"NewsWrap"
for the week ending April 7, 2007
(As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #993, distributed 4-9-07)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill, and Rex Wockner
with Bill Kelley]
Reported this week by Rick Watts and Sheri Lunn
The capital city of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria began
acknowledging same-gender couples on April 2nd with the official launch of its
Relationship Declaration Register.
Melbourne's gay and lesbian choir performed for about a hundred council
mayors, LGBT activists, journalists and same-gender couples and their families.
Openly gay Deputy Lord Mayor Gary Singer told the crowd that even though the
registry is only symbolic, "A dedicated committed relationship exists by the
force of love, not law."
On the same day, news broke that Victoria Premier Steve Bracks had asked
Attorney General Rob Hulls to provide advice on whether a relationship registry
open to same-gender couples could be set up statewide. However, Hulls was quick
to announce that "Gay marriage is not on the agenda..."
According to government sources, a Victorian registry would provide some
legal rights, and be based on a similar registry in effect in the state of
Tasmania since 2004.
Same-gender couples there can receive a certificate granting them legal
rights to make medical decisions for their partners or to deal with government
agencies. Registration also gives partners access to relationship rights such as
wills, property division, healthcare, state superannuation and pension plans,
and the right to adopt each other’s children.
New Hampshire moved closer this week to joining a handful of other U.S.
states that have created civil unions for same-gender couples.
The House overwhelmingly voted to give gay and lesbian couples the same
rights, responsibilities, and obligations as married couples. Same-gender unions
from other states would be recognized if they’re legal in the state where they
were performed. The House soundly defeated a proposed constitutional
amendment to ban same-gender marriage in late March.
The civil unions bill now goes to the Senate, where political pundits say
it’s got a good chance of passage. Democratic Governor John Lynch opposes
same-gender marriage, but has thus far avoided taking a position on the civil unions
legislation.
A civil unions bill was introduced in the Illinois state legislature in late
February, and passed in the House Human Services Committee in late March.
Massachusetts is the only U.S. state that offers full marriage equality for
its residents. And this week, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick ordered
officials to record the marriages of 26 out-of-state gay and lesbian couples that
were denied recognition by former Republican Governor and now prospective
presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled in March 2006 that Romney could
invoke a 1913 law to deny out-of-state couples the right to marry in Massachusetts
if their home state specifically prohibits them. Patrick, who is
African-American, also said this week that he would like to sign legislation to repeal
the 1913 law, which was originally enacted to prohibit the marriages of biracial
couples.
An Indiana state House subcommittee this week rejected a proposed
constitutional ban on same-gender marriage on a 5-to-5 tie vote, which meant its
defeat. And the state of Maryland’s House Judiciary Committee soundly defeated a
proposed constitutional amendment in late March that would also have banned
marriage rights for same-gender couples. But the state Senate Judicial
Proceedings Committee refused to advance a bill that would have prohibited
discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.
Voters in Alaska have asked state lawmakers to pursue a constitutional
amendment to strip domestic partner benefits from gay and lesbian public
employees. Unofficial returns showed 55 percent of voters in favor and 45 percent
opposed.
This week’s vote has no binding authority on the Legislature. But backers
hope that passage of the proposal will pressure lawmakers into putting the
amendment back before voters -- this time for a binding vote -- in the November
2008 general election.
Alaska’s Supreme Court last year ordered the state to extend domestic partner
benefits in a lawsuit brought by several same-gender couples, ruling that to
deny them was a violation of Alaska’s constitutional guarantee of equal
protection.
In a November special session, lawmakers passed a bill attempting to reverse
the ruling, but it was vetoed as unconstitutional by Republican Governor Sarah
Palin. However, she opposes the benefits and said she would support a legal
means to end them.
This week’s non-binding vote was the only measure on the ballot, which
according to state estimates cost taxpayers about 1.2 million dollars.
In other news this week, organizers of Moscow's LGBT Pride march have asked
the Russian Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that upheld the
city's decision to ban it. Activists marched despite the ban last year, and
were violently attacked by skinheads, fundamentalist Christians and neo-fascists.
About 200 people were arrested, mostly LGBT pride marchers.
The appeal to the Supreme Court asks that last year’s decision be overturned,
and that the city be stopped from banning this year's parade. Moscow
officials have already announced a ban of that march, scheduled again for May 27th,
the anniversary of the repeal of Russia’s sodomy laws.
The Supreme Court has not yet indicated if it will hear the appeal. Moscow
activists have also taken the issue to the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, asking it to rule that the ban on peaceful LGBT marches violates the
European Convention.
Meanwhile, at a meeting with queer activists in late March, the mayor of
Reykjavík, Iceland agreed to fund that city's Pride festivities for the
equivalent of 180,000 U.S. dollars a year for the next three years, according to a
report in the "Morgunbladid" newspaper. During the meeting, the mayor reportedly
kissed the hand of a local drag queen who’s a member of the Pride committee.
Fifteen students at Istanbul's Bilgi University have set up the nation's
first LGBT student club, according to a March 29th report in the "Turkish Daily
News." The Bilgi Gökkusagi LGBT Club applied for and received official
University approval. The club meets weekly and is open to any student who wants to
fight homophobia. The group plans to establish a fanzine, and to hold forums
and workshops with other student clubs.
The first gay-themed talk show to appear in China debuted online this week,
with the host and guests discussing the challenges of being gay or lesbian in
the world’s most populous country.
The first of 12 episodes of "Gay Connections" appeared on the Web site of
Hong Kong-based broadcaster Phoenix Television and three other sites.
Host Didier Zheng, a French-educated gay man and AIDS activist, kicked off
the show with a discussion with the lesbian owner of a Beijing gay bar. Other
guests exchanged tips on how and where to meet other LGBT people.
China has a lesbigay population estimated in the tens of millions, but
homosexuality is still a largely taboo subject in the country due to a mix of
traditional conservatism and communist prejudice.
Sodomy was decriminalized there in 1997, and homosexuality was removed from
medical handbooks as a mental disorder in 2001. Government disapproval has
softened somewhat since then. Authorities have even allowed some officially
sanctioned gay Internet chatrooms in Beijing. However, Chinese authorities remain
nervous about the subject, and have blocked access to some overseas
LGBT-oriented Web sites.
24-year-old Australian pop-music star Anthony Callea came out in newspaper
interviews and on his Web site on March 27th. Callea's Number 1 hit "The
Prayer" is the biggest-selling single in Australian history.
"Yes, I am gay," Callea wrote on his Web site. He’d previously denied that,
for which he was roundly criticized. "I want it clear that I am proud, happy,
comfortable and confident in who I am," he wrote. "Things now feel right for
me to share this part of my life. I am content. I have been in a long-term
relationship with my partner, Paul, who has been by my side for the past two
and a half years. Together we have the love and support of our family,
friends, and peers."
Openly gay High Court Justice Michael Kirby called Callea an "admirable
Australian" for coming out. "In terms of influencing popular culture and
understanding of the reality of human sexual diversity," Kirby said, "I would trade 10
judges for one popular singer."
And finally [music: "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you
are"]... sure to bunch the shorts of homophobes everywhere, the Walt Disney
Company has decided to allow same-gender couples to have a Fairy Tale Wedding.
Disney had previously barred lesbigay couples from the special celebrations,
but a company spokesperson said the change was prompted by "an inquiry from a
guest that asked about this service."
The price tag for a Fairy Tale Wedding starts at around 8,000 U.S. dollars,
and includes a wedding planner, the ceremony, food and drink, flowers, and
table decorations. The "Lavish Wedding Option" also includes a ride to the
ceremony in the "Cinderella" coach, costumed trumpeters heralding the couple's
arrival, and attendance by Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters dressed in formal
attire. The packages will be available primarily at Disney’s U.S. resorts in
California and Florida, and on its cruise line.
Disney has already come under fire from religious conservatives, led by the
Southern Baptist Convention, who’ve accused the company of promoting a
so-called "gay agenda" by offering health benefits to the same-gender partners of its
employees, and allowing unofficial "Gay Day" celebrations at its theme parks.
But "We are not in the business of making judgments about the lifestyle of
our guests," Disney Parks and Resorts spokesman Donn Walker told reporters. "We
are in the hospitality business, and our parks and resorts are open to
everyone."
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