Reminder: There will be no NewsWrap on the next 2 programs, #926 (wk of 12/26/05) and #927 (wk of 1/2/06). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NewsWrap for the week ending December 17, 2005 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #925, distributed 12-19-05) [Written this week by Jon Beaupré, Lucia Chappelle and Greg Gordon, with thanks to Cindy Friedman, Graham Underhill, and Rex Wockner] Reported this week by Jon Beaupré and Sheri Lunn   Latvia's parliament this week approved a constitutional amendment banning same gender marriage after 65 out of 100 lawmakers supported the proposal in its third and final reading -- and despite criticism from the country's President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.  Six MPs voted against the amendment.  The rest of the legislature was either absent or abstained.  The measure must be signed by President Vaira Vike-Freiburga to become law, and with so many MPs in favor it would be difficult for her to reject it.  The new law reads "The state protects marriage - a union between a man and a woman, family, the rights of parents and children".  It was promoted by a religious oriented political faction known as The First Party. Same gender marriage is already prohibited in the country's civil code, but proponents of the constitutional amendment claimed it was necessary to deflect challenges to that law under European Union anti-discrimination regulations. Members of the European Parliament condemned the move as homophobic and backward.  The International Lesbian and Gay Association said in a statement that it was "appalled and seriously concerned" by what it called "such homophobic developments in Latvia."  The group called on the European Union to look into what they called "disregard and disrespect of E.U. principles and laws." Queer rights have emerged as a heated political issue in the Baltic country this year.  A first-ever Pride parade in July sparked massive protests.  Police had to protect the 100 or so marchers.   Meanwhile, the sixth time was apparently the charm as the lower chamber of the Czech parliament approved draft legislation this week to establish registered partnerships giving same gender couples some of the rights of marriage.  86 of the 147 deputies present voted in favor, 54 were opposed, 7 abstained, and 53 others weren't there for the vote. Similar proposals have failed five previous times, most recently by just one vote in February.  The draft law would provide registered gay and lesbian couples inheritance and health care benefits similar to those granted to heterosexually married couples.  Leading Czech activist Jiri Hromada said his colleagues will continue to work for further couples' rights, but that "this is an acceptable compromise." However, even the current measure is not likely to fair as well in the Czech Senate, dominated by the conservative Civic Democratic Party that opposed the lower house legislation.   A new legal front in the U.S. battle for marriage equality has been established in the state of Iowa, where Lambda Legal this week filed a lawsuit on behalf of 6 same gender couples seeking the right to marry.  Iowa has no anti-discrimination laws protecting gays and lesbians, but an anti-marriage constitutional amendment died in the state Senate earlier this year. Similar lawsuits are underway in 6 other states -- Washington, New Jersey, New York, California, Maryland and Connecticut.  The Washington case was argued before the state Supreme Court in March, and a decision is expected at any time. Lambda Legal will go before New Jersey's high court early next year.  The lawsuits in New York and California are being considered by state appeals courts, while the Maryland and Connecticut cases are still at the trial level. All the lawsuits seeking marriage equality are being heard in state rather than federal courts, so whatever the outcomes, no appeals can be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.  Queer legal advocates have counseled not pushing for a high court ruling until there are more legal victories at the state level, and until there's more public support for marriage equality, which has gradually increased in recent years.   Two gay men in Taiwan's capital of Taipei held what they called an "engagement party" at a 5-star hotel on International Human Rights Day, December 10th. Activists said that the date for the ceremony, attended by both men's families and about 100 supporters, was intentionally picked to underscore the need for laws protecting sexual minorities there.  It was at least the third such public ceremony in Taiwan, which does not legally recognize gay and lesbian relationships.  The event was called an "engagement" rather than "wedding" party because the participants said they were still waiting for the legal right to marry.  A controversial bill to allow that has been languishing in the Legislature since it was introduced two years ago.  A spokesperson for the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association told reporters that "Being in a homosexual relationship is not difficult.  What is difficult is coming out of the closet and asking for other people's blessing."   A judge in South Korea announced his support for legal unions for same gender couples in a recently published paper there.  Judge Chung Jae-oh of Jeju District Court said the rights of Korean same gender couples need to be protected to help end discrimination against gays and lesbians.  The Seoul High Court recently rejected a bid by a woman seeking alimony from her female partner, ruling that a cohabiting same gender couple could not legally be considered a marriage.   Austria's Justice Minister this week appeared to float a trial balloon for some type of "national partnerships" for gay and lesbian couples.  Karin Gastinger, a member of the center-right Alliance for the Future of Austria, told the Austria Press Agency that notarized gay and lesbian relationships would be given the same rights and obligations heterosexual couples have under Austrian law, including rental property and medical decisions, and possibly alimony arrangements if a couple splits up.  However, some members of both the conservative Austrian People's Party and Gastinger's Alliance, with whom it shares power in a coalition government, have been reluctant to extend marriage-like rights to same gender couples in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.   Roman Catholic priests and lay people around the world are expressing their dissatisfaction with the Vatican's recent pronouncement barring gay men from the seminary.  In an open letter posted on the Catholic news Web site Adista, 50 Italian clergy denied that being gay had anything to do with their ability to live chastely, adding that, "We consider our homosexuality to be wealth, because it helps us to share the marginalization and suffering of many people."  Liberal theologians throughout Europe have similarly denounced the November 29th document from the Congregation for Catholic Education.  A few high-profile gay priests have resigned their positions in protest.  Since the crack-down on gay priests is implicitly a response to the child abuse scandal that has rocked the U.S. Church, the reaction from advocates of the victims is most interesting: the Voice of the Faithful group organized rallies in at least 6 cities to call the attempted gay purge "a diversionary tactic."  Boston VOTF chair Dorothy Kennedy called it "another attempt to cover up with a false solution."   A gay Zimbabwean has been denied asylum in the U.S. despite the overt repression of homosexuals in his country and the infamous, vehemently anti-gay rhetoric of President Robert Mugabe.  William Kimumwe left Zimbabwe for Kenya in 1998 when Mugabe declared homosexuality illegal.  He arrived in the U.S. in 2002.  In his application for asylum, Kimumwe reported that he had been expelled from school after a gay sexual encounter at the age of 12, and was later arrested for having sex with another student in college.  His asylum request was rejected by an immigration judge and then by the Board of Immigration Appeals.  That decision was upheld by a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where a two-judge majority ruled that Kimumwe's actions, rather than his sexual orientation, were the cause of his problems with authorities.  The prevailing side found that the Zimbabwe government's homophobia did not directly threaten Kimumwe, and that his experiences did not meet the definition of persecution as "the infliction or threat of death, torture or injury to one's person or freedom."  Dissenting Judge Gerald Heaney wrote that an openly gay man should not be returned to "a country whose leader has vowed to rid the country of homosexuals."   And finally, along with several other media outlets last week, we reported that the Ford Motor Company planned to stop advertising some of its car lines in gay publications.  This came after a supposed meeting between Ford and representatives of the rabidly anti-queer American Family Association -- or AFA -- earlier this year.  The AFA had threatened a boycott of the company because it considers Ford to be "too gay-friendly".  Ford officials refused to confirm that those meetings had ever taken place, and the numerous media reports about this issue seem to have been fueled primarily by the AFA's press releases about it. After the story broke Ford management did meet with queer leaders at its Detroit headquarters, and in a letter to LGBT advocacy groups this week the company said that in addition to its original advertising plans it would expand the ads to include all eight Ford brands.  It should be noted, however, that ads in gay media represent an extremely small part of the company's overall advertising budget. AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon said in yet another news release that hinted of a renewed boycott threat, "Unfortunately some Ford Motor Company officials made the decision to violate (our) good faith agreement.  We are now considering our response to the violation and expect to reach a decision very soon"... while Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign said in a statement that "...at Ford Motor Company, fairness and equality win out." The company’s actions don't seem to have adversely affected its market position: in fact, Ford stock rose slightly on the New York Stock Exchange the day following the announcement about the "reinstated" ads.