NewsWrap for the week ending April 7, 2001 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #680, distributed 04-09-01) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Anchored by Chase Schulte and Cindy Friedman Australia's federal House of Representatives this week voted to support a Government bill to allow states to restrict fertility treatment to heterosexual couples. Last year a Federal Court struck down the state of Victoria's ban on fertility treatment for lesbians and for heterosexual women not in relationships with men, finding the restriction violated the national Sex Discrimination Act. The Government's controversial bill would amend the Sex Discrimination Act to specifically allow states to set their own standards for access to reproductive technology. The Senate vote is expected to be close, with the Australian Labor and Democratic Parties opposing the Coalition Government. The Australian Labor Party is campaigning for this year's national elections on a platform including recognition of gay and lesbian couples for purposes of pensions, social security benefits and inheritance. Inheritance rights of surviving members of gay and lesbian couples in Canada were upheld this week by a court in Edmonton, leading Alberta's Government to review the province's laws for discrimination. The court case was brought by Brent Johnson, whose partner of six years Larry Douglas Sand died without leaving a will. Had they been an unmarried heterosexual couple, Johnson would have been the chief beneficiary, but under Alberta law the entire estate would have gone to Sand's former wife and two daughters. Justice Del Parras of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench found the Intestate Succession Act violates the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms and gave the province nine months to amend it. Within hours of the ruling, the conservative provincial Government announced it would review all of Alberta's family and property laws and may act to amend perhaps 50 of them to recognize gay and lesbian couples. Premier Ralph Klein's Government has in the past staunchly opposed legal standing for gay and lesbian couples and still vows to reject gay and lesbian marriages. But Klein and others emphasized that the changes will affect only economic and property issues rather than marriage as a social institution. In the wake of the Netherlands' historic first legal gay and lesbian marriages, neighboring Belgium's coalition Government announced that it will be presenting similar legislation to the Parliament later this month. Health Minister Magda Alvoet issued a press release saying that, "The Government considers the right to marry a constitutional right, and the chance to marry the sole true opportunity to see that homosexual and heterosexual couples are treated in the same way." A spokesperson for the Prime Minister added that, "There are no objections on principle for the moment." If all goes well, Belgium could celebrate its first gay and lesbian marriages in 2002. But in the U.S., a bill to create Vermont-style "civil unions" in Connecticut was withdrawn, and the Texas House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure to restrict the definition of "spouse" to legally married heterosexual couples. Connecticut's General Assembly Judiciary Committee held a contentious five-hour hearing on civil unions in March. When it became clear the bill lacked the votes for passage, supporters decided to withdraw it rather than create further division or attempt to compromise with a weaker proposal. They optimistically expect the bill might pass in another two years. Texas already restricts legal marriage to one man and one woman, but Republican state Representative Will Hartnett moved to explicitly define the word "spouse" that way as well. Texas House Democrats, including openly gay Representative Glen Maxey, viewed the proposal as a political move designed for next year's state election campaign. It was to block any such partisan advantage that Maxey and others organized the unanimous passage of a measure they called unnecessary. Their suspicions of partisanship were supported by Hartnett's demand that each Representative vote on the record even though passage was obvious from a voice vote. Health care benefits for the domestic partners of employees of Broward County were upheld by the Florida Supreme Court this week. Almost as soon as the benefits and a domestic partners registry were adopted by the county in 1999, the right-wing Northstar Legal Center challenged them in court, claiming they violated Florida's so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The challenge had failed first in a trial court and then in a state appeals court, a decision the state's highest court this week declined to review. Northstar will not attempt a federal appeal. The Arizona state Senate this week approved a bill to prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity by public agencies. State, county and local government entities including public schools and universities would be covered under the bill. A companion measure has already passed a state House committee. Arizona's openly gay Republican U.S. Congressmember Jim Kolbe has decided against a run for governor in 2001. He said, "Our initial soundings were very encouraging... [and] I think we could have been successful." But Kolbe said he couldn't spare the time for a statewide campaign from his new duties as chair of the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. Only one open gay in the U.S. has ever won statewide office by general election -- Vermont's former state Auditor Ed Flanagan. The sixth National Day of Silence was observed on many high school and college campuses across the U.S. this week. Students remain silent for the day, distributing cards explaining the action is in support of civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people "who have been silenced by hatred, oppression and prejudice." On many campuses the observance also featured rallies, marches, parties, and discussion groups. The only gay magazine in Belarus has been silenced by the State Committee for Mass Media. The agency said it was canceling "Forum Lambda"'s official registration because of its erotic content. Publishers will appeal the cancellation in Belarus' Supreme Arbitrage Court with the support of the Belarus Association of Journalists. They say that "Forum Lambda"'s sexual content has never been any more explicit than that of the mainstream magazine "Men's Health". Homosexual erotica on the Internet may lead to prosecution of three more Egyptian men. They're being detained pending investigation of their Web sites offering allegedly pornographic photos and invitations to contact them for sexual relations. In February, two other men were sentenced to 3 months and 15 months in jail for similar Web sites. One of the most popular nightclubs in the Emirate of Dubai was shut down this week by order of Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum after it hosted a "gay night". The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing accused the Diamond Club of "violating the Islamic laws of the country and indulging in immoral activities in contradiction with the laws of Dubai." Tourism officials actually attended the "gay night" party after receiving complaints about its promotional flyer. The party featured a cross-dressing British DJ and a drag beauty contest. The right to cross-dress while performing government jobs has become a campaign issue for Senate candidates in the Philippines. The "Philippine Daily Inquirer" made that one of four questions it's asking in a series of candidate interviews. Of 31 candidates questioned, 15 supported cross-dressers, 9 opposed, and 7 offered a range of other responses. Five respondents laughed at the question and three had to ask what "cross-dressing" meant. The Philippines activist group PRO-Gay was not pleased by the question, although it believes cross-dressing should be allowed in government offices. The group said its top concerns were improved access to education and health care and enactment of laws against discrimination. Namibia's President Sam Nujoma this week upped the ante in his latest campaign against gays and lesbians. Two weeks earlier he had told University of Namibia students that homosexuals should be arrested, imprisoned and reported. This week in a speech in the northern town of Okahao he called on regional governors, councilors and tribal leaders to report gays and lesbians for arrest, calling on them to "see to it that there are no criminals, gays and lesbians in your villages and regions." He added that his SWAPO party, the South West African Peoples Organization, had "not fought for an independent Namibia that gives rights to criminals, gays and lesbians to do their bad things here." Nujoma, who first spoke out publicly against gays and lesbians late in 1996, was criticized by the British-based human rights watchdog group Amnesty International and a resolution censuring his remarks was introduced in the European Parliament. And finally... peripatetic homophobe Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps and less than a dozen members of his Topeka, Kansas clan visited Madison, Wisconsin this week. They were protesting the city's recent creation of a job in its school district offices for an advocate for gay and lesbian students. Lately most gay-friendly groups have chosen to avoid direct confrontations with the Phelps gang rather than calling more attention to them. One group in Madison took pledges for contributions to youth programs by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, based on how many minutes Phelps protested in public. They quickly racked up more than $6,000 before the weekend was over. Meanwhile, a counter-rally was held on the University of Wisconsin campus, with some 500 people turning out to hear two choirs and a dozen speakers. Among them was openly gay state Representative Mark Pocan, who got the biggest laugh of the day when he said, "Remember Mr. Phelps, you're not in Kansas any more -- and believe me, this crowd knows Judy Garland."