NewsWrap for the week ending October 15, 2005 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #916, distributed 10-17-05) [Written this week by Rick Watts and Lucia Chappelle, with thanks to Cindy Friedman, Graham Underhill, Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon] Reported this week by Sheri Lunn and Jon BeauprĂ©   How much more can tensions over lesbigay and trans inclusion in the Anglican Church continue to rise before the schism pot boils over?  The ordination of a British transwoman in late September certainly did nothing to cool the situation.  Bishop of Hereford Anthony Priddis called Sarah Jones "a person made by God, loved by God and given gifts by God who feels that she's called to be a priest, and that's a call that's been checked out by the Church rigorously."  The Evangelical Alliance, a conservative organization within the Church of England, called Priddis' position "blasphemy."  Just prior to the announcement of Jones' ordination, the Church of England's role as the "mother" church of the worldwide Anglican Communion had already been challenged.  The Church of Nigeria, the second largest Anglican community, changed its constitution's references to "communion with the see of Canterbury" to instead affirm its ties with other churches based on the traditional "faith, doctrine, sacrament and discipline of the one holy, Catholic and apostolic church."  Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, de facto leader of the conservative "global south" contingent of African, Asian, and Latin American churches, insists that no actual split is in the offing, but describes their relationship with the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Church of Canada and the Church of England as "broken."  Akinola says that a formal separation is not on the agenda when the "global south" churches meet in Cairo later this month. The Church of Nigeria's idea of creating some distance from the Church of England may be catching on, however, as a proposal to similarly amend the Australian Church's constitution is being proposed at the upcoming annual synod of the Sydney diocese.  Sydney Anglicans will also discuss protocols for taking in like-minded "bible-based" churches, including Uniting Church congregations alienated by that denomination's tensions over LGBT issues.   Akinola's unwanted colleague, the once unfailingly optimistic New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, has his doubts about the future of the Anglican Communion.  It was Robinson's consecration as the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, as well as the Church of Canada's acceptance of the blessings of same gender couples, that prompted the revolt of Anglican conservatives.  In a recent Associated Press interview, Robinson said the uproar is "as much about power and control as it is about theology and Scripture.  It's about who's going to be calling the shots, and who's going to be in and who's going to be out."  For signs of the deepening divide, Robinson only has to look to his neighboring state of Connecticut, where six parishes have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Bishop Andrew Smith.  The six plaintiff priests had sought to be supervised by another bishop because of Smith's support for Robinson, and now allege that Smith wrongfully disciplined them without due process. Meanwhile a newly published book promises to add more fuel to the fire.  "Gays and the Future of Anglicanism" features the arguments of twenty-two leading theologians opposing the moratorium on gay consecrations and same-gender blessings recommended by the Church's Windsor Report last year.  According to Archbishop of Wales Dr. Barry Morgan, who himself participated in writing the Windsor Report, the book "shows up the superficiality of previous Anglican discussion of this subject."  Morgan says the views expressed should "give the Anglican Church in many places cause for penitence for the way it has treated and thought about gay people."   In heavily-Catholic Spain, a judge in the capital city of Madrid has ruled that people in same-gender marriages — which were legalized in tthat country in July — are entitled to the same survvivor’s pensions as those in traditional heterosexual marriages.  The case involved a gay man who married shortly after Spain legalized same gender unions, but whose male spouse died a month later. The court instructed the government to provide the pension in accordance with the new law.  But the conservative opposition party has denounced the law and asked the Constitutional Court to declare it void under Spain’s constitution.  The party has been split by the controversy, however — especially now that some 60 percent of  the electorate, according to a recent poll, have voiced opposition to conservative efforts to strip gays and lesbians of their equal rights to marriage.   Neither gay and lesbian nor conservative activists really know what to make of Harriet Miers, U.S. President George W. Bush's second nominee for a l ifetime appointment to the Supreme Court -- but religious right leader James Dobson thinks he might.  Dobson's comments about White House assurances as to her anti-abortion position, broadcast on his Focus on the Family program, have prompted Republican Senate Judiciary chair Arlen Spector to publicly consider calling the anti-gay minister to testify before the committee during Miers' confirmation hearings.  Meanwhile queer advocacy groups are reflecting on Miers' responses to a 1989 candidate survey by the Lesbian/Gay Coalition of Dallas when she ran for City Council there.  At that time Miers told the group she supported civil rights for lesbians and gay men, but that she would not support an effort to repeal the Texas sodomy law, which was ultimately struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.  Miers did not seek and did not receive the Dallas coalition's endorsement, but members were still somewhat encouraged by her willingness to engage them at all, and her subsequent appointment of a gay attorney to a city post.   The recent presidential election in Poland produced no clear-cut winner, so a run-off will be held on October 23rd.  The contest will pit the homophobic conservative mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski -- who fought against Poland's first-ever gay and lesbian Pride march -- against Moderate Donald Trusk, who unexpectedly out-polled Kaczynski in the earlier round.  Kaczynski's party, Law and Justice, recently won control of parliament, and his party's new Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz has advocated rolling back recent legal protections for gays and lesbians, putting the country on a likely collision course with the European Union, which Poland joined only last year.   A Turkish judge has rebuffed a government official's attempt to shut down that country’s only LGBT civil rights organization — a decision hailed as the firstt legal victory for gays and lesbians since Turkey applied for entry into the European Union.  KAOS — the  Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Organization — was being threatened with closure by the  Deputy Governor of the capital city of Ankara on the grounds that KAOS is breaking the nation’s immorality laws.  Although the group has been around since 1994, it only recently sought official registration as a non-governmental agency — normally a mere formalitty.  In denying the Deputy Governor’s request for a ban on the group, Judge Kursat Kayral noted that the American Psychiatric Association does not consider homosexuality a disorder; and that the words "gay" and "lesbian" are widely used in daily life and scientific research.  While homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, the government has steadfastly refused to grant specific rights to gays and lesbians.  The country has been under increasing pressure to offer protections for LGBT citizens as it pursues full membership in the European Union.   Hong Kong's government has appealed an August 24th ruling striking down a law that punishes gay male sex with life in prison when one or both partners are under 21 years old.  Heterosexual sex has no such penalty.  Judge Michael Hartmann called the statute a "grave and arbitrary interference with the right of gay men to self-autonomy in the most intimate aspects of their private lives."  The government claims its appeal is based on "significant public concern."   Meanwhile, thousands participated in Taiwan’s third annual Pride parade earlier this month in the capital city of Taipei.  Pride spokesperson Ashley Wu said that, "although Taiwan’s society has become more liberal in recent years, there are still some politicians that make comments discriminating against homosexuals."  He also asserted that gays and lesbians face bias in the country's legal system.  Said another Pride participant, "We want society to treat us like normal human beings and not see us like aliens or sick people."   More than 1,000 Croatian gay and lesbian civil rights supporters signed their first names to a newspaper ad calling for tolerance and understanding in recent editions of the heavily-Catholic country’s two largest-circulation dailies, and in several magazines.  Headlined "We Don’t Want To Hide Anymore," the ad also included the ages and sexual orientations of the signatories.  In it they assert "Little divides us, and a lot unites us.  Reconsider your prejudice." Dorino Manzin, head of the LGBT group Iskorak, told the BBC, "Even though it's just a symbolic coming out, without full names, this is a good reflection that gays in Croatia are gathering courage to fully expose themselves and that society is growing more tolerant."   And finally, despite severe legal and societal pressures against them, gay and lesbian Arabs in the Middle East are also organizing.  In Beirut, Lebanon in May, the International Day Against Homophobia was observed by the rights group Helem, which marked the occasion with a gathering of about 200 people, both lesbigay and heterosexual supporters, at a local hotel.  The group screened the film "I Exist", a documentary on homosexuals in the Middle East, and distributed buttons and pamphlets with the slogan, "You drink coffee, I prefer tea. Does that mean one of us is abnormal?"  Helem also recently launched what is believed to be the first magazine for gays and lesbians in the region, "Barra" — which in Arabic means "Out."