NewsWrap for the week ending January 29, 2000 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #618, distributed 01-31-00) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Martin Rice, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Jon Beaupré and Cindy Friedman South Africa's parliament this week approved the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Bill. The measure is prescribed by the South African constitution, serving to implement its guarantees against discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Equality Bill prohibits discrimination between individuals, and it was particularly controversial because of its stringent restrictions on any form of hate speech. Another unusual aspect is that the bill places the burden of proof on those who are accused of discrimination to show that they are innocent, if they are to avoid paying damages. The cases will be heard in equality courts by judges designated by the Minister of Justice, an unusual arrangement which some believe to be unconstitutional. Intense lobbying by the insurance industry succeeded in removing HIV status as a protected category, even though there are large numbers of South Africans with HIV or AIDS who often experience gross discrimination; the government may yet attempt to reinstate the category. Although the Equality Bill specifies sixteen protected categories, its biggest target is racial discrimination, as it is intended to eliminate the remains of apartheid. The bill will next be taken up by the lower house, and if successful will have to be signed by the President to become law. U.S. President Bill Clinton this week made the last State of the Union address of his career. The lengthy and wide-ranging speech included calls for federal protections from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and from hate crimes motivated by homophobia, as well as making two brief references to AIDS. Referring to the late Matthew Shepard, Clinton said: U.S. President Bill Clinton: "We had a young man murdered in Wyoming just because he was gay. In the last year alone, we've seen the shootings of African Americans, Asian Americans, and Jewish children just because of who they were. This is not the American way and we must draw the line. I ask you to draw that line without delay and pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act." Clinton also more generally said that no American should be subjected to discrimination in finding a home, getting a job, going to school, or securing a loan, and proposed a record investment of funds in civil rights enforcement. Gay and lesbian employment rights got a boost this week from an appeals court ruling in Oregon. Under the City of Portland's 1991 law, cook David Sims had tried to sue Besaw's Cafe for firing him because he is openly gay. But in 1997, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge threw out Sims’ case, saying the city could not enact a law requiring an action by the state, which runs the courts. In other words, Portland could pass a law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, but could not prescribe lawsuits as a remedy. The city of Portland joined Sims in appealing that ruling, and set up a mediation service to deal with discrimination cases in the interim. This week nine of the ten appeals court judges agreed that lawsuits can be filed under Portland's law. Five of the judges rationalized that since the state courts are already handling discrimination cases, the city had not added to their burden. Four of the judges felt that rationale was too broad. One dissented altogether. It's not yet known if Sims' former employer will appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court. If not, Sims will now be able to have his discrimination lawsuit heard. The ruling may well have impact outside Oregon, because a number of local ordinances protecting gays and lesbians are being challenged, particularly in some of the 39 states where sexual orientation discrimination is legal. Britain's move to equal treatment of gays and lesbians in the military had its first reported consequences this week. A Royal Navy rating reportedly identified himself as a gay man to his shipmates on the destroyer "HMS Newcastle" within hours of the announcement of the end of the ban on January 12. He found it a tremendous relief and said his colleagues had all been "fine" with it. Ironically, the man asked that his name not be published since he has not yet come out to all of his relatives. But Army Air Corps Brigadier Pat Lawless gave notice of his resignation two days before the ban was lifted. He said in a statement that, "I couldn't reconcile my strongly held moral and military convictions as a soldier and a citizen with the Government's decision to lift the ban on homosexuals." But after being identified in national media as the first senior officer to resign in protest of the new policy, Lawless' friends insisted to media that he is "definitely not homophobic." Instead, he was concerned about the way the services were forced to make changes because of European law rather than military interests. Sharing those concerns was the man identified in headlines as the second senior officer to quit under the new policy, Royal Navy pilot Commander Colin Douglas. But despite the headlines, Douglas had actually submitted his resignation months before the decision of the European Court on Human Rights that ended the ban. But the dominant gay and lesbian issue this week in both Britain and Scotland was the Labour Party's plans to repeal Section 28 of the Local Government Act, the never-enforced Thatcher-era prohibition against "promotion of homosexuality" by local governments or in schools. Inspired by Scotland's leading Roman Catholic Cardinal Thomas Winning's fulminations against repeal, British religious leaders of every stripe began to publicly express concerns, including Anglican leader Archbishop of Canterbury Doctor George Carey. That roused Conservative Baroness Young to introduce an amendment against repeal in the House of Lords, and to promise a vigorous campaign including a display of the kind of materials repeal might allow into schools. More surprisingly, it sent senior Labour Member of Parliament Stuart Bell, a spokesperson for churches, to warn Prime Minister Tony Blair that he and perhaps 30 other Labour MPs would rebel if not allowed to vote their consciences on Section 28 repeal. Blair's official spokesperson suggested that perhaps a free vote might be allowed on Section 28 even though Labour would require its members to support the larger Local Government Act. But that move inflamed the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs who emphatically support repeal, leading to perhaps the angriest meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party since the party came to power. In less than 24 hours, Blair was forced to contradict his spokesperson to say that Labour would require its members to support repeal, while adding there would be no "martyrs" to party discipline. Usually such matters would not even be discussed until much closer to the vote, which isn't expected in the Commons for two or three months. Hoping to alleviate what one Labour leader called "hysteria," Education Secretary David Blunkett was assigned to consult with churches and other concerned parties and to develop guidelines for teachers. This may not quell the arguments, since Bell wants those guidelines to have the force of law. The whole idea of additional guidelines is repellant to professional educators, who want flexibility and believe that existing rules regarding sex education are more than adequate. In Scotland, at least the laity seem to be calming down on the issue of Section 28 repeal, since First Minister Donald Dewar said this week, "I don't want a war and I certainly don't want this important and sensitive issue to become just a political football." The Scottish Executive determined before the British Cabinet, to have its Education Minister Sam Galbraith begin consultations on a package of guidelines to be published before the Scottish National Parliament votes on Section 28. Galbraith wrote a letter to all school boards and headmasters describing the package. The Scottish School Board Association, previously a leader in the campaign to preserve Section 28, has now withdrawn from the organized "Keep the Clause" campaign, and may even join the repeal campaign instead. But Scotland's Catholic Bishops have joined in support of their Cardinal Winning's efforts to keep Section 28, and are warning their congregations that children will be vulnerable without it. And finally ... in Norway, Oslo's Conservative Party has elected a gay man to serve as party chair, and that makes him a likely candidate for Prime Minister in the next elections. Despite nearly two decades in the public eye, Per-Krisian Foss had never publicly identified himself as a gay man before standing for the chair. But in speaking to the party before its vote, he gave a very personal speech about being gay. He said that if he kept silent any longer, "It could be viewed as if I have something to be ashamed of, which I don't. Being gay or lesbian doesn't mean a person should feel ashamed." He went on to credit the support of his partner for helping him to survive a career in politics. Former Prime Minister Kare Willoch later called Foss' speech "an important moment in Norwegian politics."