was also adopting her own biological child. Canada has granted asylum to a lesbian who feared persecution in her native Argentina. There, because of her lesbian orientation, Lidia Lilliana Araya had been beaten by her father and gang-raped by four co-workers. She was also detained, harassed and beaten by police. When she refused to pay "protection" to police, two officers raped her right in the police station. Jonathan Schmitz was found guilty of second-degree murder this week for a second time, for shooting gay Scott Amedure, who had confessed his "secret crush" on Schmitz at a taping of "The Jenny Jones Show". Schmitz had been sentenced to 25-to-50 years in prison in 1996, but the Michigan Court of Appeals found a judicial error and required a retrial. While the first jury could have chosen first-degree murder, second-degree was the strongest charge possible at the retrial. The jury rejected defense pleas for a manslaughter conviction based on the theory that Amedure had harassed Schmitz to the breaking point. There may be a further trial; Schmitz' defense attorney wants to appeal exclusion of evidence of Schmitz' mental problems. Earlier this year, a civil jury awarded Amedure's family 25 million dollars from "The Jenny Jones Show," its producer Telepictures and its distributor Warner Brothers; that case is being appealed. The notorious godhatesfags.com web site has been returned to the family of Kansas anti-gay activist Fred Phelps, after its brief hijacking to GodLovesFags.com. Registered ownership of godhatesfags.com had been mysteriously transferred to GodLovesFags Web master Kris Haight. But the threat of a lawsuit against his Internet Service Provider forced him to give back the site after 72 hours. Rich Mackey, who works with Haight on GodLovesFags.com, said, "We didn't set out to be activists. But sometimes you just have to take the hand God deals you." Bible verses against homosexuality were the text of Ku Klux Klan recruitment flyers distributed in Frederick County, Maryland. About 1,200 flyers were randomly left on doorsteps, according to a Klan spokesperson. Frederick's Republican state Senator Alexander Mooney, who had himself just sent out a shrill fund-raising letter that used the phrase "militant homosexuals" six times in four pages, called the Klan's flyer "completely unacceptable." And although Mooney's letter took major credit for blocking this year's bill to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination, he said that all people deserved respect regardless of their sexual orientation. And finally... back in Canada, bible citations were featured in an anti-gay ad run 2 years ago by the "Saskatoon StarPhoenix", sparking a complaint by 3 gay men that was heard this week by Saskatchewan's Human Rights Commission. There was an interesting exchange between the man who placed the ad, Hugh Owens, and one of the complainants, Gens Hellquist. Owens expressed his opinion that sex is intended for reproduction by asking, "Do you understand the purpose and functions of testicles?" Hellquist shot back, "They give me testosterone so I can stand up to people like you."