NewsWrap
for the week ending February 24, 2001
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #674, distributed 02-26-01)
[Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, 
Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Greg Gordon & Lucia Chappelle]

Anchored by Chase Schulte and Cindy Friedman

  New Zealand's biggest pride event, the annual HERO parade, managed to jam 
its Auckland route with spectators despite a day of heavy rain that slackened 
to a drizzle for the two hours of the march.  Prime Minister Helen Clark and 
Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher together cut the ribbon to ceremonially 
open the event.  Impersonated celebrities in the march ranged from the Queen, 
the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret to a slew of Dusty Springfields and 
sports stars.  Among the sixty floats were ones from the Coastguard and the 
Fire Service, both of which were greeted with shouts of "Show us your hoses!" 
 A float memorializing those fallen to AIDS was mightily cheered.  
Transsexual Member of Parliament Georgina Beyer fulfilled the last request of 
the late Auckland drag queen Courtney, who having never missed a HERO parade, 
wanted her ashes scattered along the route.  Glitter was mixed in with the 
ashes.  The parade was followed by a huge dance party at Auckland Town Hall, 
winding up the weeklong HERO Festival.

  Britain's Labour Government has proposed a leap forward in recognition of 
gay and lesbian couples, including them in a proposed overhaul of government 
compensation for victims of crime.  Lobbying for compensation of survivors 
began in earnest after the 1999 bombing of Soho's gay Admiral Duncan pub, 
where non-gay Julian Dykes qualified for compensation for the death of his 
wife, but gay Gary Partridge did not qualify for the death of his partner 
John Light.  The government's revisions to the Criminal Injuries Compensation 
Scheme would give gay and lesbian couples the same standing as unmarried 
heterosexual cohabitants, a first for British statutes.  The changes require 
Parliamentary approval and are scheduled to go into effect in April, but the 
Conservative Party has already said it will oppose the inclusion of 
same-gender couples as a step towards "homosexual marriages" that would 
downgrade heterosexual marriages.

  A San Francisco lesbian whose partner was killed by her neighbors' dogs is 
going to court to seek standing to sue the dogs' owners for wrongful death.  
California law does not recognize gay and lesbian surviving partners for this 
purpose, although bills to do so were introduced in the state legislature 
this session and last.  Survivor Sharon Smith hopes her lawsuit will change 
that, arguing equal treatment for her marriage-like relationship of several 
years in a state where gays and lesbians cannot legally marry.  Smith has 
said that any damages she may ultimately collect would go to a charitable 
foundation being established in memory of her late partner Diane Whipple.  
The unusual case has received national attention, including a feature article 
in "People" magazine.  The dogs' owners will probably also be prosecuted on 
criminal charges.

  Brazilian gays and lesbians celebrated the successful prosecution of two 
suspects in their nation's most notorious gay-bashing murder, in what may be 
Brazil's first trial and convictions for an anti-gay hate crime.  Victim 
Edson Neris da Silva has been called "Brazil's Matthew Shepard" for the 
unusual attention drawn by his death a year ago, which led to a series of 
protest demonstrations, creation of a hate crimes unit in Sao Paulo's police 
force, and the introduction of several pieces of hate crimes legislation.  Da 
Silva was walking through Sao Paulo's Praca da Republica with a friend when 
they were set upon by about thirty members of a neo-Nazi gang.  The friend 
escaped, but da Silva was kicked and beaten with fists, brass knuckles and 
chains for twenty minutes before the gang dispersed.  He received prompt 
medical attention but died shortly afterwards.  Police rounded up eighteen 
gang members who are now being prosecuted.  A jury divided 4 to 3 but that 
was enough to convict Juliano Filipini Sabino and Jose Nilson Perreira of 
murder and of participation in organized crime, convictions they plan to 
appeal.  Throughout the trial the defendants and their friends insulted the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender observers.  Sao Paulo pride 
coordinator Roberto de Jesus said of the convictions, "Certainly Brazil will 
not be the same place after today.  We are going to write this date down ... 
we now have a new page in our history book."  According to Grupo Gay da 
Bahia, over the last decade Brazil has averaged one murder of a gay or 
transgender every other day, with only 8% leading to prosecution and 4% 
resulting in convictions.

  There were reports this week that a lesbian couple in Somalia had been 
sentenced to death for "exercising unnatural behavior".  The situation became 
murkier when the autonomous regional government of Puntland completely denied 
the story and a newspaper in the national capital of Mogadishu retracted its 
story and apologized to its readers.  Yet United Nations workers believe the 
two women are being held incommunicado in the main prison of the Puntland 
city of Bosaso.  Both UN and Amnesty International staff continue to monitor 
the situation.

  In Cairo, two Egyptian men will be incarcerated for using a Web site to 
seek sex with other men.  Engineer Sami Gamal was sentenced to three years in 
prison and accountant Gameel Gebreel to fifteen months after both were 
convicted of "committing an indecent act".  They had posted photos of 
themselves described as "explicit" with invitations for men to contact them 
for sex.  The court said they had "abused the technological revolution to do 
their disgraceful act that defames Egypt."

  The Cayman Islands' sodomy law will not be reinstated despite residents' 
protests, a British official confirmed this week.  Britain enforced sodomy 
repeal on all its Overseas Territories effective in January, in order to 
comply with its international treaty obligations.  Caymans religious leaders 
circulated a petition for the law's reinstatement which they intend to pass 
on to their own government and their British governor.  But a spokesperson 
for Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that although the petition 
would be "read ... with interest," it would not serve to reverse a move made 
after years of deliberation.

  In the U.S. state of Montana, the sodomy law will remain on the books, even 
though the state Supreme Court unanimously declared it unconstitutional in 
1997.  Each year since, bills have been introduced to repeal it, but each 
time they've been defeated by conservatives who believe it is an important 
social policy statement against homosexuality.  This week a Montana House 
committee killed the latest repeal effort by a vote of 17 to 3.

  The only openly gay Republican in the U.S. Congress, Jim Kolbe, may become 
his party's first openly gay gubernatorial candidate in 2002.  Kolbe is 
currently in his ninth term representing his Arizona district in Washington, 
and last year became the first open gay ever to address the Republican 
National Convention, although his topic was foreign trade.  Kolbe this week 
signed on as a co-sponsor of Congressmember Jerrold Nadler's Permanent 
Partners Immigration Act, which would extend spousal immigration privileges 
to the foreign partners of U.S. gays and lesbians.  In a low-key announcement 
of his possible gubernatorial candidacy, Kolbe said, "I've had some people 
suggest it, so I'm exploring whether it's doable or not."  Arizona's current 
Republican Governor Jane Dee Hull cannot run for another term, and in 
addition to Kolbe at least three other Republicans are already looking into 
replacing her.  Another name that's been mentioned for Arizona Governor is 
that of former Vice President Dan Quayle, a darling of the religious right.

  Another darling of the religious right, newly confirmed U.S. Attorney 
General John Ashcroft met this week with five leaders of the gay and lesbian 
Log Cabin Republicans.  While more liberal gay and lesbian organizations were 
nearly unanimous in vehemently opposing Ashcroft's nomination, Log Cabin had 
issued statements in his support.  Log Cabin was proud to be the first civil 
rights group the new Attorney General met with, and said they will be a 
resource for Ashcroft when civil rights issues arise.  They also emphasized 
Ashcroft's commitment to opposing discrimination and enforcing all civil 
rights laws.  Of course there are currently no federal civil rights laws 
against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

  Openly lesbian tennis pro Amelie Mauresmo won back-to-back tournaments in 
her native France.  First she triumphed in Paris at the Gaz de France and 
then in Nice at the new Terazura, winning a $90,000 purse at each one.  
Injuries had forced her to miss about four months of the 2000 season and to 
abandon her defense of her title at the Sydney International in January, but 
now she seems to be in top form and ready to move into the top ten.  She's 
currently ranked number 12 in the world.

  And finally... open gay Alexander McQueen was named Britain's Designer of 
the Year for the third time this week.  The prize was handed to him by Prince 
Charles, who told the celebrity audience they were brave to have invited him 
since he was once named "worst-dressed man".  McQueen in turn remarked on the 
irony of receiving the award from the Prince, having once made Charles' suits 
while an apprentice tailor at Anderson and Sheppard.  One of the most widely 
repeated anecdotes about fashion's legendary bad boy is that inside the 
lining of one of those suits for the Prince he chalked, "Alexander McQueen 
was here."  Some suggested the awards ceremony might offer an occasion for 
McQueen to tell the Prince exactly which suit that was.