NewsWrap for the week ending October 21, 2000 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #656, distributed 10-23-00) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Cindy Friedman and Chase Schulte Gays and lesbians will have strong new job protections in the fifteen member nations of the European Union, agreed to by its Council of Ministers this week. Each nation will implement the directive but not in identical fashion. Governments will arrange for "proportionate and persuasive" legal sanctions against discrimination in hiring, promotion and working conditions. That will generally mean financial compensation and reinstatement for workers who win bias lawsuits. In court, employers will have to prove there has been "no breach of the principle of equal treatment," instead of workers bearing the sole burden to prove discrimination occurred. The directive goes even further to declare that, "equal treatment is not enough if it does not lead to real equality" and to call for "positive action" to counter bias. Workers will be able to appeal their cases to the European Court of Justice. Ireland lobbied hard to protect its Catholic schools from being accused of religious discrimination for preferring to hire Catholic teachers, and won consideration for what the directive calls the "ethos" of institutional employers. Since religious institutions can reject applicants who oppose or are unlikely to adhere to the tenets of the religion, this loophole may be used by most mainstream religious groups to exclude gays and lesbians. Most of the European Union member nations will be implementing the directive within three years, but Britain won an extension to six years, particularly for acting against discrimination based on age and disability. The other EU nations are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. The European Union will soon be adding new member nations from Southern and Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe's gay and lesbian activists gathered in Kiev this week to share their experiences of advancing equality in the post-Soviet states. They're networking to support each other in the future as well as connecting with international organizations including the International Society for Human Rights, Amnesty International and the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Although the former Soviet states are striving to become more democratic and most have joined the continent's premier human rights group, the Council of Europe, gays and lesbians and their issues remain largely invisible. That the conference itself will attract media attention that will provide an opportunity for public education is one of the hopes of its host, the Ukrainian gay and lesbian group Nash Mir (Our World). Nash Mir spokesperson Andrey Kravchuk said that in his country, "All gay problems are viewed as untimely and insignificant." He quoted a former president of the Ukraine as estimating it would be 500 years before the state would have the luxury of discussing issues of sexual minorities, because of the weight of more pressing problems. As a symptom of this attitude, Nash Mir has received only one response to two rounds of pre-election candidate surveys on their civil rights. Among the former Soviet states, homosexual acts have generally been decriminalized, but police harassment remains widespread, gay and lesbian groups have difficulty gaining official registration, and protections from discrimination are lacking. There's been a call to establish a bill of rights in Australia, including protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender identity. Some of the basic rights to be included are voting, participation in public life, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. The Australian Democrats' push for a charter of rights was led by their justice spokesperson Brian Greig, West Australia's openly gay Senator. He's also been trying to have civil rights protections for gays and lesbians included in a measure against genocide. The Democrats believe that fewer Australians would have to turn to the United Nations to resolve their civil rights issues if the nation had a charter of its own. But while the Democrats are trying to stir a grassroots movement for their bill of rights, the current Government is massively indifferent. The Government sees no need for it, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General. The Attorney General of New Zealand, Margaret Wilson, this week announced the results of nine months of public comment on a government discussion paper on legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. There were more than 3,500 submissions representing nearly 8,500 groups and individuals, and they were largely negative. Fully 80% opposed extending marriage rights to same-gender couples, 70% opposed even legal registry of their relationships, and a few even called for reinstatement of the sodomy law. 82% believed gay and lesbian couples should not be allowed to adopt. Wilson, who herself supports equal marriage rights, said, "The 'sample' represents the views only of those who decided to make submissions, so they can't be relied on as a guide to overall public opinion." She said that they will be taken into account as the Labour Government drafts policy, but that they did not represent a single point of view. However, most objections were based on moral and religious grounds, and more than 140 church groups made submissions. Openly gay Member of Parliament Tim Barnett said that religious conservatives were disproportionately represented among those making submissions, and that it is more important to recognize the opinions of the gays and lesbians whose lives are directly affected. He noted that just one line of the Marriage Act would have to be changed to give gay and lesbian couples full equality. In Canada, Quebec's provincial Liberal Party approved a resolution in support of equal civil marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples at its convention this week. The national Liberal Party voted down a similar proposal earlier this year, as it had two years before. In both the national and provincial parties, the resolution was proposed by the party's youth wing. They engaged in what provincial party leader Jean Charest called "vigorous debate" with some older delegates, whose objections ranged from the Biblical to the belief that Quebec residents "aren't ready to accept" gay and lesbian marriage. Charest said, "This is a debate about the kind of society we want. Society should accept this." Quebec was one of the first provinces to grant gay and lesbian couples legal standing equal to unmarried heterosexual couples, and earlier this year Canada did the same in federal law. But Canadian gays and lesbians are seeking full equal marriage rights through legal actions. That's also the quest of Taiwan gay activist Chi Chia-Wei. He held a news conference this week to draw attention to his long legal battle, which is currently awaiting consideration by Taiwan's constitutional court, the Judicial Yuan, or Council of Grand Justice. He claims there is nothing in Taiwan's civil code to prohibit same-gender marriages, but he hasn't gotten a court to agree. After he and his partner were denied a marriage license, he first appealed to the Taipei District Court, which said that allowing two men to marry would "impair social morals and tarnish traditional ethics." Chi then filed a complaint against the Taipei District Court with the Taiwan High Court, which declared that even though it's not explicitly stated in the law, it is understood that marriage is contracted only between a male and a female. Now he's demanding a constitutional analysis from the top court. Chi said, "Taiwan's law deprives homosexuals of their basic rights. The Grand Justices should declare the law is unconstitutional and make an interpretation in our favor." Pointing to recognition of same-gender couples in a score of other countries and growing acceptance of gays and lesbians in Taiwan, he accused the government of "clinging to old customs." Meanwhile, other Taiwanese gays and lesbians are seeking to create some new customs. The island nation's first gay and lesbian church is celebrating its fifth anniversary this weekend with a "Rite of Lesbian/Gay Partnership Blessing". The congregation is named Tong-Kwang Light House Presbyterian Church, although it is not affiliated with any denomination. Its pastor called the rite "an occasion for two people in love to openly declare before God their promises of love for each other... and receive the blessing and support of the gathered congregation." To participate, couples must have been together for at least a year, be willing to make a public declaration, and undergo a month of premarital counseling. Also considering formal ceremonies to bless gay and lesbian couples is Switzerland's leading prominent denomination, the Evangelical Church. The matter has been under discussion for two years, and now church officials have made a final request for ministers to be allowed to perform the ceremonies in the canton of Baselland. The ceremonies will not be exactly the same as heterosexual marriage rites, but church leaders believe they will help to end sexual orientation discrimination. And finally, stand aside Richard Hatch: Briton Gary Fellowes has now survived not one but two widely-reported disasters in about eighteen months. When a neo-Nazi's nail bomb exploded in Soho's gay Admiral Duncan pub last year, he escaped with only minor injuries. Three people died there, while the eighty-six wounded included many who were very seriously injured, including some who lost limbs. This week, Fellowes was aboard for what's being called the Hatfield train crash. Seven of eleven cars derailed on a high-speed curve, and Fellowes was in the dining car where four people died. This time he was one of the more seriously injured among 35 wounded, requiring surgical insertion of a pin in his broken leg, but his release from the hospital was expected in just a few days. He's been well enough to talk with reporters and have his picture taken in his hospital bed, but so far we've only heard his experience of the train crash and how frightening it was for him, especially since it called up memories of the Admiral Duncan blast. We don't know whether he thinks of himself as one of the unluckiest men on earth -- or one of the luckiest.