"NewsWrap" for the week ending May 20, 2006 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #947, distributed 5-22-06) [Written this week Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill and Rex Wockner] Reported this week by Charls Hall and Greg Gordon   Events commemorating the second annual International Day Against Homophobia, or IDAHO, were held around the globe on May 17th, marking that date in 1990 when the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.  The observance calls for an end to the verbal and physical abuse perpetrated against people because of their real or perceived sexual orientation. Among this year's diverse events, activists in Japan delivered letters to embassies of countries with anti-LGBT policies, rallied in Nepal, held a conference in Jerusalem, and protested at Nicaraguan embassies across Latin America against that country's criminal penalties for sodomy.  In London, activists protested outside the British Home Office in support of queer asylum seekers who have fled persecution in their home countries.   There was a badly timed demonstration of homophobia on May 17th when the United Nations Economic and Social Council rejected applications for consultative status by LSVD, a German national LGBT federation, and by the European branch of ILGA, the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Iran, as it's done against recent consultative status applications by queer groups, moved for the rejection, supported by Cameroon, China, The Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.  Countries voting against the rejection were Chilé, Colombia, France, Germany, Peru, Romania, and -- in a turnaround from a similar vote earlier this year -- the United States.  India and Turkey abstained.   Human Rights Watch issued an IDAHO-related "Hall of Shame" to mark the occasion, naming public officials around the world who have most actively -- and offensively -- fought against equality for sexual minorities.  The list includes Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo for introducing a bill that makes same gender relationships and support for LGBT rights of any kind illegal; Lucknow, India police superintendent Ashutosh Pandey for setting up an Internet sting to entrap gay men; and Netherlands Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who unsuccessfully sought to end a 6-month moratorium on the deportation of LGBT Iranian asylum-seekers.  The U.S. was represented by Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen, whose failed legislation would have banned state libraries from buying any book with lesbigay content or by a gay or lesbian author.  Also making the list was Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who vowed to ban Russia's first-ever lesbian and gay pride parade, claiming he had to "protect the rights of the majority."   And on May 18th Mayor Luzhkov did what he had vowed to do, formally rejecting the permit for a Pride event in his city, reportedly citing "security concerns."  Organizers have vowed to march anyway as planned on May 27th, saying they will contest, all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, any official attempts to block the event.  Some of Moscow's leading religious leaders have threatened physical violence against Pride participants.   In Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most revered Shiite leader, has removed a fatwa from his Web site that called for the killing of homosexuals in the "worst, most severe way possible."  Since its original posting in October there's been a sharp increase in vigilante-style murders of gays and lesbians in the country. According to press reports, the fatwa was pulled following 2 weeks of negotiations with Sistani's office by the London-based Iraqi LGBT, a group that includes a clandestine network of lesbian and gay activists inside Iraq's major cities, including Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, and Basra.  Sistani’s office agreed to remove the fatwa against gay men, but left one targeting lesbians.  London-based gay Iraqi refugee Ali Hili complained that "The fatwa has been removed from Sistani's Web site only.  It has not been revoked.  We want the entire fatwa withdrawn, including the hateful denunciation calling for the punishment of lesbians."   In Britain, 2 men pleaded guilty this week and face minimum 30-year prison sentences for the horrific murder on London's Clapham Common last October of popular gay bar manager Jody Dobrowski.  He died from such severe head, neck and facial injuries that his family was unable to recognize him, and he had to be formally identified by his fingerprints.  Prosecutor Crispin Aylett called the crime "appalling" and clearly "aggravated by sexual orientation," an assertion the defense has not contested.  33-year-old decorator Scott Walker and unemployed 25-year-old Thomas Pickford will be formally sentenced on June 16th.   There have been 2 more arrests in the brutal beating of 2 gay men on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.  A third suspect was arrested in mid-April.  All 3 St. Maarten natives have been charged with committing grievous bodily harm and attempted manslaughter.  Dick Jefferson, a senior news producer for CBS, and Ryan Smith, a production secretary for the CBS program "48 Hours", were viciously attacked outside a bar by 4 men and 2 women shouting anti-gay slurs.  Taco Stein, St. Maarten's chief prosecutor, has promised more arrests.   A measure that would have authorized the U.S. federal government to prosecute hate crimes against gays and lesbians died in the Senate earlier this month after the Republican leadership refused to attach it to legislation aimed at protecting children from sexual predators.  The more conservative House of Representatives passed a separate version of the sex offender legislation in September with a hate crimes provision attached to it that also included gender identity as a protected category.  Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist refused to allow the Senate to vote on a freestanding hate crimes bill.   But as it did 2 years ago, the Republican Party's so-called Federal Marriage Amendment -- to "protect" the institution as heterosexual only -- is again headed to the floor of the Senate.  Democrats call it a purely political move designed to appeal to the GOP's conservative base in this midterm elections year.  Ballot measures banning legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples were approved by voters in 11 states as part of the presidential election of 2004. Most pundits believe the federal measure still has virtually no chance of passage.  Amending the U.S. Constitution requires approval by two-thirds of Congress, and then ratification by three-fourths of the 50 states.  Nevertheless, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he's scheduled a floor vote on the proposed amendment for the week of June 5th.   In the U.S. state of Georgia this week, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance C. Russell struck down a voter-approved constitutional amendment banning same gender marriage because it violates the Georgia Constitution's single-subject rules for ballot questions.  In addition to marriage, the measure addressed civil unions and the power of Georgia courts to rule on disputes arising from same gender relationships. 76 percent of the state's voters approved the amendment in November 2004.  "I think the people spoke overwhelmingly," said Republican Governor Sonny Perdue.  "I think the people of Georgia knew exactly what they were voting for."  Perdue said an appeal will be filed immediately with the Georgia Supreme Court, and he threatened to call a special legislative session if the state's high court doesn't rule on the issue by Aug. 7th.   A federal judge this week struck down a 2-year-old law that prohibits the state of Oklahoma from recognizing adoptions by same gender couples from other states and countries. U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron ruled that the measure violated due process rights under the U.S. Constitution because it disregarded any consideration of the parents' fitness or the children's best interests.   And finally, the groundbreaking NBC-TV sitcom "Will & Grace" bowed out this week -- most would say very gracefully -- after almost 200 episodes and 8 years on prime time network television.  We won't spoil the final plot details in case you haven't seen it yet.  Suffice to say that a recurring character flies off to his reward leaving Jack and Karen living happily ever after, as do Will and Grace, their relationship ultimately solidified by marriage.   And for hardcore fans with some wherewithal, 2 collector's items from "Will & Grace" are currently up for bid in an online charity auction on e-bay: a cover of the script for the final episode signed by all 4 principal cast members - Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullaly - as well as show creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan and celebrated director James Burrows.  The second item is the blue and silver crystal-adorned glasses worn by Sean Hayes in that final episode. The 10-day auction benefiting Variety - The Children's Charity of Southern California ends at 5:00 p.m. U.S. Pacific Coast time on Monday, May 29th.  To make a bid go to www-dot-ebay-dot-com-slash-varietyskids -- that's v-a-r-i-e-t-y-s k-i-d-s. The iconic shirts worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" raised over 100,000 dollars for the same charity when they were auctioned online earlier this year.