NewsWrap for the week ending March 18, 2000 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #625, distributed 03-20-00) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Martin Rice, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Mark Kerr, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Leo Garcia and Cindy Friedman The Vermont House of Representatives this week approved a bill to create "civil unions" for gays and lesbians with all the benefits and responsibilities of marriage the state can provide -- about 300 of them. There are many more benefits of marriage determined by federal law, but the Vermont measure is by far the most extensive legal recognition of same-gender couples the U.S. has ever seen. It followed from a December ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court that to deny the benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples violates the state constitution's Equal Benefits clause. There was considerable drama in the two days of debate in the House. Of the 150 state Representatives, only a dozen were initially considered undecided, and both supporters and opponents believed they could come up with a majority to pass or block the bill. A long series of amendments were offered -- including one to extend legal marriage to same-gender couples -- but all were rejected except one. That one added a definition of marriage in Vermont as between one man and one woman to the body of the bill, even though it already appeared in the preamble. Certainly one of the highlights was when Vermont's only openly gay Representative, William Lippert spoke in an effort to "put a face" on the issue, referring to his own partnership and the caring and commitment he'd seen among gay men in the face of the AIDS epidemic. Lippert reassured concerned legislators: Rep. William Lippert: "We are not a threat. We are not a threat to traditional marriage. We are not a threat to your communities. We are, in fact, an asset. We deserve to be welcomed ... because in fact we are your neighbors, we are your friends, indeed we are your family." As soon as Lippert sat down, conservative Republican Representative Robert Kinsey instantly rose to call his remarks "the greatest speech I've heard in my 30 years" in the House. Ultimately, a bare majority of the 150 Vermont Representatives supported the civil unions bill as it passed by a vote of 76 - 69, with most Democrats voting in favor and most Republicans voting in opposition. A member of one of the plaintiff couples who were seeking marriage licenses in the Vermont Supreme Court case was Nina Beck. She told reporters: Nina Beck: "We spent much of the last two days in the Vermont State legislature, watching the legislators do their work, and it was really an incredible experience... we think that it's the biggest step that anyone has taken thus far towards equality and civil rights for gay and lesbian people in this country, and it's a fantastic thing." Having passed the House, civil unions are expected to have clear sailing. The very next day the bill was unanimously approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee. A majority of the Senate is expected to vote for it when it comes to the floor in the next few weeks. Governor Howard Dean has not only promised to sign the bill, he was actively lobbying for it throughout the House debate. But most of the states are far behind Vermont in recognizing same-gender couples. In nearby Rhode Island, openly gay state Representative Mike Pisaturo this week withdrew his bill to open civil marriage to gays and lesbians for lack of support. West Virginia's House of Delegates passed a bill to deny recognition to same-gender marriages another state may someday perform, a bill already passed by the Senate which the Governor himself had initiated. More than 30 states and the federal government have enacted these so-called "defense of marriage" laws. And an attempt was made in Mississippi to move beyond defining "marriage" to exclude gay and lesbian couples, to defining "family" to exclude them as well. Baptist clergy there urged passage of a bill which would not only have denied adoptions to gays and lesbians, but would have refused legal recognition to adoptions they have been granted in other states. The bill had passed the state House Judiciary Committee and seemed assured of passage, but after heavy lobbying by both sides, Committee chair Percy Watson this week blocked it from advancing to the House floor, killing it for this session. The outcome was different in Utah, though, where Governor Mike Leavitt this week signed into law a measure prohibiting adoptions by any unmarried cohabiting couple, regardless of gender. A legal challenge by activists appears inevitable. And in one of the saddest reflections of the U.S.' failure to recognize gay and lesbian couples, a gay Briton has been banned from the country for ten years, separating him from his U.S. partner of 12 years. San Diego gay theater owner Charles Lago lost his immigration appeal and will probably move to Vancouver. He said of his partner "Chip" Snell, "Maybe we will meet on the border." But the European Parliament this week issued a ringing call for all European Union members and applicants to offer all the legal rights of so-called "traditional" couples and families to one-parent families, unmarried heterosexual couples, and gay and lesbian couples. The call came in a non-binding resolution approved by a more than two-to-one margin. The resolution was a recommendation of the EP's annual report on human rights, which also called for applying the same age of consent to homosexual acts as to heterosexual ones. Italy's government said it supported the EP call for equal recognition of same-gender couples "in principle," but realistically did not expect to be able to advance it in the current parliament, which has another year to run. The Vatican denounced the EP resolution as an outrageous attack on marriage that "would lead to the destruction of society." Sweden's government is moving to extend its same-gender domestic partnerships to resident aliens. Swedish partnerships are nearly identical to legal marriage, but currently at least one partner must be a Swedish citizen. The government announced this week it will be introducing a bill to open the registry to couples in which at least one partner has lived in Sweden for at least two years. In Canada, Alberta this week became the first province to adopt the equivalent of a U.S. defense of marriage law. By 32 - 15, the Legislative Assembly passed a private members bill introduced by Conservative Victor Doerksen of Red Deer. It explicitly restricts marriage to "one man and one woman," and provides for use of the so-called "notwithstanding" clause to deny marriage licenses to same-gender couples despite any court's civil rights ruling to the contrary. Among seven members of the province's ruling Conservative Party to vote against the bill was Alberta Justice Minister Dave Hancock. He says the law is meaningless because marriage is under federal jurisdiction, not provincial. The town of Wilton Manors, Florida isn't very big -- just 12- or 13,000 people -- but it gained an unusual distinction as a result of balloting this week. Openly gay Vice Mayor John Fiore was about to lose his seat on the Wilton Manors City Council due to term limits, but instead he was elected Mayor with a majority of nearly 57%. There are few openly gay or lesbian mayors in the U.S., but Fiore's continued presence on the Council will make Wilton Manors only the second city in the nation ever to have a gay majority on its governing body. Openly gay attorney Gary Resnick was elected to the five-member Council in 1998 and his term continues. Another openly gay attorney, Craig Sheritt, was unopposed in a January Council election and is being sworn in this month. The first and current gay-majority Council is that of West Hollywood, California. Also in Florida, open lesbian Patty Sheehan could become Orlando's first openly gay or lesbian elected official, after forcing a runoff in a close race against an incumbent City Councilmember. And in Arizona, open gay Neil Giuliano was re-elected with a whopping 70% majority to a fourth term as mayor of Tempe, the largest city in the U.S. with an openly gay mayor. And finally... Saint Patrick's Day in New York City meant the 239th annual parade and the 10th annual protest by ILGO, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization. Parade organizers the Ancient Order of Hibernians have refused to allow ILGO to march as a unit with their banner, claiming the group is contrary to their Catholic tradition. New York City once again refused to grant ILGO a parade permit to march before the big event on its same 5th Avenue route, and last month a federal court rejected ILGO's lawsuit to obtain the permit. So when some 200 ILGO members and gays and lesbians visiting from Ireland marched anyway, they had only proceeded about one block before they were confronted by riot police. More than 65 were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct in the annual civil disobedience which has become nearly as much of a tradition as the big parade. The visitors from the Auld Sod noted that no such discrimination takes place back in Ireland, where gays and lesbians march freely in Dublin's Saint Patrick's Day parade. At the Dublin event, Ireland's President Mary McAleese's message emphasized what she called the patron saint's "ethos of respectful tolerance" as an inspiration for Irish people to confront new social challenges and opportunities.