NewsWrap for the week ending March 27, 2004 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #835, distributed 3-29-04) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Fenceberry, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Anchored this week by Rick Watts and Kathy Sanchez U.S. military discharges for homosexuality have dropped dramatically under so-called "stop loss" orders in effect since combat began in the Middle East. SLDN, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network -- a group organized to aid victims of the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy established in 1993 -- this week issued its annual report called "Conduct Unbecoming". Discharges increased steadily over the history of the policy to reach a record high of nearly 1,300 in 2001. But the total dropped to about 900 in 2002 and less than 800 in 2003, a level not seen since 1995. SLDN spokesperson Steve Ralls told the "Washington Blade" that the drop "continues a historical trend that whenever the country is at war, gay and lesbian discharges decrease. The Pentagon seems to want to have it both ways: the talents of gay servicemen and -women at times of war, and federally sanctioned discrimination at times of peace." SLDN's report says, "The Bush Administration and its Pentagon leaders continue to ignore a growing epidemic of anti-gay harassment within the armed forces. Despite the adoption of a comprehensive Anti-Harassment Action Plan ... Defense Department leaders refuse to implement the plan and continue to turn a blind eye to dangerous harassment within the ranks." The Pentagon has not yet offered an official response to the report. A Spanish transwoman this week won her appeal to rejoin the Navy, which will make her the first transgender to serve openly in Spain's military. After 8 years in uniform, the junior petty officer formerly known as Jose Antonio Gordo Pantoja had been dismissed as unfit to serve when she began hormone treatment two years ago. In her new identity as Maria del Mar, she appealed her dismissal to a marine tribunal, citing a royal decree for legal recognition of sex changes. After hearing extensive medical and psychological expert testimony, the tribunal accepted what it called her "alteration of sexual identity" and found it would not interfere with her duties as a maintenance mechanic. The Japanese city of Yame is prepared to protect the civil rights of transsexuals but is not yet ready to extend equal treatment to same-gender couples, Kyodo News Service reported. This week the Fukuoka Prefecture city's Assembly approved most of a bill designed to end gender discrimination and sexual harassment, including discrimination and harassment based on what it called "sexual identity disorder". The draft ordinance also added "other gender issues" as a protected category, and city officials explained to the Assembly that clause would protect same-gender couples. But Assemblymembers forced its deletion, expressing concern that the broad language might also protect pedophiles and other sex crime perpetrators. Zanzibar's Government has drafted a bill to increase the maximum penalty for sodomy to life imprisonment -- and to criminalize same-gender marriages. Apparently the move was sparked by reports of a gay wedding last year and increasing visibility of gays and lesbians. Zanzibar, an island in the Indian Ocean that's become a popular tourist destination, is a somewhat autonomous part of Tanzania where Muslims are politically dominant. Current law, dating back to British colonial rule, provides for up to 14 years behind bars for sex between men. The new proposal would up that to 25-years-to-life, and add a 7-year sentence for sex between women. Gay and lesbian marriages would be punished with up to 5 years imprisonment and a substantial fine for both the parties and the person marrying them. Although the bill is expected to pass, some believe it's just political grandstanding. They question whether such a statute would actually be used any more than the current version, which is rarely enforced. In South Africa, the two suspects in last year's brutal massacre at the Sizzlers gay massage parlor in Cape Town have each received 9 life sentences for murder, plus a total of 40 years for other related charges. Perpetrators Adam Woest and Trevor Theys did not testify and their defense teams called no witnesses, but their advocates claimed the men had planned only robbery, and turned to violence after one victim attacked them. The prosecution claimed the men came prepared to kill all witnesses, bringing with them the rope and tape used to tie them up, the guns and knife used to kill them, and gasoline intended to torture them. Sole survivor Quentin Taylor testified for the prosecution, which said the crime would not have been solved without him. During the trial, Cape Town High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus noted that Theys' confession to police mentioned that his girlfriend had left him for a woman, and the judge questioned specifically whether the defendants were "homophobic in character". In pronouncing sentence, he denounced Woest and Theys "utter callousness and brutalness." In the U.S., a United Methodist Church court found this week that an openly lesbian minister's partnership did not violate church law. Church law -- the Book of Discipline -- states that "homosexuality... is incompatible with Christian teaching", and that "self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates, ordained as ministers or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church." There is no question that Seattle, Washington minister Karen Damman is "self-avowed and practicing" -- she declared both in a letter to her bishop in 2001 which led to the current trial. She also married her partner Meredith Savage in Oregon shortly after Multnomah County began issuing licenses to same-gender couples. But more than a score of expert witnesses defended her with arguments that the Bible is not at all clear on the subject. Eleven of 13 jurors agreed that nothing in the Bible constituted a declaration, and that the Book of Discipline does not bar gays and lesbians from the clergy. The other two jurors were undecided. It would have required 9 guilty votes to convict Damman, and there is no further appeal. It's not clear when Damman will return to active ministry, as she's been on family leave caring for her ailing son. Like other U.S. churches, the UMC has been arguing for decades regarding same-gender relationships, and non-gay minister Jimmy Creech was defrocked in 1999 for blessing them. The struggle will resume in late April when the church convenes its national quadrennial General Conference. Among developments on the civil marriage front in the U.S. this week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the proposed anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment to the national Constitution, while its leading proponents unveiled a slightly modified version of its text. Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado claims that striking 5 words from the already-brief proposal will "reinforce the authority of state legislatures to determine benefits issues related to civil unions or domestic partnerships," while still serving its main goal of restricting marriage exclusively to one man and one woman. While it's debatable if this change would actually alter the impact of the amendment, or even its chances of advancement this year, it did provide Democrats on the committee grounds to delay the rest of the hearings. In Oregon, state Attorney-General Hardy Myers threatened a lawsuit should Benton County Commissioners follow through on their plan to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples. The Commission took that threat so seriously that Benton County will not issue marriage licenses even to heterosexual couples until the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled on the issue. Meanwhile, Multnomah County continues to issue marriage licenses to gays and lesbians, but its Commission this week began a series of public hearings for constituents who felt the decision was made without adequate participation. Tourism interests told of the benefits they've reaped from the influx of honeymooners. In New Paltz, New York, another 25 couples were wed by another 6 Unitarian Universalist ministers. Mayor Jason West, who began the local "solemnizing" of same-gender relationships, lost his appeal of a court order barring him from continuing to do so. The first 2 Unitarian ministers who'd continued the ceremonies after West was charged with misdemeanors, this week pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them in turn by the Ulster County District Attorney. And finally... the world's first openly transsexual Member of Parliament, New Zealand's Georgina Beyer, has announced that she will not seek a third term. In fact she had only run for her current term after intense urging from her Labour Party. Politics wearies her, she says, while responding to day-to-day constituency issues is what she finds rewarding. Referring to her rural riding, she told reporters, "We've made history, Wairarapa and I." She plans to revive her acting career and return to the international lecture circuit. But while she's leaving national politics, she seems to be open to returning to a local office. Previously the town of Carterton had made her the world's first openly transsexual Mayor. If public interest warrants, she may make a run for Mayor of Wellington in October.