NewsWrap for the week ending September 8, 2001 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #702, distributed 09-10-01) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Anchored by Kelli Blanchfield and Christopher Gaal Gay and lesbian couples officially registered their partnerships in the UK for the first time this week. Although the city of London's new registry has no legal standing, it's hoped that it may support couples when issues arise in areas such as tenancy, pensions, inheritance, and immigration. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who made good on his campaign promise to create the registry, attended the ceremony and presented a bouquet to the first couple to register. They are Ian Burford and Alexander Cannell, who've been together for 38 years. They were followed by the first lesbian couple to register, Linda Wilkinson and Carol Budd, who've been together for 16 years. The London Partnership Register is also open to heterosexual couples. Registry at London's town hall comes at a cost of 85-pounds. Although the London registry is Britain's first, it's clear it won't be the last. Similar registries have already been proposed in the cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Brighton, and Hove. The Manchester bill is supported by all political parties on the City Council and is expected to win final approval before the year is out. The Liverpool bill this week was sent to committee without discussion and is expected to die there. That was surprising because the Liverpool City Council is controlled by the Liberal Democrats, who have been vocal advocates at the national level for legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples -- but openly gay Liverpool Councilor Paul Brant promised that his Labour Party would continue to press for the registry. Bills to recognize same-gender couples will be introduced in the British Parliament in October. This week the Lord Chancellor's Department announced that its plans to distribute 5-million-pounds in grants for couples counseling include services for gay and lesbian couples. Australia's Senate last week passed a resolution agreeing in principle on the need for national laws to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians. The Urgency Motion by openly gay Australian Democrat Brian Greig of West Australia read, "Given the recent public statement [sic] from both Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, expressing their opposition to discrimination against gay and lesbian people, and noting the absence of comprehensive Commonwealth laws to redress this, [thus] the necessity for Parliament to enact national laws against sexuality discrimination." The Opposition Labor Party, Australian Democrats and Greens passed the motion over the objections of the ruling Coalition. Greig called the resolution's passage "the first expression of explicit support for gay and lesbian rights reform to pass the Senate since the Sexual Privacy Act of 1994." The political discussion as federal elections campaigns gear up has centered on equal treatment of same-gender couples, which the national Government opposes. West Australia's state Government last week introduced a sweeping reform bill against discrimination against gays, lesbians and same-gender couples. Australia's High Court this week heard oral arguments on access to fertility treatment for lesbians and other women not in relationships with men. The ruling is not expected for some months. The issue has made headlines for months since a Federal Court struck down Victoria's state law prohibiting fertility treatment for women not in relationships with men, finding the state law in violation of the federal Sex Discrimination Act. The federal Attorney-General made a controversial decision to allow Australia's Catholic Bishops to challenge the Federal Court ruling in the nation's highest court. The High Court justices were unusually critical of the Attorney-General's actions in the case. One justice accused him of acting for political pressure groups rather than the public interest, while another suggested he was out to undermine the federal judicial structure. The Australian Family Association was another recognized party in the case against equal access to fertility treatment. Its submissions included extensive references to discredited anti-gay "research" by the US religious right regarding sexually transmitted diseases, coprophilia and bestiality. Openly gay Justice Michael Kirby was not alone in finding this material both disgusting and irrelevant, and once the Family Association's lead attorney had actually read the affidavit himself, he made a formal apology to the court. The national Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission and the Women's Electoral Lobby appeared in defense of equal access. The government of the Australian state of Tasmania has adopted a unique 20-year plan to combat homophobia. Veteran gay activist Rodney Croome said, "This is the first time any community, anywhere in the world, has set itself the goal of eliminating abuse and harassment on the grounds of sexuality." The plan called "Tasmania Together" also targets other human rights issues, population, poverty, and the environment. It's modeled after efforts in Ireland and the US state of Oregon, but neither of those explicitly tackled homophobia. One key element in the broad plan is for all of Tasmania's teachers to undergo anti-homophobia training by the year 2020. Another specific target is reduction of the percentage of gays and lesbians experiencing anti-gay abuse from the 44% found in 2000 to 3% in 2020. Targets will be used in developing state budgets. Europe took further steps this week to require four nations seeking European Union membership to reform their laws towards equal treatment of gays and lesbians. In its annual review of EU applicants, the European Parliament passed resolutions calling on Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary and Romania "to eliminate provisions in the penal code that discriminate against homosexual men and lesbian women." Also, the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Guenther Verheugen told the European Parliament that, "I want to make it crystal clear that the Commission will continue to press in the enlargement negotiations for full observance of human rights and the rights of minorities. This includes a ban on any discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation or religious conviction." All four countries have discriminatory ages of consent, in addition to other discriminatory criminal code sections. There were notable demonstrations this week in Turkey and Belarus and at the United Nations' World Conference Against Racism. As Turkey's Minister for Women's Affairs and the Family Hasan Gemici made an early-morning tour of Istanbul's nightlife district to review the situation of street children, a group of transgender sex workers attacked his entourage. The minister and journalists fled into a hotel as the transgenders attacked with fists, feet, rocks, and bottles. Istanbul's transgenders have a long history of poverty, official neglect, social rejection, and police abuse. At least 3 of the protesters were detained by police. But in Minsk, Belarus' first-ever transgender festival is going ahead, in the wake of a gay and lesbian pride march that was successful despite its lack of official permission. While last year's Minsk pride event was broken up by police, this week some 300 costumed demonstrators marched down the main street and rallied in front of the home of the Belarussian president. Some observers believe it was the general election pending just 2 days later that led officials to tolerate the parade. The UN's anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa has been deeply divided on many issues since before it convened, and homophobia is one of them. The full name of the meeting is the "World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Other Related Intolerances". Gay and lesbian activists had sought recognition of homophobia as one of those "related intolerances," noting in particular that homophobia aggravates racism. Some European nations are continuing to seek a denunciation of homophobic hate crimes in the conference action plan, and UN HIV/AIDS program chief Peter Piot called on the conference to challenge anti-gay discrimination. But the International Lesbian and Gay Association was excluded from official participation in the meeting, and members of that group and others staged what was called a "small but noisy" protest outside the conference center this week. One focus of the protest was the murders of 400 transgendered people in Argentina. North America's first gay and lesbian TV channel, Toronto-based PrideVision, began telecasting this week. Unfortunately, only the few Canadians with digital cable converters can access it, along with some U.S. residents with satellite reception. For Ontario and points east, there's a free 3-month trial period, but Shaw, the only cable carrier for points west, has refused to participate. PrideVision will produce only one original weekly public affairs program for its first season, filling out its schedule with films and shows from elsewhere in Canada, the US and UK. And finally... it's hard to imagine any gay-friendly organization honoring a military body, but it happened this week in New Zealand. Auckland's Equal Employment Opportunities Trust gave its Innovation Award to the New Zealand Navy's Sexual Orientation Support and Training Program, which started activities aboard ships in December. The Trust called it "a first for any Navy in the world" that openly gay consultant Eugene Moore lived and worked alongside seagoing personnel, raising their awareness and breaking down barriers. Although officially New Zealand's ban on military service by open gays and lesbians ended in 1993, the Navy realized its leaders had continued to maintain an unofficial ban. Now, with the full commitment of senior officers, the program is hoped to improve staff retention, morale and social interactions.