NewsWrap for the week ending November 10, 2001 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #711, distributed 11-12-01) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Josy Catoggio, Lucia Chappelle and Greg Gordon] Anchored by Brian Nunes and Cindy Friedman Australian voters have returned the nation's ruling Coalition to power with a ten-seat majority and given Prime Minister John Howard a historic third term. It's a disappointing result for gays and lesbians, whose legislative progress has been staunchly blocked by Howard and his Liberal Party. In this campaign gay and lesbian issues won more supportive attention than previously from the largest Opposition party, the Australian Labor Party, whose Kim Beazley conceded defeat and resigned as party leader, with the ALP vote down in most states from the last federal election. The anti-gay One Nation party lost ground in this election. Gay and lesbian voters were actively wooed by the Australian Democrats, whose results showed little change from the last election, and by the Greens, who won more votes than ever before. Green Party Senator from Tasmania Bob Brown, who was the first open gay ever elected to the Australian Senate, won reelection. There were also elections this week in a number of U.S. states and cities, with initiatives relating to gays and lesbians on the ballots in five cities. Domestic partner benefits for city employees were banned in Houston, Texas by a narrow margin, but were approved by a landslide in Miami Beach, Florida. Civil rights protections found solid support in three Michigan municipalities. Voters in Kalamazoo and Traverse City rejected proposed city charter amendments patterned after Cincinnati, Ohio's, that would have proactively prohibited the inclusion of gays, lesbians and bisexuals among the "protected" categories in any local ordinances. In the Detroit suburb of Huntington Woods, almost 70% of voters upheld an ordinance against sexual orientation discrimination that was passed by the city commission earlier this year. The anti-gay Mississippi-based American Family Association was a driving force behind all three anti-gay Michigan initiatives, as well as another proposed charter amendment to be voted on in Ypsilanti next year. It was generally a good day for U.S. gay and lesbian candidates. Carrboro, North Carolina Mayor Mike Nelson and Houston, Texas City Councilmember Annise Parker both won re-election, as did Arlington County, Virginia County Board member Jay Fisette and Takoma Park, Maryland City Councilmember Bruce Williams. Atlanta, Georgia City Councilmember Cathy Woolard won a run-off berth in her bid for City Council President. Minneapolis, Minnesota had a remarkable ten openly gay or lesbian candidates for various city offices. Three of five openly gay candidates won seats on the Minneapolis City Council: Scott Benson, Robert Lilligren and Gary Schiff. Some other U.S. election results were also welcomed by most gays and lesbians. In Virginia, gay-supportive Democrat Mark Warner won the governorship over Republican Mark Earley, whose anti-gay campaign featured the slogan "Virginia values, not Vermont values" representing his opposition to legal recognition of same-gender couples. In New Jersey, gay-supportive Democrat Jim McGreevey won the governorship over Republican Bret Schundler, an opponent of domestic partner benefits and equal adoption rights. New York City's next mayor, Republican Michael Bloomberg, is a solid supporter of gay and lesbian civil rights. The U.S. Senate by a 3-to-1 margin this week approved ending the federal ban on domestic partner benefits in Washington, DC. The Washington City Council enacted a broad domestic partners measure in 1992, but the Congress then made federal appropriations to the nation's capital contingent on suspension of the ordinance. Federal funds comprise the bulk of Washington's budget. That rider is absent from this year's appropriations bill, although the city would still be barred from using federal funds for the ordinance's implementation. The Republican-controlled U.S. House had also approved Washington appropriations without the domestic partners ban in September. The two versions move next to a House-Senate conference committee. The Denver, Colorado City Council this week voted 11-to-1 to add "gender identity" as a category protected under the city's anti-discrimination ordinance. The civil rights of transgendered people will be protected in employment, housing and health care. Neighboring Boulder had previously passed a similar ordinance that was the model for Denver's. Also in Colorado, a state appeals court has ruled that sexual orientation cannot be used as a basis to deny visitation to parents. The ruling overturned a trial court decision that a gay father could not have overnight guests when his daughter was present. The lower court had also barred him from taking her to his gay-affirming church, lest she see what the judge called "hugging, showing of affection one to the other ... women with women, men with men." No similar prohibitions had been placed on the girl's mother, a conservative Christian. A U.S. federal lawsuit seeking to hold police officers liable for the suicide of a teen they threatened to "out" failed this week in Pennsylvania. The late Marcus Wayman had been sitting in a parked car with another male teen in 1997 when 3 Minersville police arrested them for underage drinking. Because they were carrying condoms, officers asked if the teens were "queer" and had intended to have sex with each other. The officers say the teens said yes. The officers lectured the teens against homosexuality and threatened to tell their families that they were gay. Within a few hours of his release, Wayman shot himself dead. With the help of the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, Wayman's mother Madonna Sterling filed the civil lawsuit claiming the officers had violated his privacy rights. This week a federal jury cleared all three police officers of any liability in the case. However, the ACLU says that an appellate court ruling Sterling secured in the process of gaining this week's hearing established a landmark precedent recognizing the privacy rights of young gays and lesbians. Courts in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec this week heard lawsuits seeking equal marriage rights for same-gender couples. At the same time as Quebec's Solicitor General opposed the lawsuit there, the provincial Justice Department announced that it is preparing a bill to establish registered partnerships for gay and lesbian couples that would confer a number of legal rights. The provincial Government intends to introduce the bill before the end of this year and hold hearings on it in 2002. The Montreal plaintiffs denied the partnerships would be equivalent to marriage, and some have suggested the announcement of the bill was offered as a distraction from the lawsuit. The parliament of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has given initial approval to a civil rights bill protecting gays and lesbians. Member of Parliament Joao Batista de Oliveira's Law 694/99 would add "sexual orientation" as a category protected from discrimination. Violators could be punished with fines, business closures, or, in the case of civil servants, dismissal and disqualification. The bill specifically upholds the right of same-gender couples to display affection in public and defines a procedure for punishing police officers who harass them. It would also create a Referral Center to advise those who believe they've experienced discrimination and would add a gay and lesbian community representative to the state Human Rights Council. To become law, the bill must still pass a second vote in the state parliament and be signed by the governor. IGLHRC, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, has called for letters in support of the bill. And finally... after two delays and many modifications as a result of the September 11th attacks on the U.S., the 53rd annual Emmy Awards were finally staged and telecast globally. Winners of interest included non-gay Canadian Eric McCormack, named Best Lead Actor in a Comedy for his gay title role in NBC's "Will & Grace"; open gay Todd Holland, named Best Director in a Comedy a second time for Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle", who again acknowledged his partner Scotch in his acceptance speech and gave him a kiss; openly gay Briton Derek Jacobi, named Best Guest Actor in a Comedy for his appearance on NBC's "Frasier"; Best TV Movie and two other honors for HBO's "Wit", adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by open lesbian Margaret Edson; five honors for the ABC miniseries "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadow,", produced by open gays Craig Zadan and Neil Meron; and Best Music Performance for icon Barbra Streisand and three other honors for her Fox special "Timeless". Streisand also closed the show with a tearful rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone". But the biggest winner of the evening was certainly the show's host, open l esbian Ellen DeGeneres, although neither of her two nominations resulted in a statue. Her work under the very difficult circumstances was honored with an extended standing ovation at the end of the show. Afterwards she was widely praised, with "The Hollywood Reporter" saying that "only two words stood between the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and utter disaster: Ellen DeGeneres." Most often quoted was DeGeneres' line, "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?" Perhaps the most enthusiastic kudos for DeGeneres came from past Emmy winner Camryn Manheim of ABC's "The Practice" who told "People" magazine, "I think Ellen DeGeneres is the very best of our generation. How she handled this evening with such grace and dignity and humor and spirit and sensitivity and humanity makes me want to become a lesbian. I'm madly, madly in love with her."