"NewsWrap" for the week ending September 30, 2006 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #966, distributed 10-2-06) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill, and Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Sheri Lunn and Jon Beaupré   South Africa's former deputy president Jacob Zuma, who could be the nation's next president, provoked outrage this week by calling homosexuality un-African and criticizing the pending legal recognition of same gender unions.   The country's constitution is the world's first to specifically ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, and its highest court last year ordered parliament to enact laws to establish marriage equality for same gender couples by December 1st.  It ruled that South Africa's Marriage Act will automatically include same gender couples if parliament fails to act by that deadline. Zuma was quoted by "The Sowetan" newspaper as saying "Same-sex marriage is a disgrace to the nation and to God" at a gathering in his native KwaZulu-Natal. Meanwhile, thousands of people, led by the African Christian Democratic Party, marched in several South African cities in mid-September to protest the government's plan to pass a civil-unions bill that would give same-gender couples the same rights as married people -- though it's unclear if such "separate but equal" legislation will satisfy the high court. South African President Thabo Mbeki had fired Zuma for having a "generally corrupt" relationship with a former aide, but he remains popular and continues to lead the African National Congress, or ANC.  The ANC party leader is virtually assured the country's presidency, and because a court threw out the corruption charges against him last week, Zuma appears to be a strong candidate to succeed Mbeki when he steps down in 2009. "It would seem Jacob Zuma still has a lot to learn about leadership," the Joint Working Group, representing South Africa's biggest queer advocacy organizations, said in a statement.  "A true leader leads with intellect and wisdom -- not popularity or favor.  How can a narrow-minded person like this be expected to lead our nation?" Zuma quickly issued an apology saying that he "did not intend to have [my statements] interpreted as a condemnation of gays and lesbians," and that he respected the "sterling contribution of many gay and lesbian compatriots in the struggle that brought about our freedom".   In a significant victory for U.S. marriage equality advocates, a Superior Court judge ruled this week that a lesbian couple from Rhode Island can legally marry in Massachusetts under the Supreme Judicial Court's 2003 ruling that legalized gay and lesbian weddings in that state.  Wendy Becker and Mary Norton of Providence, Rhode Island challenged a 1913 Massachusetts law that forbids out-of-state residents from marrying there if the marriage would not be legally recognized in their home state.  The couple argued that it didn't apply to them because Rhode Island doesn't specifically ban same gender marriage. In his 9-page ruling, Judge Thomas Connolly agreed, writing that "No evidence was introduced before this court of a constitutional amendment, statute, or controlling appellate decision from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage." Eight couples from six nearby states originally challenged the law.  In March, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld it, but said the laws on legal same gender unions were unclear in New York and Rhode Island, and reserved judgment on that part of the case.  In July, New York's highest court ruled that its state law limits marriage to one man and one woman.  Same-gender couples from Rhode Island -- at least for now -- are the only ones from out of state who can marry in Massachusetts. State Attorney General Thomas Reilly, who had defended the 1913 law in court, said officials in Rhode Island could challenge Connolly's decision, but that his office would not appeal. Becker and Norton, a couple for 19 years and the parents of two children, said in a statement that, "After a very long engagement, we are thrilled to be able to marry and provide our family with the legal protection and social recognition we deserve... Our desire to marry has always been with [our children] in mind.  We want them to feel their family is as worthy as any other."   The Georgia Court of Appeals this week returned to lesbian mother Victoria Moses primary custody of her 12-year-old daughter, ruling that having a live-in same-gender partner had no adverse effect on the child.  Custody had been awarded by a trial court judge to the girl's father, Kelvin King, citing Moses' living arrangements as being "outside the presence of marriage" -- even though gay and lesbian couples can't legally marry in the state. In reversing the lower court, Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes wrote that, "the evidence suggests that the child was doing well in school, loved the mother’s partner, and was happy and well-balanced." Jack Senterfitt, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal's Atlanta office, represented Moses.  He praised the court’s ruling, saying, "This is really great news for our client and gay and lesbian parents in Georgia.  It means custody arrangements can't be challenged just because a parent is gay or lesbian."   A gay male couple in Spain's Air Force was married in a mid-September ceremony in the city of Seville. Privates Alberto Linero Marchena and Alberto Sánchez Fernández tied the knot at City Hall, in uniform, before friends and family.  Mayor Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín officiated, saying, "This is not just your wedding.  You symbolize millions of people who are not here and suffer from homophobia." Spain is one of five countries where same-gender couples have access to traditional marriage.   In other news, the General Assembly of New Zealand’s Presbyterian Church voted this week to reaffirm its ban on gays and lesbians from holding leadership roles within the church.  In revisiting a 2004 vote, the Church's top legislative body, by a 65 percent margin, approved a statement that "the church may not accept for training, license, ordain or induct anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman."  The rule doesn't apply to any Church member ordained as a minister prior to 2004, and can't be used to remove anyone from such a position.  According to 2006 national census figures, 11 percent of New Zealand’s approximately four million people identify as Presbyterian, making the church the third largest in the country. Openly lesbian minister Margaret Mayman warned that the ban may be broken by more progressive parishes who "will flout the law and choose leaders for their commitment to the gospel rather than for their sexual orientation."   And a United Nations-sponsored workshop in Kariba this week was expected to lay the groundwork for the creation of a Human Rights Commission in Zimbabwe -- but gay and lesbian concerns won't be part of that process.  GALZ - the Gay and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe -- was banned from participating in the workshop by the government of vociferously homophobic President Robert Mugabe, who's described lesbians and gays as "worse than dogs and pigs" and threatened pro-queer clergy with prison sentences.  GALZ spokesperson Fambai Ngirande complained that "... we must be allowed to enjoy freedom of association as any other individuals do," and called the exclusion of GALZ "an abrogation of [our] rights."    Meanwhile, the Filipino gay organization Ang Ladlad has registered a candidate in Manila who'll run for Congress in 2007. Chairperson Danton Remoto told local media that the group wants to "reclaim the rights we have lost from centuries of homophobia and discrimination." Ang Ladlad means coming out.  The "Manila Bulletin" said it comes from the word "magladlad" which means "to unfurl the cape that used to cover one's body as a shield."   And finally, former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey's "The Confession" has jumped onto the best-seller list.  It comes on the heels of his whirlwind promotional appearances on U.S. TV talk shows this week.  The book chronicles McGreevey's coming out as a "gay American" while resigning from office amidst contentious "he said - he said" accounts of the then-governor's relationship with a male staffmember.  "The Confession" has been met with both praise and ridicule.  Gay journalist Andy Humm wrote that McGreevey "wasted his life living a lie.  Now he wants us to waste our time reading more of them." Meanwhile, openly lesbian and gay candidates have enjoyed notable victories in U.S. state elections so far this year, including historic wins in such formerly unlikely places as Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.  But a conservative 6-term Republican U.S. Congressman from Florida, who's long been rumored to be a closeted gay man, has abruptly resigned from office. "There are certain things we shouldn't discuss in public," 52-year-old and unmarried Mark Foley once told a press conference when asked about his sexual orientation.  "Some people may think that's old-fashioned, but I firmly believe it's a good rule to live by." Not so good were the lascivious emails and instant messages reported this week as having been sent by Foley to some teenage male pages.  Pages are usually high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers for the lawmakers.  In an instant message exchange with one of those young male pages, Foley wrote, "Do I make you horny?" and asked the 16-year-old for a photo and to "strip down and get naked."   Copies of even more salacious emails and instant messages surfaced in the short time between the initial reports and the Congressman's resignation. "I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," Foley said in a statement issued by his office, with no other words of explanation. His departure has sent Republicans scrambling for a replacement candidate 6 weeks before midterm elections in which Foley was expected to easily win another term.  Sparked by the poor public approval ratings of President George W. Bush, Democrats are making a strong bid across the country to gain control of Congress. And while there's no connection between sexual predators and sexual orientation -- in fact numerous studies show that such perpetrators are overwhelmingly heterosexual men -- it's perhaps sadly ironic that Foley was chairperson of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.