NewsWrap for the week ending October 9, 1999 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #602, distributed 10-11-99) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Martin Rice, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Bo Mortensen, John Loo, Keith Elston, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Leo Garcia and Cindy Friedman U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke at two fund-raising events by gay and lesbian groups this week, one in Los Angeles and one in New York City. Clinton was the first sitting U.S. President ever to appear at a gay event, and these second and third appearances were the first outside of Washington, D.C. Both engagements were payback to groups that had given Clinton strong support early in his first campaign for President -- in Los Angeles, ANGLE, Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality, and in New York, the Empire State Pride Agenda. The ANGLE gala raised perhaps $900,000 for Democratic Congressional campaigns, while the New York event raised about one million dol lars for Empire State Pride's own lobbying efforts and contributions to gay-friendly candidates' campaigns. In New York, Clinton commented briefly that he felt U.S. immigration laws should be changed so they would no longer divide same-gender couples. It may have been the first time he mentioned this issue. At both events, Clinton apologized, saying he wished he could have done more on gay and lesbian issues. He stressed his continuing support and advocacy for federal laws against anti-gay employment discrimination and hate crimes. In Los Angeles, the President was nearly upstaged by California Governor Gray Davis' announcement that he had signed into law three crucial bills: one strengthening protections from sexual orientation discrimination in employment and housing, one establishing a statewide domestic partnership registry, and one adding sexual orientation to the Education Code to protect students from discrimination and harassment in publicly-funded schools. Before arriving in New York, Clinton had a significant announcement of his own. He issued an executive order providing for harsher sentences by military courts for violent crimes motivated by hatred, including homophobia. The same order also enhanced the confidentiality of servicemembers' communications with psychotherapists in military prosecutions. Although the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network called that an important first step, the military watchdog group wanted to see the same confidentiality protections extended to administrative proceedings, which account for the large majority of discharges for homosexuality. Verbal attacks on gays and lesbians by the Presidents of Uganda and Kenya last week have had some repercussions. In Uganda, an opposition newspaper reported that a secret anti-gay group was acting at President Yoweri Museveni's behest to identify underground gay venues and reveal them to police. The same newspaper also reported that the gay wedding ceremony in a Kampala suburb, which had been presumed to spark Museveni's remarks, had been found after two weeks of police investigation to be a hoax. A police official told the opposition newspaper that the state-run newspaper had made the whole thing up -- yet the case file remains open. In Kenya, rumors of an impending gay wedding in Lamu created a mob scene. Fearing a lynching, the area district administrator took into "protective custody" a young local man believed to be a member of the couple to be wed. The young man denies any plans for a wedding, but his protective custody could become detention -- the local police chief is investigating the situation, and promised charges and a trial if evidence of wedding plans is found. There was happier news for gay and lesbian couples elsewhere. In Britain, South West Trains announced it's extending spousal travel benefits to the same-gender partners of its gay and lesbian employees. That issue went all the way to the European Court of Justice two years ago as South West employee Lisa Grant sought the benefit for her partner Jill Percey. The British government joined South West in that lawsuit, which would have had broad impact on national laws and policies had Grant prevailed. But in a bitter disappointment for activists, the EuroCourt agreed with the argument that no sex discrimination was involved since gay male and lesbian couples were equally denied the benefit. Now Grant is just happy that gay and lesbian workers will be getting compensation equal to heterosexuals'. And that's not only at South West -- the Association of Train Operating Companies announced that all of Britain's privatized rail services will be extending spousal travel benefits to their gay and lesbian workers' partners. Germany's ruling coalition is finally gearing up to make good on last year's campaign promises of legal partnerships for same-gender couples. Minister of Justice Herta Daeubler-Gmelin announced that a draft bill will soon be published, with rights similar to married couples in areas including contracts, insurance, inheritance, immigration, hospital visitation, medical decisions, and the right not to testify against a partner facing criminal prosecution. Adoption rights won't be specifically mentioned, but adoptions are already awarded without sexual orientation or marital status discrimination. Germany's Green Party, junior partner in the coalition with Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's Social Democrats, announced this week that, "The legal recognition of same-sex cohabitation will become a central focus of the parliamentary Greens' work." A partnership bill in Latvia this week passed its first hurdle for the first time. A bill drafted by the official Latvian National Human Rights Office in cooperation with the gay and lesbian Homosexuality Information Center was taken up by a committee of the Saeima, the national parliament. In the past such proposals have been rejected without discussion, but this time the Saeima's Commission on Human Rights and Public Affairs agreed to pass the bill on to the Saeima's Legal Office for further review. The bill proposes creating registered partnerships identical to legal marriage in essentially all respects but two: registered partners will not have adoption rights and churches will not be required to recognize them. Gays and lesbians demonstrated outside the Saeima in support of the measure, while three members of a newly-formed anti-gay group held a counter-demonstration. In Denmark, a celebration at a large concert venue in Copenhagen marked the October 1st tenth anniversary of the world's first registered partnerships for gays and lesbians. For a decade, those partnerships have offered thousands of Danish couples all the rights of marriage except adoption and church weddings. Despite grim predictions often uttered in other countries about gay and lesbian marriages, mainstream life in Denmark has continued largely unaffected. There was also cause for celebration for U.S. gay and lesbian couples. Ashland this week established Oregon's first domestic partners registry with supporting votes from all but one City Councilmember. It's open only to gay and lesbian couples. Unlike the European registries, it carries no tangible benefits. But there will be spousal health coverage for the domestic partners of all unmarried employees of the city of Madison, Wisconsin. Madison's City Council voted 14 - 5 to become the first local government in the state to extend coverage to domestic partners. Because Wisconsin's Group Insurance Board does not recognize them, the city will be reimbursing workers' partners' health costs. Sexual orientation discrimination has been prohibited in state employment in Iowa. Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack quietly signed an executive order to that effect in mid-September. A referendum in Albuquerque, New Mexico to add sexual orientation and mental disability to the human rights section of the city charter was defeated this week by 55% to 45%. The group Campaign for Human Rights which formed to support the civil rights initiative has vowed to keep trying. Gays, lesbians and transsexuals would be protected under a Bill of Rights in development for Northern Ireland. A draft plan for the Bill of Rights was published for public input last week, and the final document should be ready by the end of 2000. After years of strife, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is determined to create a "human rights culture" by means of education, as well as by maintaining international human rights standards in law enforcement and criminal justice practices. And finally, a gay group in Taiwan had scheduled a press conference this past week intending to announce a project concerning coming out to parents. But in the wake of the devastating earthquake there, the topic of the conference was changed. Area groups of gays, who call themselves "Tongzhi" in Chinese, formed a coalition to provide assistance to quake victims. As a result, even some non-gay celebrities stood with them at the press conference. Part of the coalition's fund-raising effort was the writing, performance and production of an original song, "Forever: Love Is Power."