PLEASE NOTE: There will be no "NewsWrap" segment on *next week's* "This Way Out" program #766 (week of 12/2/02) or #770 (week of 12/30/02). One or more special features will air on each of those programs. ---------------------------------------------------------------- NewsWrap for the week ending November 23, 2002 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #765, distributed 11-25-02) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Chris Ambidge, Jason Lin, Rex Wockner, Lucia Chappelle & Greg Gordon] Anchored by Cindy Friedman & Jon Beaupré The Australian Labor Party Government of the Australian Capital Territory this week took its first legislative step in what's planned to be omnibus law reform towards equal treatment for same-gender couples. Chief Minister John Stanhope introduced an amendment to the territory's Discrimination Act to change the phrase "de facto spouse" to "domestic partner," with a definition inclusive of gay and lesbian relationships. The term "marital status," a category protected from discrimination, would also be changed to "relationship status" to be more inclusive of same-gender partnerships. The ACT Government is reviewing all the territory's laws towards amending them to the same end. Equality legislation is in process in several Australian states, all with Labor Governments. The Government of the Canadian province of Alberta is about to introduce a bill to extend legal recognition to same-gender couples, among others, under more than 50 provincial statutes. Just a few years ago that would've been unthinkable in this Conservative stronghold, where the same Government fought a gay employment discrimination case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. But that court battle was lost, and it's only thanks to another court order that the Government has now prepared its so-called Adult Interdependent Relationships Act. The bill would extend legal recognition not only to unmarried heterosexual couples and gay and lesbian partners, but also to cohabitants in committed non-sexual relationships such as relatives or friends. It would not change the province's legal definition of "spouse," and in announcing the bill Justice Minister David Hancock emphasized that, "Marriage is between a man and a woman, excluding all others"... before going on to say, "But the other relationships ought to have the responsibilities and access to the law." Some of the key areas include inheritance rights, health insurance coverage, and for Alberta's civil servants, spousal employment and pension benefits. The Philippines' Justice Secretary rejected a request for family visas to allow foreign diplomatic workers' domestic partners into the country, even when those partnerships have legal standing in the worker's home country. The legal ruling cited the definition of "family" under the Philippine constitution and Family Code as not recognizing what it called "homosexual relationship," and added that such relationships "cannot be countenanced" under Philippines laws "for reasons of public policy." The issue was raised by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, after the revocation of a family visa issued for the partner of a lesbian director of the Asian Development Bank. Bank worker Chantale Yok-Min Wong and her partner Susan Trask Lamb had contracted a civil union in Vermont. The United States' largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation, told its 125,000 employees this week that it plans to extend health benefits to its gay and lesbian employees' same-gender partners, and that it has added "sexual orientation" as a category protected under its anti-discrimination policy. Lockheed directors had previously fought back a shareholder proposal to amend the anti-discrimination policy, helping it to earn the lowest possible employer rating from the Human Rights Campaign. A Lockheed spokesperson said the company hadn't changed the policy earlier "because we felt we didn't need to list every single way our employees are different," but was acting now out of fears of losing employees to more gay-friendly competitors. Also this week, the Board of Commissioners of Cook County, Illinois followed in the footsteps of its largest city Chicago to approve the addition of "gender identity" as a category protected from discrimination under its Human Rights Ordinance. The board voted 40-to-9 to prohibit discrimination against transgenders in employment, housing, public accommodations, and lending. Yet oral and anal sex remain criminal acts in Louisiana, as a state appeals court panel ruled 2-to-1 to uphold the 200-year-old law. It's the latest round in a long-running and complex challenge to the so-called "crime against nature" law brought by the group LEGAL, Louisiana Electorate of Gays and Lesbians, with 9 individual gay and lesbian plaintiffs. The majority found that the law on its face applies to everyone, and wrote that it "does not single out gay men or lesbians for punishment," following an earlier Louisiana Supreme Court decision. The majority also found the penalty of fines up to $2,000 and up to 5 years in prison is commensurate with sentencing for other crimes, rejecting LEGAL's argument that it constitutes "cruel, unusual and excessive punishment." The late Pim Fortuyn had hoped to become the Netherlands' first openly gay Prime Minister but was assassinated shortly before the May elections. Suspect Volkert van der Graaf, who had maintained silence since his on-the-spot arrest, made a statement to a judge this week. The prosecutor told reporters that he "has admitted that he purposefully shot Fortuyn dead. He had conceived this plan sometime earlier." This was no surprise since the shooting occurred before numerous witnesses, but the prosecutor added the first indication of van der Graaf's possible motive, saying, "[H]e saw in Fortuyn an increasing danger to, in particular, vulnerable sections of society. Van der Graaf saw no other way he could stop that danger than to kill Fortuyn." This was construed to refer to Fortuyn's position against immigration, held on the grounds that the Netherlands "is full up" and has poorly integrated its large influx of foreigners. Van der Graaf reportedly affirmed that he acted alone without anyone else's knowledge. He'll be undergoing psychiatric testing and is expected to face trial in the coming year. Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, has its first openly gay City Council member with the election of Matt Hinz. Hinz ascends, as the state's first openly gay local elective officeholder, councilor for Huon Paul Thomas, is retiring from his post. Tasmanian gays and lesbians also celebrated the electoral defeat of Launceston City Councilor George Brookes, a former member of the state's Upper House and long-time vehement opponent of equality legislation. Three long-time leaders of national gay and lesbian organizations have announced they'll be leaving their posts. In Britain, Stonewall executive director Angela Mason is stepping down after a decade of service. Her work has been widely honored, including the Queen naming her to the Order of the British Empire in 1999. She'll move on to directing the Government's unit promoting equal treatment for women in the workplace. In a farewell address to the Stonewall board, she said, "Things don't change -- people change things." In Canada, John Fisher has announced he'll be resigning in June from the executive directorship of EGALE, Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere, a post he's held for 8 years. He cited a need to reconnect with friends and family and a desire to focus on international issues of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender people. EGALE will be restructuring to replace him with three staff positions, as EGALE President Kim Vance remarked, "We weren't even going to attempt to embark on a journey to find another John." And in the U.S., the "Washington Blade" has confirmed that at the end of this year Rich Tafel will be leaving the executive directorship of the national Log Cabin Republicans after 9 years. Tafel's exit was preceded by that of Log Cabin's Public Affairs Director of 6 years Kevin Ivers in August, to move into the private sector as a political consultant. Italy's last king, Umberto II, was "outed" this week by Mexican journalist and cinematographer Manuel Avila Camacho. Camacho -- himself the grandson of a former Mexican President -- told "Milenio" magazine he'd had a 3-year affair with Umberto during the king's exile in Portugal. The article ran with a photo showing the two embracing in the garden of Umberto's Cascais villa in Portugal. A new exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery documents the bisexuality of the great poet Lord Byron, featuring his numerous affairs with men as well as women. While there were rumors about Byron even in his own time, his publishers kept the documentary evidence away from biographers until now, according to Fiona MacCarthy, author of a new biography and curator of the current exhibit. MacCarthy believes Byron emigrated from England to Greece in 1816 specifically to avoid prosecution for homosexual acts. Britain's Government is introducing legislation to reform its remaining discriminatory sex laws, which is expected to reach the floor of Parliament early in the coming year. And finally... many public figures have denied rumors they are gay, but few have done so as graciously as swimmer Ian Thorpe of Australia, winner of 3 gold and 2 silver medals at the 2000 Olympics. Thorpe's been dealing with such rumors since he was 17, according to his manager David Flaskas, who said, "It really knocked him about when he first heard them, but he's 20 now." Thorpe himself responded to the rumors in an Australian national radio broadcast this week, following legal action against a pair of stalkers apparently out to extort money from him. He admitted that, "I'm a little bit different to what most people would consider being an Australian male" and "I have an interest in things most people don't label as being part of the macho male thing." Those interests include fashion -- Thorpe has his own line of jewelry, which he modeled at Australian Fashion week last year. But while Thorpe declared he isn't gay, he added that, "It's the most flattering thing that anyone can ever say, because if someone wants to label you or claim you as part of a minority group, it means you must have some strength in your character or in what you do."