NewsWrap for the week ending January 14, 2006 (As broadcast on This Way Out program #929, distributed 1-16-06) [Written this week by Greg Gordon and Jon Beaupré, with thanks to Graham Underhill and Rex Wockner] Reported this week by Jon Beaupré and Christopher Gaal India's government is feeling renewed pressure from human rights groups, and the United Nations, over its colonial-era sodomy laws. It comes on the heels of increasing harassment and arrests of gay men there, particularly in the Lucknow region. The UN's major HIV/AIDS body also expressed concerns that the anti-gay law, and the heightened crackdown, hamper HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in India, one of the world's most populous nations. In early January, Lucknow police arrested four men on charges of operating a "gay racket" on the Internet, as well as of engaging in "unnatural" sex. Reports published by Human Rights Watch suggest that undercover police posing as gay on the Web site entrapped one man, then forced him to call the others and arrange a meeting at a local park where they were all arrested. Other reports indicate that gay clubs and bars are being shut down across the country. UNAIDS issued a statement this week that said, in part, "In India... criminalization of people most at risk of HIV infection may increase stigma and discrimination, ultimately fueling the AIDS epidemic." Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program, said the Lucknow region, where the men were arrested, has seen a number of anti-gay attacks in recent years. "Lucknow police have a shameful record of harassing gay men as well as non-governmental organizations that work with them," Long said. "They are able to do so because India's government clings to the criminalization of homosexual conduct." Anti-queer violence is unusually common in Jamaica, which, like India, holds on to its colonial-era sodomy law. In the latest incident, Jamaican gay man Nokia Cowen drowned after jumping into Kingston harbor while being chased by gay-bashers, according to the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, the country's best-known queer advocacy group. "In an attempt to flee this mob, the young man jumped into the Kingston harbor and perished because he could not swim," the organization said. "JFLAG condemns the prevalence of incidents such as this," their statement continued, and "we implore the highest members of government to clearly indicate that violence based on sexual orientation, both perceived and actual, is unacceptable in Jamaica." That plea has fallen on deaf ears for a number of years. Leading AIDS activist Steve Harvey was murdered in Kingston on November 30th when, according to police, at least four assailants forced their way into his home and abducted him in his Jamaica AIDS Support company car. His body was found in a rural area with gunshot wounds to the back and head. Activists in Jamaica and elsewhere also have been fighting a years-long battle with several famous dancehall reggae singers whose lyrics, activists say, support antigay violence or, in some instances, the killing of homosexuals. Among those targeted by the protests have been Elephant Man, Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man, Buju Banton, T.O.K., Bounty Killer, Capleton, and Sizzla. Australia's government is feeling heat for refusing to certify its overseas gay citizens' "single" status, a routine part of marriage applications by foreigners in most other countries, including those where same gender marriage is legal. The Australian embassy in Vienna refused the certificate confirming his single status to Peter Kakucska, originally from Melbourne, Australia. He needed that in order to marry Austrian native Markus Muehlmann in the Netherlands. The Netherlands ultimately accepted an affidavit from Kakucska as proof that he was single, and the couple was married in November. Kakucska said he might take legal action against the Australian Government for obstructing his legal marriage in the Netherlands. Australia passed legislation in 2004 that defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and woman. A spokeswoman for Australia Attorney-General Philip Ruddock claimed one purpose of the certificates is to verify that a proposed marriage would be valid in Australia. Nonsense, Australian National University senior law lecturer Wayne Morgan told "The Age" newspaper. "There is nothing in Australian law that would prevent a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (being issued) in such circumstances," he said. "This is an internationally accepted document that has nothing to do with the validity of the marriage back in the couple's own country." Activist Rodney Croome of the Australian Coalition for Equality complained that, "The Government has already made clear its opposition to same-sex marriage in Australia. Why does it now have to export that prejudice to other countries and Australians living overseas?" On the heels of the United Kingdom's new Civil Partnership Act, which grants registered same gender couples the rights and obligations of marriage, England and Wales have extended adoption rights to unmarried hetero and queer couples. Adoption previously was limited to married heterosexual couples and single people. The change was passed by Parliament three years ago, but officially took effect on December 30th. Noted Felicity Collier, chief executive of the British Association for Adopting and Fostering, "This is very important at a time when too many children wait too long in temporary care waiting for an adoptive family, or, in some cases, never have the chance of adoption at all." Two bills enhancing gay and lesbian couples' rights were overwhelmingly approved this week in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Legislation there is expected to be signed into law by Governor Richard Codey. One establishes same gender couples' rights to inheritance and to make funeral arrangements, while the other would allow health benefits to be extended to the partners of lesbian and gay employees of county and municipal governments, school boards and county colleges. Several New Jersey couples are, nevertheless, seeking full marriage equality. The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on their case in mid-February, and could rule before the end of the year; the state of Washington's high court is expected to rule at any time on a similar lawsuit; and New York's top tribunal may begin review of one or more marriage lawsuits later this year. New Jersey Federal Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito, nominated by George W. Bush to succeed moderate Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court, said this week that same gender marriage issues are likely to come before federal courts in the coming years, but revealed little about how he would rule as a member of the nation's highest court. Alito told the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings that he expects federal challenges to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, and expressed his belief that states are not required to recognize same gender marriages performed in other states. In the queer related case of Shore Regional High School v. P.S., Alito explained his 2004 position in favor of a high school student who sought to change schools after being bullied with anti-gay epithets. He said that parents had the right to place their children in a safe school environment, at government expense, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Lara Schwartz, chief legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, echoed the sentiments of a number of gay leaders, however, saying that Alito’s ruling did not show support for gay rights. "I think the maximum it shows is he wouldn't go out of his way to produce a result that is contrary to the law," she said. Alito's nomination is opposed by a broad coalition of queer rights groups that also include the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Lambda Legal. The groups cite a 15-year history of hostility toward civil rights protections during Alito’s time on the federal bench. Alito is expected to be confirmed along party lines later this month in the Republican-controlled Senate. Courts in Poznan, Poland refused in late December and early January to begin criminal proceedings against 75 marchers who were arrested at a late November gay-pride parade that had been banned by the mayor, according to a report by the Campaign Against Homophobia there. The marchers had been charged with taking part in an illegal gathering. A few hundred people joined the demonstration. They were harassed by members of the group All Polish Youth, who shouted, "Let's gas the fags" and "We'll do to you what Hitler did with Jews." Warsaw's Pride parade was also banned by local officials in recent years. Then-Mayor Lech Kaczynski, who is now Poland's president, called last year's planned march "sexually obscene." An improvised parade took place anyhow, with more than 2,500 defiant participants. And finally, "Brokeback Mountain", Ang Lee's critically acclaimed breakthrough film about the 20-year relationship of a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, may be lassoing a number of awards, but it received an "O" rating, for "morally offensive," from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and moviegoers in the predominantly Mormon Salt Lake City, Utah suburb of Sandy won't be able to see it. It was supposed to open this week at the Megaplex at Jordan Commons, owned by Larry Miller, who also owns the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz. Instead, it was abruptly pulled from the schedule with little explanation. The movie's distributor, Focus Features, said that theater management has "reneged on their licensing agreement" by refusing to open the film, but Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum, said not showing the film "tells the young people, especially, that maybe there is something wrong with this show." However, after some bad publicity, distributors in the Australian state of Queensland have decided to expand "Brokeback Mountain" screenings there from what had been planned as a "limited release". Moviegoers in the Northern "cowboy country" regions of Townsville and Rockhampton, one of the country's biggest beef and live cattle export centers, would have been forced to travel to other cities to see the film. There were claims that there would be little interest in that part of the country for a film like "Brokeback Mountain", but as the local "Townsville Bulletin" newspaper editorialized, "no one went to see 'Catwoman' either, but that didn't stop them [from] screening it."