NewsWrap
for the week ending July 27, 2002
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #748, distributed 7-29-02)
[Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, 
Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Lucia Chappelle & Greg Gordon]

Anchored by Greg Gordon and Sheri Lunn

  The next leader of the 70-million-member global Anglican Communion will be 
the gay-supportive Archbishop of Wales Dr. Rowan Williams, the British 
Government announced this week.  The appointment of the next Archbishop of 
Canterbury was welcomed by Britain's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, 
whose general secretary Reverend Richard Kirker said, "Under his leadership, 
homophobia will be challenged and intolerance rooted out."
That's a far cry from the exiting Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. George Carey, 
who will hand over the Anglican primacy to Williams at the end of October.  
He barely acknowledged gay and lesbian Anglicans despite years of internal 
lobbying and some dramatic public protests.  In early July, in response to a 
Canadian diocese's decision to celebrate gay and lesbian union ceremonies, 
Carey wrote a letter to all Anglican bishops declaring that "homosexual 
relationships are incompatible with the Bible."

  Williams, by contrast, is believed to have knowingly ordained a priest who 
was in a gay relationship, despite the Anglican requirement of celibacy for 
gay and lesbian priests.  He was quoted earlier this year as saying that it 
wasn't his job to be "going around the bedroom with a magnifying glass doing 
surveillance," and that it wasn't necessary for gay and lesbian priests to be 
celibate "in every imaginable circumstance."
However, Duke University theologian Stanley Hauerwas described Williams' 
views on homosexuality as "very disciplined," saying, "He's not pro-gay, but 
he knows gays whom he respects and whom he would ordain."  Hauerwas was one 
of a number of observers who emphasized that Williams is not a liberal, but 
an orthodox Christian, despite his support for gay clergy and women bishops.
Williams' perceived support of gays and lesbians has stirred considerable 
concern among conservative Anglicans, who dominate the church in Asia and 
Africa.  Kenya's Anglican leader Archbishop David Gitari issued a statement 
warning that African Anglicans would be disappointed if Williams supports gay 
and lesbian union ceremonies, which they find totally unacceptable.  Gitari 
said their position has not changed since the 1998 decennial world conference 
of Anglican bishops, where a series of anti-gay resolutions were passed by 
overwhelming majorities.

  Blocking recognition of same-gender relationships was also a major concern 
this week for another leading African cleric, Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis 
Arinze of Nigeria, who could well be the next Pope.  Speaking at a Toronto 
celebration of the Church's World Youth Day, he called on young Catholics to 
work against gay and lesbian marriage, saying, "That is not progress, it is 
decadence."  He said that had anyone attempted such a thing in Old Testament 
times, "The Earth would have opened and swallowed them without a trace," and 
that while that hasn't occurred more recently, "that does not mean nothing 
will happen to them in the long run."  He also remarked that, "No one has 
ever died of chastity but some have contracted disease because they offended 
against chastity."
Similar remarks were also made at the Toronto World Youth Day observances by 
Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law, who has become notorious recently for his 
alleged mishandling of sexual abuse of minors by priests under his authority.

  South Africa's highest court this week looked more kindly on gay and 
lesbian couples.  The full bench of the Constitutional Court upheld a ruling 
of the Pretoria High Court that it's unconstitutional to deny spousal 
benefits to same-gender partners.  South Africa's 1996 Constitution was the 
first in the world to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual 
orientation.  The case before the court was that of lesbian Judge Kathy 
Satchwell, whose Pretoria High Court victory was appealed by the state.  The 
Constitutional Court ordered a rewrite of two sections of the Judges 
Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act, to add after the word "spouse" 
the phrase "or partner, in a permanent same-sex life partnership in which 
partners have undertaken reciprocal duties of support."
In Satchwell's case, the evidence of reciprocal support included joint 
purchase of the partners' home, naming each other in wills, and Satchwell 
listing her partner Lesley Carnelly as beneficiary of her insurance and 
investment policies and as a dependent in her health plan.
The ruling offers hope for an upcoming lawsuit seeking equal marriage rights 
for same-gender couples in South Africa.

  In Britain, the Brighton & Hove City Council this week gave final approval 
to creating a Partnership Register for unmarried couples, including gay and 
lesbian couples.  The registry is purely ceremonial, carrying no legal 
benefits.  Similar registries have already been established in London and 
Manchester.  Like Manchester, in order to avoid possible legal problems, 
Brighton & Hove will be using the company Civil Ceremonies to provide the 
registry service, as well as non-religious heterosexual marriages, renewals 
of marriage vows, and baby-naming ceremonies.  The first Brighton & Hove 
couples will register in October.

  In the U.S., courts outside Vermont are refusing to deal with that state's 
pioneering civil unions, which extend all the state-level benefits of 
marriage to gay and lesbian couples.
This week, a Connecticut appeals court refused to dissolve a gay male 
couple's Vermont civil union, finding that Connecticut family relations law 
doesn't cover same-gender partnerships.  That creates a quandary for the 
now-estranged couple, Glen Rosengarten of Connecticut and Peter Downes of New 
York, because even though Vermont will certify civil unions for 
non-residents, it won't dissolve them unless at least one partner is a 
Vermont resident.  Vermont has dissolved only 6 of the more than 4,200 civil 
unions contracted since the state law went into effect in mid-1999.

  In mid-July, the Georgia state Supreme Court refused to take up a lesbian's 
bid for visitation with her children, that was based on the hope a Vermont 
civil union would qualify her partner as a "spouse".  Susan Freer hasn't seen 
her 3 sons in 2 years, as her ex-husband's custody agreement prohibits them 
from spending the night with her if someone other than a "spouse" or blood 
relative is present.  Her appeal cited the U.S. Constitution's "full faith 
and credit" clause which requires states to honor each other's legal actions. 
 Georgia's highest court dismissed the appeal in a single sentence, saying, 
"Even if Vermont had purported to legalize same-sex marriages, such would not 
be recognized in Georgia."

  And even the man who signed Vermont's civil unions into law -- Democratic 
Governor and 2004 Presidential hopeful Howard Dean -- this week told a 
national television audience that he wouldn't push for federal recognition of 
gay and lesbian couples.  Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press", "Would you be in 
favor of a national law approving of civil unions for gay couples?" Dean 
responded, "Absolutely not... I believe each state has to come to grips with 
civil rights.  I think that gay and lesbian people are entitled to the same 
legal and civil rights that everybody else has, but think that every state 
has to come to grips with that in [its] own way... We did civil unions.  
Maybe other states want to do it in some other way and they should be free to 
do so."

  Some South Korean activists don't want marriage -- forced heterosexual 
marriage, that is.  This week four groups launched a new coalition, Lesbian 
Gay Bisexual Transgender Korea, to work for LGBT civil rights.  The 
organizations involved are the gay group Chingusai, the lesbian group 
Kirikiri, the gay Web site Another Love, and the lesbian Web site Safe Zone.  
Their joint manifesto included the statement, "The narrow concept of a family 
forcing a patriarch[al] marriage on individuals is denying the sexual 
minority's rights."  It added that, "Laws on youth protection still designate 
homosexuality as harmful to minors," something which has served as an excuse 
for Government censorship.  In addition to those reforms, the coalition seeks 
official recognition of transgenders' chosen identities and an end to 
discrimination against people with HIV.

   A civil rights coalition of five groups in Hong Kong this week made an 
official complaint to the Equal Opportunities Commission about discriminatory 
sex crime laws.  Hong Kong law provides for a possible life sentence for anal 
intercourse between men if one is under age 21, but does not criminalize the 
same act for a heterosexual couple.  Activist Tommy Chen said men are 
arrested and convicted every year under the law, although he was not aware of 
any having actually received the life sentence.  Hong Kong's Government 
issued a statement in defense of the law, declaring that men under 21 lack 
the maturity to decide to engage in homosexual acts, and that older men are 
vulnerable to extortion by young partners.  The Commission is consulting its 
legal counsel regarding the complaint.

  And finally... congratulations are due to Lexington, Kentucky gay couple 
Michael Meehan and Thomas Dysarz.  This week with the help of a surrogate 
mother and in vitro fertilization they became the proud fathers of 
quadruplets, 3 boys and a girl.  These may be the first quads in the U.S. to 
result from that technology, although a lesbian couple in Pennsylvania had 
quads by artificial insemination several years ago.  The Kentucky births came 
about 9 weeks early, but the mother and babies are all in good condition.  
The men had originally planned on only one child, but on learning there were 
five fetuses, it was a struggle for them to agree to the termination of one 
to allow the other four to survive.
Dysarz called the infants "the most beautiful thing in the world," but 
inevitably they mean major lifestyle changes for the men.  They're trading in 
their Corvette for a Chevy Suburban, for one.  And they're resigning 
themselves to an estimated 13,000 diaper changes over the next couple years.