"NewsWrap" for the week ending June 17, 2006 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #951, distributed 6-19-06) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Bill Kelley, and Rex Wockner] Reported this week by Christopher Gaal and Greg Gordon We reported last week about the Australian Federal Government's intention to "disallow" the newly enacted Civil Unions law in the Australian Capital Territory, or A.C.T. -- which includes the nation's capital, Canberra -- much like the U.S. Congress can override laws passed by the Washington, D.C. City Council. It was a race to see if the A.C.T.'s move to fast-track the process would permit any gay and lesbian couples to civilly unite under the Territory's new law before the government of Prime Minister John Howard could stop them. Governor-General Michael Jeffery ignored pleas from A.C.T. government officials and decided to back the federal government, officially overturning the Territory's Civil Unions Act late this week after meeting with Attorney-General Philip Ruddock. Except for the Territory's Liberal Party senator's vote against his government -- the first time that's happened since Howard took office 10 years ago -- the tally to disallow the Governor-General's disallowance was otherwise along party lines. While the Labor-led Opposition was unable to muster a majority, the final Senate vote was a razor-thin 32 to 30 to uphold the federal override. "There are issues that remain responsibilities of the Commonwealth, and marriage is one of them," said Ruddock. He accused the Territory's government of intentionally crafting the Civil Unions Act to make it "as close as possible to marriage". But A.C.T. Attorney-General Simon Corbell called the federal government's intervention homophobic, arrogant and undemocratic. "We made 63 amendments in response to the Commonwealth's initial complaint," he said, "but Mr. Ruddock refused last week to identify what clauses remained unacceptable." Corbell promised new legislation for same gender couples in the A.C.T., saying, "It's still our intention to give the same level of recognition provided for in the Civil Unions Act." A British lesbian couple legally married in Canada has argued for full legal recognition of their marriage in Britain's High Court. Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger, 2 university professors who married almost 3 years ago in British Columbia, cited the Human Rights Act in their lawsuit, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees the right to privacy and family life. They call it "insulting and discriminatory" to be offered the lesser status of a "civil partnership" under new U.K. legislation passed late last year. Sir Mark Potter of the High Court's Family Division presided over the 3-day hearing, and said it may be a few weeks before he issues a ruling. Other foreign national same gender couples married in Canada are demanding legal recognition of their marriages, with lawsuits pending in Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Hong Kong. A Ugandan lesbian living in the U.K. was sent back to Entebbe this week after being told by a British immigration judge that she was not entitled to asylum because "lesbians are not homosexuals," and that only gay men in Uganda face persecution. When Elizabeth Muhwezi lived in Uganda, according to the British rights group OutRage!, she was kidnapped from her home soon after visiting an underground gay club and held for 5 months at a so-called "safe house," where she was raped and beaten. Before she was deported, Muhwezi said in a statement, "I fled to the U.K. hoping for protection... I am terrified of what will happen to me." Seven men in Cameroon, whose "offense" was being at a gay-friendly nightclub in the capital city of Yaoundé last year, have been retried and found guilty of sodomy, according to a report issued this week by the San Francisco-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, or IGLHRC. They were each sentenced to 10-month jail terms. Two others were acquitted. The men have been locked up since their arrests in May 2005, so the rights group hopes they'll be released soon for time served. Eleven men had been incarcerated following the raid. Two of them were released shortly before the original trial began in April. The remaining 9 were acquitted by a reluctant trial court judge because a disorganized prosecution failed to present any witnesses, but Cameroon authorities ordered a retrial. Homosexuality per se is not a crime in the West African nation, and a sodomy conviction requires being apprehended or witnessed in the act. "One wonders on what basis the convictions were made," said IGLHRC Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick, "as there was no evidence presented by the prosecution of the commission of sodomy... Though they may be leaving prison, they do so under a cloud and with their lives in tatters." Anti-queer hostility in Cameroon has escalated since 3 tabloids published sensationalized front-page lists earlier this year of high-profile citizens they claimed are gay. But Hawai'i will be dishing out 625,000 dollars to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the U.S. state's Youth Correctional Facility. A judge agreed in February that the lock-up was "in a state of chaos" characterized by dangerous and pervasive harassment against LGBT youth. He cited "threats of violence, physical and sexual assault, imposed social isolation, and near-constant use of homophobic slurs" in his ruling. The ACLU sued on behalf of 3 wards -- a transgender 17-year-old girl, an 18-year-old lesbian, and an 18-year-old young man perceived to be gay. Part of the settlement, to be split among the plaintiffs and their lawyers, will pay for a court-ordered consultant to help draft new policies, train staffers, and set up a grievance system at the facility. "Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people are often... abandoned by their families and end up on the streets," said Lois Perrin, legal director of the ACLU Hawai'i. "[Those] who end up in state care should be rehabilitated, nurtured and fostered, whether they're gay or straight," she added, "not singled out for cruelty and mistreatment because of who they are." Two presumably heterosexual men in England were sentenced to life in prison this week after earlier pleading guilty to the brutal bashing death of popular gay bar manager Jody Dobrowski. Shouting anti-gay slurs, Thomas Pickford and Scott Walker ferociously beat the 24-year-old Dobrowski to a pulp last October as he walked through London's Clapham Common after spending an evening with friends. The assault disfigured him so badly that fingerprinting was required to make a positive identification of the body. The judge said that under the terms of his sentences the 2 men will each spend at least 28 years behind bars. Sheri Dobrowski called her son's death "an act of terrorism." "In a free and democratic society," the family said in a statement, "Jody's murder was an outrage." Four young men in New York City each face up to 25 years in prison for their vicious, hate-fueled beating of well-known performer Kevin Aviance during the early morning hours of June 10th. Ranging in age from 16 to 20, they were charged this week with first-degree gang assault and first-degree assault as a hate crime. According to felony complaints filed by prosecutors, the 4 followed Aviance as he walked through the East Village, yelling anti-gay epithets before surrounding and beating him. He suffered a broken jaw, a bruised knee and other injuries. Aviance is recovering following surgery and 2 days in the hospital, his leg in a brace and his jaw wired shut, but he vows to sing as scheduled on the New York City Pride Day stage later this month. Aviance, who performs in drag, topped the "Billboard" dance music charts in 2002 and 2004 with his songs "Give It Up" and "Alive." "If nothing else," he said in a statement about the attack, "I hope it brings more awareness." The main suspect in the brutal assault on 2 gay U.S. broadcast journalists vacationing in April on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten surrendered to police this week. The man, identified only as "Duracell," has denied beating CBS employees Dick Jefferson and Ryan Smith with a tire iron during the attack. But according to a report by the Associated Press, 3 others already arrested for participating in the crime have made statements to police naming him as the primary assailant. Under St. Maarten law the names of suspects are not released until trial. The beatings occurred in the Dutch portion of St. Marteen, but the 4 suspects were living on the island's French side, reportedly making their arrests more difficult. Smith suffered the more serious injuries of the two men. He required brain surgery, and a portion of his shattered skull had to be replaced with a titanium plate. He told the Miami Herald that news of the latest arrest was "wonderful," saying, "What we all wanted was for this crime not to go unpunished." And finally, in case you're wondering how Mary Cheney's new book is doing, the U.S. Vice President's much-maligned lesbian daughter and Bush apologist would be well advised to "take the money and run." According to a story in The Advocate, despite wide media coverage when it was published in May, "Now It's My Turn" has bombed at the bookstores. Nielsen Bookscan reports that Mary's memoir has attracted barely 6,000 buyers. Sales dropped in each of the 4 weeks following its release, with a paltry 574 copies purchased during the week ending June 3rd. At that rate, publisher Simon & Schuster will never come close to recouping the reported million-dollar advance it paid Cheney for the book.