NewsWrap for the week ending July 7, 2001 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #693, distributed 07-09-01) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Anchored by Greg Gordon and Cindy Friedman The European Parliament this week adopted two resolutions including support for the civil rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Among the EP's recommendations to member states were sections calling for legal protections from sexual orientation discrimination and for establishment of legal status equal to marriage for same-gender couples. The EP also adopted its annual report on human rights policy towards non-member states, with gay and lesbian civil rights included among "issues requiring urgent international action". That section says the EP "stresses that homosexuals are still victims of discrimination, prejudice and denial of their basic human rights in countries all over the world" and "calls upon the 80 countries in the world which still prohibit homosexuality in their domestic law to change this legislation without delay." In hopes of joining the European Union, the Slovak Parliament this week overhauled the nation's labor code and civil service laws but rejected explicit protections from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Its chief EU negotiator Jan Figel denied that the omission of gay and lesbian civil rights would pose any problem there. Figel further denied that there is sexual orientation discrimination in Slovakia, claiming that the national constitution's ban on sex discrimination protects gays and lesbians. But a spokesperson for the gay and lesbian group Inakost, or "Uniqueness," countered that the parliamentary exclusion of sexual orientation from the bill was in itself confirmation "of obvious discrimination." Inakost called for President Rudolf Schuster to return the bill to Parliament, and suggested that many gays and lesbians might leave Slovakia for other European nations where their rights are protected. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Peter Magvasi said that job protections for gays and lesbians would be reconsidered by the new Parliament to be seated after next year's general elections. The British Government this week announced the creation of a new Women and Equality Unit to implement the EU's Equal Treatment Directive, including its prohibitions against discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation. The new so-called Equalities Unit will be headed by Prime Minister Tony Blair's own former political secretary Sally Morgan, a connection gay and lesbian activists believe bodes well for the Unit's effectiveness. Angela Mason, executive director of the national gay and lesbian advocacy group Stonewall, said, "We see this as a positive development, it does indicate a bit more oomph behind things. [The Government is] now aware they need to drive these issues from the center." In Canada, Saskatchewan's two omnibus bills amending two dozen provincial laws to recognize gay and lesbian couples both passed their third reading and received royal assent this week. The move gives same-gender couples equal standing with heterosexual couples in areas including pensions and second-parent adoptions. Saskatchewan becomes the sixth province to amend its laws in response to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada two years ago. But as the world celebrated gay and lesbian pride in late June, there were major police raids on gay venues in the Philippines, Romania and Russia. In the Philippines, police raided the new Coco Banana gay bar in Baguio on suspicion that the shows presented there were indecent. Although police did not actually witness those shows, they arrested 23 dancers and other staff for working without proper permits. Those arrested were released when management said their permits were in process. But police then raided the Coco Banana for the second time in three days claiming the bar had no business permit. That permit too is in process, so the bar has stayed open. But gay and lesbian activists are calling the raids police harassment. They claim that Baguio's "girlie bars" are allowed to operate freely while gay bars are not. In Romania, the only gay bar in Bucharest was raided the day after the Government had issued its "emergency ordinance" demanding repeal of the nation's last anti-gay law. Police were accompanied by TV crews as they raided the Casablanca bar. No arrests were made, but the national gay and lesbian rights group ACCEPT reported that police interrogated some patrons about their sex lives and behaved in an "abusive and intimidating" manner. On a single night, 3 of Moscow's 4 gay venues were raided by a dozen armed men in plainclothes, who reportedly harassed and videotaped patrons and searched the premises without a warrant. The invaders refused to reveal what agency they work for or why they came. At the Central Station and Three Monkeys bars, they blocked all exits, checked all patrons' identification, and fractured one man's rib with a hard shove. At the Kazarma sex club, several people were reportedly beaten, while a few others reportedly were detained for lacking ID until they paid small bribes. Fiji was rocked this week by the machete murder and mutilation of openly gay Red Cross director John Scott and his partner of 22 years Gregory Scrivener. Scott had become a national hero as the one person allowed to carry supplies and messages to Fiji's Prime Minister and Cabinet members while they were held hostage for 56 days during last year's failed coup attempt. Although some believe the murders may have been politically motivated, police believe homophobia was the more likely cause. A former police officer and another man have been detained in connection with the murders, but their fingerprints do not match those found at the scene. The Toronto murder of gay Larry Arnold in 1994 has finally been solved. Paul Hachey this week pleaded guilty to Arnold's murder and the sex slaying of a woman as well as a number of other charges and was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison. A police officer connected Hachey to the Arnold killing when the theft of a bicycle used in the crime turned up in a routine check for his outstanding warrants. Police will not comment as to whether Hachey is being investigated regarding several other murders of Toronto gay men near the time of Arnold's death. There was also a confession this week in Texas, where a 17-year-old said he killed his 14-year-old lover because their relationship "was the last thing keeping me hating myself." Jon Paul Marsh was appearing at a bail hearing for the March beating death of Nathan Mayoral. He was released on $75,000 bail and will be tried as an adult. Also confessing this week was openly lesbian convicted murderer Aileen Wuornos, often described as America's first female serial killer. For years Wuornos, a sex worker, maintained that she had killed a half-dozen men while defending herself against sexual assaults. But now she has told a newspaper that, "There was no self-defense in any of these cases. I just flat robbed [and] killed them, and there was a lot of hatred behind everything." After a decade in prison, Wuornos has also written to Florida's supreme court to drop her appeals and to request that her death sentence be carried out. A suspect has been arrested in the bludgeoning murder of openly gay 16-year-old Navajo Fred Martinez in Cortez, Colorado. Martinez' death has not been officially labeled a hate crime, but the possibility has not been ruled out. The FBI has joined state and local officials in the investigation. A New Jersey appeals court ruled this week that the state's laws against discrimination based on "sexual identity" also protect transsexuals. The 3-judge panel gave transsexual physician Carla Enriquez standing to sue the clinic that fired her when she began presenting as a woman. The decision called it "incomprehensible" that the state laws banning discrimination based on sex and on sexual orientation would not be interpreted to protect transsexuals as well. The United Nations began its data collection on the persecution of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders in late June, as UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Dr. Abid Hussain met with transgender activists in Buenos Aires. Representatives of three transgender groups gave him extensive documentation of cases of transgender persecution in Argentina, where cross-dressing is prohibited by law. His intervention was requested in specific cases including that of transgender Diana Sacayan, who has been incarcerated under abusive conditions since mid-February without even a preliminary hearing. Hussain promised to include some of the cases in his annual report to the UN. He told the activists, "I have listened to many painful stories during my visit, but your situation is the hardest. You all have my sympathy and also my admiration because you are courageous, you are strong, you are united among yourselves and you are fighting back. ... It is a pity that there are so many cultural and societal prejudices against you. Eradicating cultural prejudices is the hardest task there is. You will have to pass through fire to survive, but I have no doubt that you will." Some 500 transgenders from all over Asia met in Malaysia this week to celebrate the full moon festival Paurnami Madha Villa. India's transgender hijras have long used this traditional observance to give thanks to their protector Jai Mataji the Mother God, but it was the first time they celebrated in Malaysia. India's hijras, gays and lesbians this past week gathered in Bangalore for what's believed to be their first public forum in the nation's southern region. Fifty participants denounced India's 19th-century sodomy law and lack of protections from discrimination. And finally... can you picture 23,000 people dancing and singing to the Village People's "YMCA"? It happened this week in conservative Omaha, Nebraska, in an attempt to win a listing in the "Guinness Book of World Records". The current record is 6,907 people, set four years ago in Missouri.