"NewsWrap"
for the week ending April 21, 2007
(As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #995, distributed 4-23-07)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Lucia Chappelle,
and Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley]
Reported this week by Lucia Chappelle and Greg Gordon
A man was injured in Israel late this week after a bomb exploded when his
tractor rode over it in a Jerusalem-area settlement. Flyers dispersed by the
bomb denounced this year's planned LGBT Pride celebration in the city. They all
egedly came from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi sect.
The LGBT community center Jerusalem Open House earlier this week applied for
a Pride parade permit for June 21st. Noa Sattah, its Executive Director,
condemned the bombing, saying that, "Morally bankrupt religious bigotry will never
deter us from our struggle for freedom of expression and full and equal civil
and religious rights."
More than a dozen protestors were arrested at the 2005 Pride parade, and
three people were stabbed. Last year’s parade, meant to be the highlight of a
weeklong quadrennial WorldPride celebration, was cancelled after several
postponements following a week of rioting in Jerusalem led by Haredi sect members.
Thousands took to the streets, blocking traffic and setting fire to garbage
cans. More than a dozen people were injured.
The Haredi have become a growing force in politics, raising fears among more
secular Israelis that the country could turn into an ultra-Orthodox state.
Haredi political parties have often held the balance of power to make or break a
government.
No one from the sect has claimed direct responsibility for this week’s
bombing, which occurred near the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Investigators are trying to determine if anyone from that community was
involved in the incident. The victim was treated for a leg wound at a nearby
hospital.
Meanwhile, according to a report by the "Reuters" news agency this week,
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says conservative Christians who cite
the Bible to condemn homosexuality are misreading a key passage written by Saint
Paul almost 2,000 years ago.
Paul said in "Romans" that people who forgot God's words fell into sin. "Men
committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due
penalty for their perversion," he wrote.
The spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, addressing theology
students in Toronto, said the apostle’s words were "for the majority of
modern readers the most important single text in Scripture on the subject of
homosexuality". But right after that passage, Williams noted, Paul warns readers
not to condemn those who ignore God's word, writing that, "At whatever point
you judge the other, you are condemning yourself."
"Paul is making a primary point," said Williams, "not about homosexuality,
but about the delusions of the supposedly law-abiding... a strictly theological
reading of Scripture" would not allow a Christian to denounce others without
asking whether he or she were also somehow at fault.
The worldwide Anglican Communion is near breaking point over homosexuality,
with conservative clerics, primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America,
insisting that Scripture precludes gay bishops, or blessings for same-gender unions.
Canadian Anglicans allow such blessings, as does the U.S. branch, the
Episcopal Church, which also named V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as its first
openly gay bishop in 2003.
More than 200 clergy members, representing a wide range of religious
denominations from every state in the United States, gathered in the nation’s
capital this week under the auspices of the queer advocacy group Human Rights
Campaign. They were there to call for passage of hate crimes and job bias
protection bills for gays and lesbians.
Hearings began this week on the Matthew Shepard Act, also known as the Local
Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, newly-named for the gay college
student who was brutally murdered in Wyoming in 1998. It would allow the U.S.
Department of Justice to assist local authorities in prosecuting homophobic
hate crimes, and add gays and lesbians to categories already covered by existing
laws.
Sponsors have announced that they’ll introduce the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, in the coming week. That measure would make it illegal to
fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee simply based on the
person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
"Much of the rhetoric in opposition to these bills is blatantly and
inexcusably false," said the Rev. William Sinkford, president of the Unitarian
Universalist Association. "These laws would not create quotas or force churches to
hire people who do not share their religious values. These laws will not
criminalize free speech or impede religious expression in any way."
Rabbi Denise Eger of Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood told reporters
that, "Jewish tradition teaches that we have an obligation to protect the rights
of workers… This legislation is about fairness and justice."
The Rev. Dr. Miguel De La Torre, a Southern Baptist minister and professor of
ethics and religion at Iliff School of Theology in Pueblo, Colorado, said
that "As a Latino, I know all too well the stings of discrimination in the
workplace, and for that reason I have no choice but to be here today advocating
passage of [these bills]."
The religious leaders visited members of Congress from their home states to
lobby for passage of the two measures.
Earlier versions of both bills were defeated in previous
Republican-controlled sessions of Congress, and it seems unlikely that Republican President George
W. Bush would sign either into law.
Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski, however, has said he’ll sign the Oregon
Equality Act, which will prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation
in housing, employment, public accommodations, education and public services
statewide. The Oregon Senate passed the bill this week, following earlier
passage in the House. It contains a provision that exempts churches and other
faith-based groups, but not private businesses they might run, such as hospitals.
A second bill to allow same-gender couples and heterosexual couples unable to
marry to form legally recognized partnerships is yet to be taken up by the
Senate. It passed in the House this week, and the governor has said that if it
gains Senate approval he’ll also sign that measure into law.
New Hampshire’s Democratic Governor John Lynch promised this week to sign
legislation establishing civil unions for the state’s same-gender couples.
Lynch, who’s opposed to full marriage equality, told "The Associated Press"
that, "I believe [civil unions are] a matter of conscience, fairness and
preventing discrimination."
The measure passed overwhelmingly in the House, and Lynch said he’s confident
it will gain Senate approval in the coming week.
New Hampshire would become the fourth state to adopt civil unions, following
Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey.
Schools across the U.S. were a little quieter on April 18th as tens of
thousands of LGBT students and their allies observed the 11th annual National Day
of Silence, an event to draw attention to homophobia on school campuses. The
United States Student Association and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network - or GLSEN -- distributed stickers and passed out "speakingg cards" to
supporters throughout the country. "Please understand my reasons for not
speaking today," the card read. "I am participating in the Day of Silence, a
national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender people and their allies in schools."
Students at about 5,000 middle and high schools and colleges registered their
participation at dayofsilence.org prior to this year’s event. Religious
fundamentalists, however, have stepped up their rhetoric against it. Conservative
Christian groups have increasingly organized "Day of Truth" events to counter
the Day of Silence.
But in a study released by GLSEN to coincide with last year's observance,
over a third of the surveyed students said they experienced physical harassment
at school on the basis of their sexual orientation, and more than a quarter
based on their gender expression. The study also not surprisingly concluded that
bullying has a negative impact on a student’s ability to learn.
Tragically it was not so silent at Virginia Tech this week, where Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Alliance president Curtis Dahn says that some of
the 32 students killed in the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history there were
gay or lesbian. Dahn told the LGBT "Washington Blade" newspaper that, "One
was a very close friend of mine," but that he didn't feel comfortable providing
any names because he hadn't talked to the families. But the horrific events
were "not a gay thing," he said, "it’s an everybody thing."
In other news, a Moscow court this week rejected libel charges filed by the
city’s Pride organizers against Mayor Yuri Luzhkov over his statement that
queer rights marches are "a satanic act." The court decided that the activists
had failed to prove that Luzhkov’s remarks were incendiary or intended to
vilify lesbigay people. In the same speech, broadcast on Moscow television,
Luzhkov also blasted same-gender unions, saying that, "Such things are a deadly
moral poison for children."
A lawsuit is pending in the European Court of Human Rights over the Moscow
mayor’s ban of last year’s Pride march, which organizers attempted to replace
with a solemn ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a rally in front
of city hall. They were viciously attacked at both venues by a homophobic
mob, leading to several injuries and about 200 arrests - mostly of Pride
participants. This year’s Pride parade has also been banned, but organizers say
they’ll attempt to march again on May 27th with or without official approval.
Moscow authorities have warned against such a move, fearing another melee.
But finally, back in the U.S., the heterosexually-married mayor of Madison,
Wisconsin and half the city council protested November’s voter-approved
statewide ban on same-gender marriage this week by adding a strongly worded
statement to their oath of office. It’s believed to be a first for any U.S. city.
Their vows included a statement that said the ban "besmirches our constitution."
They promised to work to minimize the ban's impact, and to help overturn it
in the future.
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