[There will be no "NewsWrap" segment on the next "This Way Out," program 
#974, distributed 11/27/06.  It's our traditional post-U.S. Thanksgiving holiday 
show, which this year overflows with queer music and comedy of the mid- to 
late-20th century that's "Stranger Than Straight."]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"NewsWrap"
for the week ending November 18, 2006
(As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #973, distributed 11-20-06)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill,
and Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley]


Reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Jon Beaupre


  South Africa's National Assembly this week voted 230-to-41, with 3 
abstentions, to create a separate category of civil unions to legally recognize both 
heterosexual and same gender couples.  The legislation provides for "the 
voluntary union of two persons," and each couple can choose to call it either a 
civil union or a marriage.
The measure now goes to the National Council of Provinces, where passage is 
all but assured, before President Thabo Mbeki is expected to sign it into law.
The bill was drafted to comply with a South African Constitutional Court 
ruling last year that said the country's marriage law is unconstitutional because 
it discriminates against same-gender couples.  The Court set a December 1st, 
2006 deadline for parliament to fix the law.
Rather than amending the existing Marriage Act, the government created the 
Civil Union Bill that it hopes will satisfy the Court mandate.  A government 
spokesperson called it an interim measure, and said that while the Marriage Act 
remains intact, it will eventually be revised.


  The bill was supported by the African National Congress -- or ANC -- which 
has an overwhelming parliamentary majority, but there was strong opposition 
from the country's smaller religious-based parties.
The Roman Catholic Church and many traditionalist leaders in South Africa 
also complained that the measure denigrated the sanctity of marriages between men 
and women.  To address some of their concerns, the government's bill includes 
an "op-out" clause allowing both religious and civil officers to refuse to 
marry same-gender couples on moral grounds.  Some legal analysts say that aspect 
of the legislation could be constitutionally challenged.
"The roots of this bill lie in many years of struggle," said South Africa's 
Defense Minister Mosuia Lekota, reminding lawmakers that many gays and lesbians 
were among ANC members who went into exile or to prison during white racist 
rule.  "This country cannot afford to be a prison of timeworn prejudices which 
have no basis in modern society," he said.  "Let us bequeath to future 
generations a society which is more democratic and tolerant than the one that was 
handed down to us."
Lesbigay advocates were generally pleased with the new law.  "It demonstrates 
powerfully the commitment of our lawmakers to ensuring that all human beings 
are treated with dignity," said Fikile Vilakazi of the Joint Working Group, a 
national network of 17 gay and lesbian organizations.
South Africa's post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to 
include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.  The country will now 
become the first on the continent to legally recognize same-gender couples.


  Mexico's ruling conservative party is considering a legal challenge to 
Mexico City's new civil unions law.  The legislation allows same-gender couples 
living in the nation's capital to register their civil unions with authorities, 
granting them inheritance rights and other benefits typically given to 
heterosexually married spouses.
The bill was signed into law earlier this week by Mexico City Mayor Alejandro 
Encinas and published in the city's official gazette on November 16th.  It 
will take effect 120 days from that date, and be the first such measure in the 
history of the conservative, predominantly Roman Catholic country.
But Mexico City Assemblyman Miguel Angel Errasti of the National Action Party 
-- the party of President Vicente Fox and President-elect Felipe Calderon -- 
cited Article 4 of Mexico's Constitution to suggest that the civil unions law 
violates the legal definition of family.   Article 4 states that "men and 
women are equal before the law.  This will protect the organization and 
development of the family."  Mexico City legal counsel Maria Estela Rios, however, 
called that argument "absurd" because, while the law guarantees legal rights for 
same-gender couples, it does not legalize same-gender marriage.  It "just 
involves recognizing that there are other forms of unions that have existed for many 
years," she said.
Errasti didn't say when or if a constitutional challenge might actually be 
filed.


  On the other side of the world, a gay Iranian man convicted of sodomy was 
hanged in front of hundreds of people this week in the western city of 
Kermanshah's ironically named "Freedom Square."
According to a report by the official "Islamic Republic News Agency," Shahab 
Darvishi was executed for organizing a "corruption ring," "deliberate 
assault," and "lavat," defined as a homosexual relationship between two men.  There 
was no mention of other defendants.  It may be a rare official acknowledgement 
by Iranian authorities of an execution specifically for homosexual activity.
Under Iran’s Sharia Penal Code, sex between consenting same-gender adults is 
a capital crime, and government officials and religious leaders routinely 
condemn homosexuality.


  Twelve gay and lesbian veterans have appealed a federal judge's rejection 
of a lawsuit challenging the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  
They argue that the policy denies gay men's and lesbians' constitutional rights 
to privacy, free speech, and equal protection.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network -- or SLDN -- filed the plaintiffs' 
appeal this week in the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Boston.  U.S. 
District Judge George A. O'Toole threw out the lawsuit in April, ruling that Congress 
has the authority to establish the country's military policy.  "Don't Ask, 
Don't Tell" has been upheld by appeals courts in several other jurisdictions, 
but the federal appeals court in Boston has never been asked to rule on it.


  Meanwhile, the SLDN is warning gay and lesbian service members to be very 
careful when going online.  The legal group cautioned that information related 
to sexual orientation on the Web could be grounds for dismissal under "Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell".  They say that a military agency, the Army Web Risk 
Assessment Cell, is monitoring "official and unofficial blogs and other Web sites."  
The "Associated Press" reported that soldiers with Weblogs are now required to 
register them with their commanding officers.  The SLDN advises lesbigay 
military personnel not to access sex-related Web sites on a military computer, to 
erase "cookies" and history regularly, and not to indicate which branch or base 
they are affiliated with in any online communication.


  And Pentagon guidelines that had classified homosexuality as a mental 
disorder have now put it among a list of conditions or "defects" that include 
bed-wetting and fear of flying.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told reporters this week that 
"homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder.  A clarification 
has been issued."
American psychological and psychiatric groups declassified homosexuality as a 
mental disorder in the early 1970s.  James H. Scully, head of the American 
Psychiatric Association, which criticized the Pentagon's original "mental 
disorder" classification earlier this year, wrote David Chu, undersecretary of 
defense for personnel and readiness, to somewhat diplomatically complain that "the 
revised document lacks the clarity necessary to resolve the issue."
The guidelines have nothing to do with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but outline 
retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical 
disabilities.  The rules include sections that describe other specific conditions 
that could also lead to retirement -- including stuttering, dyslexia, 
sleepwalking, motion sickness, obesity, insect venom allergies, bed-wetting... and 
homosexuality.


  Also issuing an arguably bizarre policy about gays and lesbians this week 
was the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.  The document, "Ministry to 
Persons with a Homosexual Inclination," was approved overwhelmingly during the 
clerics' conclave in Baltimore, Maryland, and orders Catholics who minister to gays 
and lesbians to firmly adhere to the Church's teaching that homosexual 
attractions are "disordered."  The document says it's not a sin to be attracted to 
someone of the same gender -- only to act on those feelings.  Catholics with "a 
homosexual inclination" should remain celibate and be discouraged from making 
"general public announcements" about their sexual orientation, the statement 
said.
Bishop Arthur Serratelli of New Jersey, who chairs the U.S. Conference of 
Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine, claimed that the document was intended 
to be "positive, pastoral and welcoming," even as it compared homosexual 
temptation to "envy, malice or greed."
A coalition of 15 Catholic groups that support the full inclusion of gays and 
lesbians denounced it as "not at all pastoral, but rather harmful".  Sam 
Sinnett, president of DignityUSA, an advocacy group for queer Catholics, said the 
new guidelines reflect the bishops' ignorance about sexuality, and would only 
further alienate LGBT Catholics from their Church.  "This document recommends 
the most unhealthy thing to do," he said, "which is to stay emotionally and 
spiritually in the closet."


  But finally, charges have been dropped against a U.S. Presbyterian minister 
accused of breaking church law by performing a marriage ceremony for two 
women.  Reverend Janet Edwards, of the Community of Reconciliation Church in 
Pittsburgh, presided at the June 2005 wedding of Nancy McConn and Brenda Cole.
The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Pittsburgh Presbytery unanimously 
voted this week to dismiss the charges against Edwards on a technicality -- they 
were lodged by a handful of offended parishioners several days after a filing 
deadline.
The constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reserves marriage for a 
man and a woman, although ministers may bless other types of "holy unions."   
"This dismissal constitutes neither a vindication of the accused nor any 
finding with respect to the subject," according to a statement from the Commission. 
 A member of the Church's prosecuting committee said his group is looking int
o whether charges can be re-filed.
A Northern California regional Presbyterian commission ruled earlier this 
year that the Reverend Jane Spahr of San Rafael, California acted within her 
rights as an ordained minister when she married two lesbian couples in 2004 and 
2005.  That ruling is still on appeal.
Edwards said she was relieved to not be facing a church trial -- at least for 
now -- but hopes dialogue on same-gender unions will continue.  About 200 
people showed up at a rented hall for what was to have been the start of her 
trial -- most of them supporters who had received invitations from Edwards to 
attend.  "Janet wants the world to come," it read.  "Feel free to invite anyone."