NewsWrap for the week ending January 27, 2001 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #670, distributed 01-29-01) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Matt Alsdorf, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle] Anchored by Chase Schulte and Cindy Friedman One of the world's highest-ranking gays, Peter Mandelson, this week resigned from his post as Britain's Secretary for Northern Ireland at the behest of Prime Minister Tony Blair. At issue was a brief phone call he'd made in mid-1998 regarding a possible reapplication for a passport by billionaire Srichand Hinduja. At the time, Mandelson was in charge of developing the Millennium Dome and Hinduja and his brother were in the process of making a million-pound contribution to support it. The Hinduja brothers are now under investigation in their native India for arms dealing violations. Mandelson insists the call was a simple inquiry about procedure and that he in no way exerted influence on the Hinduja's behalf. But when reporters raised the issue a few days before the resignation, Mandelson failed to immediately supply complete and accurate information to Blair's office. That embarrassed the Government as it unwittingly gave false information to reporters and, in the case of openly gay Culture Secretary Chris Smith, to the Parliament. Perhaps the situation might have been repaired if Mandelson had not already been forced to leave the Cabinet under a cloud in 1998. At that time he was in the more powerful position of Secretary for Trade and Industry, but it was discovered that he had not disclosed accepting a large home loan from a fellow Cabinet member his department was investigating. Many people including members of the Labour Party felt he should not have returned to the Cabinet after that, but after less than a year he was appointed to the Northern Ireland post. Mandelson has long been Blair's closest ally and advisor, but now they've parted ways. Considered a master spin-doctor, Mandelson is universally recognized as the chief architect of Labour's 1997 landslide victory after years of Conservative Party rule. He had already been appointed to co-lead the campaign for this year's elections, but now has lost that role. He will continue on the backbench as Member of Parliament for Hartlepool and has said he will run for re-election, although many of his constituents are unhappy about the latest scandal. His glamorous life of partying with the rich and famous may be diminished now his salary's been cut in half. Many foresee tremendous opportunities for him in the private sector, including a possible seven-figure book deal. But in his resignation statement, Mandelson complained that, "There must be more to politics than the constant media pressure and exposure that has dogged me over the last five or so years. I want to remove myself from the countless stories of controversy, of feuds and divisions and all the rest... I want, in other words, to lead a more normal life, both in politics and in the future outside." A nominee for U.S. President Bush's Cabinet, Christian conservative Senator John Ashcroft, continued to be targeted by opponents for his attitudes towards gays and lesbians. This week two men came forward to contradict the would-be Attorney General's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. When pressed about his role in blocking the nomination of open gay James Hormel to serve as ambassador to Luxembourg, Ashcroft proclaimed emphatically that he never had and never would use sexual orientation as a consideration for employment. But Paul Offner, a non-gay Democrat who in 1985 applied to head up Missouri's Department of Social Services, said that then-Governor Ashcroft began his interview with the question, "Mr. Offner, do you have the same sexual preference as most men?" Hormel himself held a press conference where he pointed out that then-Senator Ashcroft had denied his multiple requests for a meeting -- a courtesy that senators typically extend to all nominees. Hormel said that he was concerned that "Mr. Ashcroft will use the power of his office to impose his beliefs upon others and to deny equal protection of the laws to those Americans who don't share his personal and political beliefs." Despite the growing opposition, it's believed that Ashcroft has the Senate votes to win confirmation. In the U.S. Congress, Democrats this week introduced two bills of interest to gays and lesbians. One is a major package called the Protecting Civil Rights for All Americans Act, which includes the language of two long-sought measures which have been known as ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and HCPA, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Enactment would mean the first-ever federal protections for gays and lesbians from discrimination and hate crimes. Openly gay Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank filed a bill to repeal a section of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which was passed by overwhelming margins in 1996. That law is best-known for allowing states to deny legal recognition to gay and lesbian marriages another state may someday perform. But it also prohibits the federal government from extending any form of recognition to same-gender couples. Frank says the latter provision denies the states the choice to grant full marriage rights to same-gender couples. He's throwing down the gauntlet to Vice President Dick Cheney, who said during the Vice Presidential debates that it should be up to each state to determine how to deal with gay and lesbian relationships. Cheney's daughter Mary is a lesbian in a long-term relationship. Recognition as a family was denied to a bi-national gay couple by a British judge this week. Irish-born Londoner Nigel McCollum was appealing the Home Office's 1998 refusal to allow his Brazilian partner Renato Lozano to reenter Britain after the two had been travelling abroad. McCollum's attorneys tried to use European law to force British authorities to recognize a right that doesn’t exist under U.K. statutes. They argued that keeping Lozano out of the U.K. interfered with McCollum's European right to freedom of movement and the couple's right under the European Convention on Human Rights to "respect for private and family life." But the judge ruled that the European laws did not apply because Lozano is not part of the European Community, and declared that Lozano had no right to be treated as a family member or spouse. However, the judge added that Lozano and McCollum would not actually be prevented from living together in Britain, only that Lozano would have to be cleared for entry by the same process as any other non-European. Fears of legal gay and lesbian marriage in Guyana have apparently blocked what would have been the first constitutional civil rights protections for gays and lesbians in the Caribbean region. In early January, Guyana's National Assembly had unanimously passed a measure that would have added thirteen categories including sexual orientation to the constitution's ban on discrimination. The package had been recommended by the Constitutional Reform Commission, a body that included representatives of Guyana's major religious groups in its lengthy deliberations. Yet somehow it was only after the Assembly vote that some religious leaders -- particularly the Guyana Council of Churches and evangelical Christian groups, later joined by Islamic groups -- began to consider possible implications of the move. They feared it would force churches to perform same-gender marriages, strike down the sodomy law, open military service to gays and lesbians, and generally destroy the moral fabric of the nation. They first won President Bharrat Jagdeo's promise to delay his assent to the bill while they lobbied the political parties. This week Jagdeo held a meeting of the religious protestors and three political parties. He emerged stating that he would not assent to the bill but would instead return it to the Assembly, stressing that any changes would be made by the Assembly and not by him. The parties all appear ready to drop the sexual orientation clause. There may be a procedural issue though, since according to one expert "there is no precedent for dealing with a bill which is returned by the President and is subsequently amended." However, everyone concerned is eager to enact the other constitutional reforms before March 19 elections. In Australia, Melbourne's 13th annual Midsumma Festival is now winding up its three weeks packed with more than 125 widely assorted entertainment and educational events. The festival was marred by religious protests including a bomb threat against a staging of "Corpus Christi", award-winning gay playwright Terrence McNally's gay recasting of the story of Jesus. The highlight was the city's sixth annual Pride March. Since this year marks the 100th anniversary of Australia's federation, 18 marchers carried poles bearing giant photo cubes with 72 pictures of people, places and events of the last century with significance for the gay and lesbian community. While police estimated 30 to 35,000 marchers, other observers pegged it as high as 50,000. The difference might be that unlike Sydney's "parade", Melbourne's event is a "walk," meaning anyone can join in -- and they did. And finally... interested in buying a poster of two women in underwear engaged in a kiss? For this one you'll need a really big wall: it's more than twenty meters long. It's the billboard captioned "Thank God for Women" that British Web site Queercompany.com has been using in its advertising campaign. It caused quite a flurry of complaints when it went up in the West End but was ultimately cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority, and now there are ten others. The original currently has a "For Sale" sticker slapped on it because Queercompany is auctioning it off for charity. Half the proceeds will go to the British lobby group Stonewall and the other half to lesbigay arts projects. A final auction will be held live at the end of March, but interested parties can put in bids now by e-mail. It's up to the winning bidder whether to take the entire intact poster or a cut-down version framed by Queercompany.