“NewsWrap" for the week ending January 12, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,033, distributed 1-14-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Christopher Gaal and Rick Watts A Moscow judge this week acquitted 13 gay activists arrested last month for staging a protest outside a polling station during national elections. Moscow Court Judge Larisa Bogdanovich ruled that police had overreacted. Two officers testified that they were only following the orders of higher-ups in making the arrests. Bogdanovich's ruling noted that the 13 defendants did not have "any agitation materials with them" such as posters or placards, and therefore were engaging in legally-allowed "picketing." It was the first-ever courtroom victory by activists in their ongoing battle with Moscow authorities over the legality of holding peaceful public LGBT events. The group was protesting Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, which has refused to advance LGBT rights in Russia. They also wanted to demonstrate against Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, also of the United Russia party, who was expected at the polling station. Luzhkov bans Pride marches in his city, and has called such events “satanic.” A libel suit filed by queer activists against Luzhkov was rejected by another court earlier this year, but they have a lawsuit pending at the European Court of Human Rights challenging the Pride march bans. "Some European nations bless single-sex marriages and introduce sexual guides in schools," Lushkov said during a speech broadcast on Moscow television. "Such things are a deadly moral poison for children." One of the election day demonstrators, Moscow Pride organizer Nikolai Alekseyev, wrote on his ballot "No to homophobes! No to Luzhkov!" and held it up for news cameras. Analysts believe that Luzhkov would not repeatedly issue anti-queer statements without the tacit approval of the Putin government. Their United Russia party won the parliamentary elections in early December by an overwhelming margin, although critics charged that some of the voting was rigged. The New Year has also brought the first openly gay lawmaker to the U.S. Pacific Island Territory of Guam. Benjamin Cruz won a special election for a Senate seat by 41 percent of the vote, enough to defeat a fellow Democrat and a Republican candidate. Cruz was an elected judge prior to his Senate victory. According to the “Pacific News Center,” he wants to focus his legislative work on the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. But Bertrand Delanoë, the openly gay Socialist mayor of Paris, is getting increased police protection after the C.I.A. informed their French counterparts that he was specifically targeted on a Web site used by Al-Qaeda members. A Paris police official was quick to tell reporters, however, that "The threats are not specific and do not come from a site linked directly to Al-Qaeda." As mayor of France's biggest city, Delanoë is the most prominent gay politician in the country. He may have been targeted because security around recently-elected President Nicolas Sarkozy, who supports the U.S.-led war in Iraq, is more difficult to penetrate. "I am calm,” the Mayor said during a television interview. “I have complete confidence in the work of police headquarters vis-a-vis security problems in general [and] terrorism in particular.” The popular Delanoë, who came out during a television interview in 1998 when he was a city councilor, is expected to win a second seven-year term as mayor in March. He's also viewed as a potential 2012 presidential candidate for the Socialists. Despite his party's defeat to the conservative Sarkozy in last year's parliamentary elections, the Socialists made significant gains in Paris, winning 13 out of 21 districts. Sexually active gay men in Canada are no longer able to donate their organs to the country's transplant programs. The new Health Canada regulation, which took effect in December, excludes injection drug users, and any man who had sex with men within the last five years of his life. In the past, transplant programs have screened potential donors and in some cases, based on medical suitability, have used organs from individuals identified as being from so-called “high-risk” groups. The new regulation prohibits that practice. Many health officials across the country were reportedly unaware of the new restrictions. Gary Levy, head of Toronto University's transplant program, told reporters that the new regulation will mean that seven out of every 100 potential donors will be excluded, even though approximately 4,000 Canadians are on organ transplant waiting lists. Stressing that behavior is the key factor, not sexual orientation, he said that “[the gay] community was singled out. I think that's unfortunate." Several countries also ban blood donations by gay men. According to a recent report by the “CanWest News Service,” the Canadian Federation of Students has been stepping up its opposition to their country's ban on those donations by any man who's had sex with another man, even once, since 1977. Federation spokeswoman Amanda Aziz said the ban on gay men donating blood is outdated and called it "a form of institutionalized discrimination." The report said that opposition to the ban has provoked renewed organizing at the University of Toronto and McGill University in particular. A spokeswoman for Health Canada called the policy "science-based" and said that gay men are not the only targeted individuals. People who visited the United Kingdom or France between 1980 and 1996, for example, are also banned from donating blood, because they may have a type of mad-cow disease. But modern-day HIV testing can accurately detect infection within days of exposure. The Canadian Blood Service said it is continuing to study the issue. In other news, a church in the U.S. state of Michigan has been denied property insurance coverage because of its national governing body's support for LGBT rights. According to a story in the “Wall Street Journal,” the West Adrian United Church of Christ was rejected by Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana, because of its denomination's support for same-gender marriage and the ordination of lesbigay clergy. A regional underwriter for Brotherhood Mutual, one of America's largest insurers of religious institutions, wrote in a letter to the church that such support has “resulted in property damage and the potential for increased litigation among churches that have chosen to publicly endorse these positions." But the church's pastor, the Reverend John Kottke, told the “Journal” that he knows of no acts of violence or threats against his church, located in southeastern Michigan between Ann Arbor and Toledo, Ohio, or its congregation of fewer than 200 members. The United Church of Christ is known for its history of social activism. It ordained its first openly gay pastor in 1972 and affirmed support for same-gender marriage with a resolution at the General Synod, its governing body, in 2005. The Reverend J. Bennett Guess, Communications Director of the United Church of Christ, told reporters that as far as he knew, "this is the first time one of our churches has been denied an insurance quote because of [our] denomination's affirmation of gay and lesbian people." U.S. insurers can generally set their own underwriting criteria, as long as they don't violate state or federal anti-discrimination laws. Lawmakers in New Jersey this week passed legislation to strengthen the state's hate crimes and anti-school bullying laws. The bill won widespread bipartisan support in the Assembly and Senate, and now goes to Governor Jon Corzine for his expected signature. The legislation has two key components. The first adds "gender identity or expression" to existing state hate crime laws, which already cover sexuality, race and religion. It also requires two hours of training on hate crimes for all new police officers, and offers sentencing enhancements to judges, such as anti-hate sensitivity training for convicted defendants. The second part cracks down on bullying in schools, making it mandatory for schools to post on their Web sites, and widely distribute, their anti-bullying policies. It also creates a Commission on Bullying in Schools. In addition to lobbying by queer advocacy groups, the bill was supported by the New Jersey Anti-Defamation League, the New Jersey Educational Association, and the state Attorney General's office. Last year's FBI report on hate crimes ranked New Jersey second in the country, behind only California. Legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity to specified groups in federal hate crimes laws has stalled in Congress. And finally, the U.S. Supreme Court this week refused to hear a challenge to the trademarking of the name used by one of San Francisco's most venerable groups - Dykes on Bikes. Attorney Michael McDermott claimed in his lawsuit that the name is "scandalous and immoral" - grounds for the denial of a trademark - and that the very word “dyke” is synonymous with a "deep obsessive hatred of men and the male gender." Last year he sought an injunction at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, which regularly hears copyright and trademark cases, to prohibit the group's use of the name. In a unanimous 3-judge ruling, the Court said that as a man McDermott had no legal right to be offended. McDermott then appealed to the Supreme Court. The justices' refusal to hear the case means the appellate court ruling stands. The motorcycle-riding Dykes On Bikes, which traditionally leads off the city's queer Pride parade, has been a fixture in San Francisco's LGBT community for more than 30 years, and has counterparts in several other cities. The Trademark Office had twice rejected the group's application on the grounds that the word “dyke” is disparaging to lesbians. The group appealed to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in December 2005, and with the help of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, submitted more than two dozen expert declarations from scholars, linguists, psychologists, and activists demonstrating how the word “dyke” has evolved to become an empowering and positive term for lesbians, and the Board ruled in their favor. Now that Dykes on Bikes has cleared its final legal hurdle, the word “dyke” has for the first time been registered as part of a U.S. trademark. ************** Start the year off right. 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