NewsWrap for the week ending April 6, 2002 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #732, distributed 4-8-02) [Written this week by Lucia Chappelle, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Anchored by Dean Elzinga and Lucia Chappelle Another prominent Zimbabwe official and ardent ally of infamously homophobic President Robert Mugabe has been toppled as the result of a gay sex scandal. Alum Mpofu, chief executive of the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, resigned before an investigation into his arrest at a Harare nightclub last week. Mpofu, a leader in Mugabe's vitriolic pre-election propaganda campaign against gays, whites, and anyone else in the opposition, was discovered in "a compromising position" with a young man in a corridor of the Tipperary Club. Handcuffed to a fire hydrant outside as club patrons gathered to hurl insults at him, Mpofu appealed to the son of the club's owner Pearson Mbalekwa, himself an MP in Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party, for aid. Mpofu was released at Mbalekwa's request, but it was too late. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, who chose his friend Mpofu to head Zimbabwe Broadcasting and to toe the Mugabe party line, called Mpofu's behavior "totally unacceptabe" and went on to say that, "Sexual perverts need to be told once again that homosexuality is unnatural. The only people who accept homosexuality are liberals who think it is a way of getting votes." The fall of Mpofu, just two years after the conviction of former President Canaan Banana on sodomy charges, has the group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, or GALZ, asking how many homosexuals do work for Mugabe, who among other things has called gays "worse than pigs and dogs." A statement from GALZ says that Mpofu, whom they had known for years was gay, should have resigned rather than participate in Mugabe's strongly criticized election campaign. Calling for both legal and cultural reform the statement said, "Mr. Mpofu's situation again lends credence to GALZ claims that, far from being absent from African cultures, homosexuality is deeply embedded in all strata of societies on this continent." The laws banning gay sex are used all over the world for a variety of purposes, but prosecutors in Jefferson County, Missouri have come up with a new twist. They say that the charges now being brought against six men are part of an attempt to break a pornography ring. However of the 13 people arrested in a raid on a High Ridge adult video store, only the six who allegedly violated the state's law against "deviate sexual intercourse with another person of the same sex" were ultimately charged. Jefferson County prosecutor Bob Wilkins said he did have some hesitation about applying the rarely used statute, but that "This is not about throwing homosexuals in jail. This is about trying to prevent future conduct." Although Missouri's Western District Court of Appeals ruled in 1999 that the sex law was unconstitutional because it bans consensual activities, Wilkins said that it remains on the books because the state failed to take that decision to the state Supreme Court for affirmation. Local activists hope this will be the last time the law can be used at all. They foresee the departure of dozens of term-limited legislators as a chance to finally get the law repealed this session. In the Australian state of Victoria, a first-of-its-kind Melbourne Family Court ruling has increased passions around the debate over the right of lesbians to have access to reproductive clinics. The case involved a gay sperm donor's quest for increased visitation with the child he fathered for a lesbian couple. After the trio's initial amicable agreement, the mother and her partner became concerned when the donor asked to be present at the birth. They concealed the birthing arrangements from him, but he was able to locate them and the child through a private investigator. The women then agreed to limited visits, but the donor, who had been involved in child rearing previously with great satisfaction, wanted more. Family Court Justice Paul Guest affirmed that the child's mothers were providing him with a loving home, but said that he could also benefit from contact with the donor. Guest approved overnight stays and alternate weekend and school holiday visits. Lesbian rights activists say the case clearly demonstrates the need for Victoria's legal sperm banks to be opened to so-called "socially infertile" women. Viv Ray of the Lesbian Parent Group said, "No matter what is decided before the birth or what contracts are entered into, once a baby is born people's feelings change... We need legislation to secure the rights of lesbians to have families... Their right to have babies can't be based on trust, there must be a legal basis." In the U.S., an ABC News poll indicates that, since the network featured Rosie O'Donnell in a primetime interview on the subject, a bare majority of Americans now support allowing lesbian and gay couples to adopt children. But that doesn't mean gay and lesbian parents are having an easier time in the courts. Oral arguments were heard this week in the Nebraska Supreme Court in the case of Serenna Russell and Joan Bridgens. Bridgens adopted a child in Pennsylvania in 1996 with Russell as named co-parent. Russell and Bridgens broke up after several years and Russell went to court to ask for sole custody. However a Nebraska district judge found the adoption to be invalid in the first place because Bridgens had not relinquished her parental rights before the adoption. Russell's attorney argues that the judge had no authority to void an adoption that had years ago been declared final in another state. Meanwhile back in Pennsylvania, one gay and one lesbian couple will be going to that state's high court to challenge the ban on joint adoptions. Seventy-five organizations, including child welfare agencies, have signed on to the appeal as "friends of the court." In Maryland and in California, there's tax relief in store for gay and lesbian couples. On April 2nd the Montomery County Council in Maryland unanimously passed a plan to provide same-gender partners with the same exemption from real estate taxes that heterosexual married couples receive when one transfers property into the other's name. To qualify, gay or lesbian couples must prove that they share a close personal relationship, are responsible for each other's welfare, have shared the same legal residence for at least one year, and that their finances are intertwined. On the same day, the City Council of San Jose, California unanimously voted to draft a similar ordinance. Real estate transfer tax exemptions for same-gender domestic partners already exist in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and Berkeley, California, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Quebec Human Rights Commission has ruled in favor of a gay Montreal couple and ordered the neighbors who harassed them to pay C$36,000. Roger Thibault and Theo Wouters complained that Robert Walker, who lives next door, and Greg Inglis, who also lives nearby, harassed them continually, including running over their flower beds, attempting to hit them with their cars, and whacking golf balls at them as they lounged in their backyard. The case was boosted last year when about 4,000 people marched in support of Thibault and Wouters' demand to be left in peace. Although the Commission does not have the power to enforce the payment, if Walker and Inglis do not comply by April 19th, the commission's lawyers will take the case to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. Vietnam saw its first Pride celebration last week, and the reaction from the conservative government and the press was rather predictable. Several hundred attended a fashion parade and dance at a Long Hai hotel in the southern part of the country. Almost immediately the state-run media produced a report from the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs indicating that gay couples are on the rise and that "The activities of this social evil are just now coming to light." The official youth-oriented daily newspaper "Thanh Nien" called the Pride event "a monstrosity." Although the Vietnamese government did not prevent the event from going on, there are now calls for a crackdown on such activities. And finally... denials are once again in order as gay icon Liza Minnelli and her brand new husband David Gest fend off rumors that he may not be altogether heterosexual. No less than Sir Elton John had been cited as one source for the information. After reporters asked him what a good wedding gift would be for his old friend, he replied, "A heterosexual husband." Minnelli vouches 100 percent for Gest's prowess with women, although her track record is less than promising. She was first married to gay singer/songwriter Peter Allen; her father, director Vincent Minnelli, was bi; and her mother, Judy Garland, was once married to gay Mark Herron. And then she herself confessed to the "Texas Triangle" newspaper that her "gaydar" is not that good. "I'm terrible," she said, "You're talking to the girl who married Peter Allen!"