NewsWrap
for the week ending May 17, 2003
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #790, distributed 5-19-03)
[Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Fenceberry, Rex Wockner, Graham 
Underhill, and Greg Gordon]


Anchored by Cindy Friedman and Ralph Radebaugh


  Gays and lesbians and their allies in more than a dozen nations around the 
world took part this week in a Global Day of Action protesting persecution of 
gay men in Egypt.  While demonstrations continued throughout the week, 
U.K.-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International organized the protest 
on the second anniversary of the notorious police raid at Cairo's Queen Boat, 
a gay-friendly Nile riverboat nightclub.  More than 60 men were arrested, 53 
tried for debauchery, and after a retrial for 50 of them, 23 are serving 
prison terms of up to five years.  Score of other gay men have been arrested 
over the last two years, some by Internet stings, and last month another 14 
were sentenced based on police tapping one man's phone.  Suspects have 
reportedly experienced abuse and even torture at the hands of police.


  Amnesty declared in a press release, "It beggars belief to hear the 
Egyptian government maintain that homosexuality is not a criminal offense in 
Egypt when there is clear evidence that charges of debauchery and 
prostitution are being used to criminalize consensual homosexual relations... 
This systematic persecution of those perceived to be gay is a blatant and 
unacceptable breach of Egypt's human rights obligations.  The Egyptian 
government must release immediately and unconditionally all those imprisoned 
solely on the grounds of their sexuality.  The international community must 
make it clear to Egypt that there will be consequences if it continues to 
treat people this way."


  Protest actions were planned for Berlin, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Manila, 
Montreal, Oslo, Paris, Toronto, the Norwegian city of Bergen, and several 
Irish cities.


  In Madrid, a march down the famous street La Rambla featured a sign 
reading, "One person is murdered by homophobia in the world every other day."


  Frankfurt's action featured a bit of street theater, in which Amnesty 
members wearing police uniforms raided five bars, pretending to arrest men 
for debauchery and indecency. 


  Groups in Malta and the Philippines sent letters of protest to the Egyptian 
government.


  In New York City, protestors rallied in front of the Egyptian consulate.


  Three U.S. Congressional Democrats -- open gay Barney Frank of 
Massachusetts, open lesbian Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and non-gay Tom Lantos 
of California -- this month wrote a letter to every member of the House of 
Representatives urging them to withhold support for a U.S. Free Trade 
Agreement with Egypt until the persecution ends.  Egypt receives 2 billion 
dollars annually in U.S. foreign aid, more than all but one other nation.


  At the other end of the African continent, four national governments' 
pervasive harassment and violence against lesbigays and transgenders are 
documented in a new report released jointly this week by Human Rights Watch 
and IGLHRC, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.  
Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are the focus of the nearly 300-page 
report entitled "More Than a Name: State-Sponsored Homophobia and Its 
Consequences in Southern Africa", which was developed from 3 years of 
research and interviews.  It also reviews the status of sexual minorities in 
South Africa, finding that despite the pioneering equality guarantee in its 
constitution and recent legal victories for gays and lesbians there, 
political leaders' "silence and foot-dragging" have left those gains 
"fragile".  A member of the South African Commission on Gender Equality 
confirmed that perception, noting discrimination by institutions ranging from 
police to schools.


  IGLHRC executive director Paula Ettelbrick said that in Southern Africa, 
"Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have been vilified by 
presidents and political leaders, which has led to a culture of intolerance.  
These attacks are just the first step in creating a climate in which all 
rights are at risk."  Report co-author Scott Long of Human Rights Watch 
added, "When Southern African political leaders like President Robert Mugabe 
of Zimbabwe make speeches saying that gays and lesbians are 'worse than dogs 
and pigs,' it should be no surprise that violent attacks follow."
The report urges all five nations to repeal anti-gay laws, enact laws against 
discrimination, create means to respond to discrimination and abuse, and 
promote awareness of those protections.


  At least three men charged for homosexual acts were executed this week in 
the Iranian city of Mashhad, a Shiite holy place, according to Teheran's 
"Seday-e Edalat" newspaper.  Other charges against them included sex crimes 
against women.  They were reportedly part of a gang.  Five other members were 
executed and 135 more were sentenced to prison terms plus floggings, but the 
report did not specify the charges leading to those punishments.


  A bill to overhaul Puerto Rico's Penal Code was introduced this week, but 
it still includes the existing statute that makes homosexual acts between 
consenting adults a felony punishable by 10 years' imprisonment.  The bill's 
authors explained that they are awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 
a challenge to Texas' sodomy law before they attempt to redefine it.  Puerto 
Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S.  The lawmakers also emphasized that their 
submission is only the beginning of a process of public hearings and 
legislative analysis.  
IGLHRC, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, has 
already called for an international letter-writing campaign for elimination 
of the sodomy law, which was based on California law as it read in 1902.


  Puerto Rican activists have long lobbied for sodomy repeal.  The law is not 
known to have been enforced in recent years, even when some activists 
confessed to police.  But its continuing power was demonstrated recently when 
Puerto Rico's Supreme Court declared that a law against domestic violence c
ould not be applied to same-gender couples.  Puerto Rico's Government has 
asked the court to reconsider that split decision.
In fact, a week ago Puerto Rico's Family Secretary announced her unqualified 
support for extending to same-gender couples those public services and 
benefits now reserved for married couples.


  But there would be legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples in Scotland 
next year, under a bill that will be introduced by newly-elected openly gay 
Member of the Scottish Parliament Patrick Harvie.  The Glasgow Green's 
private member's bill entitled "Civil Partnerships" is expected to attract 
support from within several parties, but its progress may be delayed by the 
Scottish Executive as it awaits the U.K. Government's report on public 
consultation regarding possible registered partnerships.  Harvie's bill would 
allow couples regardless of gender to register partnerships with status equal 
to married couples in areas including insurance, property, and inheritance.  
Some matters -- such as taxation and welfare benefits -- remain under the 
control of the U.K., rather than Scotland's jurisdiction.


  The British Parliament's first openly gay Member, Labour's Chris Smith, 
confirmed this week that he will not seek reelection.  When his current term 
ends, he'll have been in the Commons for 22 years, and he said he's ready for 
a new challenge.  Smith, who served in Tony Blair's Cabinet as Secretary for 
Culture until 2001, is moving into the directorship of the Clore Cultural 
Leadership Program, where he'll be training arts managers.


  A second transgender mayor in India has been stripped of her office by a 
court.  This week a judge set aside Asha Devi's landslide 2000 election in 
the Uttar Pradesh town of Gorakhpur, ruling that she is a male and therefore 
disqualified from a post reserved for a female.  One of her badly defeated 
opponents had filed the legal challenge, and Devi refused to comply with the 
court's request that she undergo sex testing.  The judge suspended his order 
for a month to allow Devi to appeal to the state High Court, which she has 
vowed to do despite being unable to personally afford it.


  India's Supreme Court has agreed to take up the appeal of transgender Kamla 
Jaan, who was similarly removed from the mayoralty of the town of Katni and 
lost her appeal to the Madhya Pradesh state High Court.
Although the Indian term "hijra" is often translated as "eunuch," most of 
them are transgenders and gay men with intact genitalia.


  The highest administrative court in Greece has ordered the closure of 
what's reportedly the nation's most popular gay bar, the Pierros Bar on 
Mykonos.  The Council of State upheld five local residents' claim that the 
Pierros is violating zoning laws by operating a business in an area 
restricted to residential use.  The plaintiffs had long been unable to 
convince local officials to enforce those laws against the Pierros.


  And finally... you might not have expected it from a daughter of the late 
tyrant Ferdinand Marcos, but Congressmember Imee Marcos this week proposed 
that the Philippines government designate a day to honor gays and lesbians.  
She cited the outstanding work of gays and lesbians in the arts, fashion and 
academics, and said, "{T}he sad part is, they have not gotten any support 
from the government.  Some members of society still look down on them.  It is 
now time to give them their much-deserved recognition."  Marcos suggested 
calling the occasion "X-Men's Day", since "X-Men" has become the latest 
Filipino slang term for "gay" in the wake of the two recent popular films 
about those superhero mutants.  Marcos declared, "Our X-Men are just like 
Wolverine.  They are our heroes.  There is hope and fun when you are with 
them."