NewsWrap for the week ending February 26, 2005 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #883, distributed 2-28-05) [Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Reported this week by Jon Beaupré and Cindy Friedman The archbishops of the global Anglican communion met this week in the U.K. to discuss their growing rift over ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians and blessing of same-gender couples -- and the outcome is viewed as a major victory for conservatives, as the two most liberal regions were asked to withdraw from an important Church council. Specifically the leaders of the 77-million-member church were reviewing recommendations to heal the breach that appear in what's known as the Windsor Report, which was developed by an international commission of senior clergy after a year of hearings. Anglican "first among equals" Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams appointed that commission after a Canadian diocese approved church blessings for gay and lesbian couples and the U.S. Episcopalians consecrated openly partnered gay Gene Robinson as a bishop. Those moves violated church doctrine as overwhelmingly affirmed in 1998 at the last decennial meeting of all the world's Anglican bishops, known as the Lambeth Conference, which also declared homosexual acts to be "incompatible with Scripture." The archbishops issued a joint statement which said, "While there remains a very real question about whether the North American churches are willing to accept the same teaching on matters of sexual morality as is generally accepted elsewhere in the Communion, the underlying reality of our communion in God the Holy Trinity is obscured and the effectiveness of our common mission severely hindered... [I]n order for the recommendations of the Windsor Report to be properly addressed, time needs to be given to the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada for consideration of these recommendations according to their constitutional processes... [W]e request that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference. During that same period we request that both churches respond through their [relevant] constitutional bodies to the questions specifically addressed to them in the Windsor Report as they consider their place within the Anglican Communion." The archbishops also renewed the call for the North Americans to stop their ordinations and blessings of gays and lesbians until the church has resolved the issues. The Anglican Consultative Council meets every three years and lays the groundwork for the Lambeth Conference, so asking the U.S. and Canada to withdraw is a very serious measure, viewed by some as effectively a "suspension" from the communion. Yet those churches were also invited to speak to the Council when it meets in June to explain their positions, and the move is more generally seen as buying more time for work to avoid a full schism. Williams warned that "There will be no cost-free outcome from this" and said, "Any lasting solution ... will require people to say somewhere along the line, 'Yes, we were wrong.'" That is not the first reaction of the embattled North Americans, although they said they'd consider the recommended voluntary withdrawal. U.S. primate Frank Griswold called Robinson's elevation to bishop "right and proper" and declared, "The Episcopal Church has sought to act with integrity." Canadian primate Andrew Hutchison asserted that in blessing same-gender couples the New Westminster diocese had acted within its rights to advance justice and said, "Unity at a price of justice is not a price they have been prepared to pay." And Anglican conservatives have shown their willingness to pay a price of a different kind. The Africans, Asians and South Americans who numerically dominate the global communion have been the most vocal in denouncing the North American actions, and in many cases have already acted to cut ties with them. That's included rejecting the North American funds that have been a substantial part of their budgets. The Anglican split took visible form as the archbishops held worship services -- some of the conservatives literally refused to take communion with the North Americans. The denial of communion to gay-supportive Roman Catholics has been affirmed in writing by the Vatican's liturgy chief. On a number of occasions, most notably in the U.S. and Australia, gays and lesbians and their allies have worn rainbow sashes to Mass to protest the Church's anti-gay positions, and most priests have responded by refusing to give them communion. Catholic News Service queried the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments head Cardinal Francis Arinze about this, and he responded this month in a letter saying, "Rainbow Sash wearers are showing their opposition to church teaching on a major issue of natural law and so disqualify themselves from being given holy Communion." And Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II lambastes marriage equality for same-gender couples as part of "a new ideology of evil" in a book published for mass circulation this week. In his philosophical work "Memory and Identity," the pontiff discusses the role of secular lawmakers, particularly those of the European Union, and writes of gay and lesbian marriage, "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man." But Britain will begin to register same-gender "civil partnerships" on December 5th, the government announced this week. Because there's a 15-day waiting period after couples notify authorities of their intention to register, the first actual registrations will take place on December 21st. Those partnerships carry many of the legal benefits of marriage in areas including next-of-kin status, inheritance, taxation, insurance, employment benefits, pensions, immigration, and financial support after dissolution. The Government estimates that there will be more than 42,000 same-gender couples registered over the next 45 years. Even the Anglican Church of England will extend spousal pensions to registered partners of its employees including clergy, even though its priests are expected to engage in sex only within the bounds of church marriage. The pension decision was made by the church's General Synod despite its serious divisions over homosexuality. And the U.K.'s Royal Navy is going well beyond merely recognizing servicemembers' registered partners for pensions, benefits and housing. It's actively recruiting gay and lesbian personnel through community publications -- and contracting with the national advocacy group Stonewall to consult on both recruitment and retention. A spokesperson declared the Navy's commitment "to establishing a culture and climate where people can discuss their sexual orientation without risk of abuse or intimidation." More than 2,000 British naval personnel on active duty have openly declared their gay or lesbian orientation since the ban on their service was lifted 5 years ago following judgements by European courts. The U.S. is paying a high price for its military's so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The GAO performs research for the U.S. Congress. It pegged the cost of recruiting and training replacements for nearly 9,500 enlisted personnel discharged under the policy since it went into effect in 1994 at nearly $200-million. The recruitment cost of each replacement is $10,500, while training costs per individual vary across service branches from $6,400 to $18,000. The GAO did not include administrative costs involved in the discharges, and did not even examine the costs for hundreds of discharged officers and specialists because of the difficulty putting a dollar value on training their replacements. In the Canadian province of Ontario, more than 1,000 gay and lesbian couples have legally married over the last year-and-a-half since the top provincial court redefined marriage -- but it's just this week that the province's legislature actually changed the language of its laws. Nor was enactment any walk in the park for the Ontario Government's omnibus bill rewording 73 provincial laws to be gender-neutral to comply with the court ruling. There was a lengthy debate, including a filibustering speech nearly an hour long by Progressive Conservative Party Member of the Provincial Parliament Bill Murdoch. Murdoch and two of his Tory colleagues defied their party's leadership to demand a recording of each Member's vote on the bill -- and because the other parties' leaders also opposed it, they failed to find the support of the two additional MPPs they needed to make that happen. So passage came by a simple voice vote with no way individual MPPs can be held accountable, and few have chosen to declare their positions. Perhaps it's even more embarrassing that almost two-thirds of the ruling Liberal Party's MPPs were absent -- according to their House Leader Dwight Duncan, that's because they expected the vote to come the following day. And finally... this week saw the TV broadcast of the much-promoted episode of FOX's long-running animated sitcom "The Simpsons" in which both the fictional U.S. town of Springfield and Homer Simpson himself determine to marry same-gender couples to solve their financial troubles. And as advertised, one recurring character "came out" -- and after astonishing numbers of people laid bets as to who that would be, it can now be revealed that Marge Simpson's sister Patty is now and has always been a lesbian. Apparently Marge has been in denial all these years even though she was an eloquent advocate for marriage equality throughout this episode. While wrestling with familial acceptance, Marge discovers through a bathroom door that Patty's intended is actually a man -- he's only been passing as a woman in order to play professional golf. Marge bursts forth with this revelation in the middle of the marriage ceremony. Patty is shocked that she's been lied to, and her fiancé contritely admits he was afraid to lose her. He begs her to marry him despite his gender and she answers {sound:} "Hell no, I like girls."