NewsWrap for the week ending August 14, 2004 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #855, distributed 8-16-04) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Reported this week by Cindy Friedman and Christopher Gaal The Australian Senate this week approved the Government's bill to exclusively define marriage as between "a man and a woman". This will also deny legal recognition to marriages of gay and lesbian couples performed in other countries. Despite internal division on the issue, the Opposition Australian Labor Party joined the governing coalition to give the measure more than 85% Senate support. Although a similar bill was already passed by the House, the Senate had previously sent it to a committee for study. That committee has already received more than 12,000 public comments and is scheduled to report in October. But once the Government agreed to split off its effort to ban legal recognition of adoptions granted to same-gender couples, especially by other countries, Labor was ready to affirm its support for hetero-exclusive marriage, as its spokesperson on legal issues announced to a religious right group last week. That sparked heated debate in this week's Labor caucus, which had not been consulted before the announcement. While the caucus ultimately voted for a third time to reject same-gender marriages, there was also a small victory there for lesbigay constituents: party leader Mark Latham formally proposed a Labor position to examine "options to achieve more consistent national treatment of all de facto relationships," which was also approved. Openly lesbian Labor Senator from South Australia Penny Wong nonetheless criticized the bill eloquently on the floor, denouncing the Government for exploiting prejudice to win elections, and declaring that, "Nobody has a monopoly on commitment and love, nobody has the right to judge the worth of another person's relationships." And when openly gay Democrat from West Australia Brian Greig proposed an amendment to the bill to ensure that it would not prohibit other means to recognize same-gender relationships, Labor joined the governing Coalition to defeat it -- even though Greig's amendment was identical to one a Labor member had proposed in the House. The Senate took the unusual steps of extending its hours and limiting debate in the Government's rush to enact the marriage ban before the legislature's two-week recess. The Government is expected to call for federal elections in a matter of weeks. While the ruling coalition and the religious right cheered the marriage restriction as a victory for "Australian values," lesbigays and transgenders were outraged. Several hundred demonstrated in Sydney protesting the Senate vote and Labor's role in it, while a smaller group had demonstrated in Hobart earlier. Lesbigay groups are considering a legal challenge. Openly gay Green Party Senator from Tasmania Bob Brown was concerned for same-gender couples who have married abroad. He said, "I've got friends in thisposition, now is their marriage valid or not? What's going to happen? Are people going to arrive and say, 'Where's your marriage certificate, give it to us, we're going to rip it up?'" Similar questions may be in the minds of more than 4,000 couples who married in San Francisco earlier this year. Exactly six months after the first of those licenses were issued at the behest of Mayor Gavin Newsom, the California state Supreme Court has declared them null and void. Since the court was careful to avoid deciding the constitutionality of the state's hetero-exclusive marriage law, it did not actually have to take that action at this time. But a majority of five believed that letting the marriages stand until it does take up the constitutional issue -- which could be in two years -- would prove too confusing. The problem is that a number of the couples have already listed themselves as married on things like deeds and insurance contracts, so the confusion is already there. The two dissenting justices took different tacks. Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar felt it was wrong to invalidate the marriages because the couples who contracted them had not been represented in the case before the court. Justice Joyce Kennard emphasized the pain it would cause the couples to assert that their weddings "were empty and meaningless." However, the court was unanimous in determining the central issue of the case before it, finding that Newsom had overreached his authority in ordering the licensing of gay and lesbian couples. Newsom had maintained that he felt compelled to do so because he believed the hetero-exclusive law violated both the state and federal constitutions. But the justices agreed that that justification might only apply in a case where "no reasonable official could believe the statute is constitutional," and did not find that standard to apply here. Instead, they believed the same-gender couples should have been turned away and advised to go to court to challenge the law. They warned that public officials choosing which statutes to enforce would lead to "confusion and chaos". The state was joined in its move against Newsom by an Arizona-based religious right legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, which reveled in the decision and especially in the annulment of the marriages. Newsom himself reacted to the ruling saying, "I'm proud of the people who had the courage to make their way to San Francisco, those San Franciscans that had the courage to stand up on principle, and say 'I do'... Society needs to wake up and say 'enough's enough'... separate does not mean equal... we're gonna fight to the end on this." Hundreds of gays and lesbians protested in rallies around the state. Among those who had married at San Francisco City Hall and returned there to object to the court ruling -- some again donning tuxes and wedding dresses -- were Molly McKay and, with his partner John Lewis, Stuart Gafney: {McKay:} "They can't take that away from me, it will always be one of the happiest moments of my life." {Gafney:} "Well in our hearts it is not void, we have an equally valid marriage in our hearts and we are just more determined than ever today to struggle forward until it's recognized." On the same day the California Supreme Court issued its ruling, a politician who has said he does not support equal marriage rights -- New Jersey's Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey -- told a press conference, "My truth is that I am a gay American." With those words he became the first openly gay governor in the history of the United States. And he declared that, "It makes little difference that as governor I am gay. In fact, having the ability to truthfully set forth my identity might have enabled me to be more forthright in fulfilling and discharging my constitutional obligations." Yet McGreevey went on to announce his resignation, effective on November 15th. The twice-married father of two said, "I am also here today because, shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony. It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable... I realize the fact of this affair and my own sexuality if kept secret leaves me, and most importantly the governor's office, vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure. So I am removing these threats by telling you directly about my sexuality." Although McGreevey's wife Dina stood by him as he spoke and both she and his first wife continue to support him, the "allegations and threats" are apparently already in progress. While McGreevey named no names, it's widely believed that the man he referred to is Golan Cipel, who charges the governor sexually harassed him. McGreevey had first appointed Cipel the state's head of Homeland Security. When the legislature questioned Cipel's qualifications -- since as an Israeli national he could not himself obtain a federal security clearance -- McGreevey made him one of his personal aides. When the legislature inquired as to Cipel's actual duties, rather than respond McGreevey's office helped Cipel find an even more lucrative private sector position. Recently McGreevey had contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into his claim that Cipel was attempting to extort five million dollars from him in exchange for dropping a harassment lawsuit. Cipel's attorney claims it was McGreevey's representative who volunteered cash in exchange for Cipel's silence, which McGreevey's spokesperson flatly denies. All this tarnishes McGreevey's accomplishments in two-and-a-half years as governor, which include progress on tax reform and environmental issues as well as his contribution to the creation of New Jersey's legal registered partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. Most believe that his formerly promising political career is now over. Although McGreevey selected November 15th as his exit date, some New Jersey Republicans are calling for him to step down immediately. They say he will be unable to govern effectively in the interim, but there's another reason. Due to quirks of New Jersey law, if McGreevey does not step down by September 2nd, the remaining year-and-a-half of his term as Governor will be served by the state Senate President, Democrat Richard Cody. If McGreevey leaves before that date, a special election for Governor can be called. And finally... ESPN's cable TV coverage brought controversy last week to the U.S. National Scrabble Championship. In the final round, Trey Wright used the word "lez". That's a legitimate word under official Scrabble rules, and it was only after Wright had drawn his 2 replacement tiles that the referee realized it might violate ESPN's rules against "offensive" language. Because the replacement tiles had already been drawn, the situation required an emergency meeting of the official Scrabble Advisory Board, which unanimously agreed the word is offensive. Ultimately it was decided that Wright would return his replacement tiles and play a different word, and he went on to win the tournament. His only interest was the point value of the valuable letter "z"; as he later told reporters, "Meaning has no consideration when I play."