“NewsWrap" for the week ending April 5, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,045, distributed 4-7-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Sheri Lunn and Leigh Moore The European Court of Justice ruled this week that a company offering pension benefits to the married partners of its workers must also offer them to legally recognized same-gender partners. The case was brought by Tadao Maruko, a 65-year-old gay German man, after the company his deceased partner had worked for rejected his spousal pension benefits application because the couple had not been legally married. Germany provides limited rights to same-gender couples, but not marriage. Maruko fought the case for three years, first losing in a German lower court. An appeals court eventually referred the case to the Luxembourg-based European high court, asking if domestic partnerships should be considered equivalent to marriage, and if the pension fund had discriminated. In its written ruling the EuroCourt said that "The refusal to grant the survivor's pension to life partners constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation if surviving spouses and surviving life partners are in a comparable situation as regards that pension.” The decision returns the case to German judges to formally decide the status of the pension. Analysts say it sets a precedent for companies and governments throughout the European Union that offer any form of legal recognition to same-gender couples. But queer rights groups in Ireland have expressed disappointment that the government may not extend parental rights to same-gender couples as part of new legislation to legally recognize their relationships. The Irish government is scheduled to announce the details of their Civil Partnership Bill in the coming week. The country's media are reporting that the measure will cover such areas as pensions, social security, property rights, and taxes, and will also recognize same-gender marriages, civil unions and civil partnerships from other countries. But regarding the denial of parental rights, Grainne Healy of the group MarriageEquality told the “Irish Times” that "While any legislation in this area is welcome, if these reports are true, it is of great concern that gay and lesbian people will continue not to have the same rights as heterosexual couples." The government says marriage itself is off the table because, according to Article 41 of the Irish Constitution, "The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of marriage, on which the family is founded, and to protect it against attack." It doesn't, however, define the institution itself, so some critics and constitutional scholars argue that the Article doesn't specifically forbid same-gender marriage. Meanwhile, plagued by corruption charges, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern resigned this week, but activists don't believe that will affect the partnership legislation. Ahern, a vocal supporter of LGBT rights since he first took power in 1997, spearheaded several legislative advances during his tenure. Greek lawmakers are considering a measure to legally recognize gay and lesbian couples through a civil ceremony, according to a report this week by the country's NET TV. The country's Justice Ministry was said to be establishing a group on the rights of same-gender couples living together, which would, quoting the report, "analyze all aspects of the issue, international practice, and the existing domestic legal and social framework." The New Democracy-led government is expected to introduce legislation later in the year that will offer several rights to unmarried couples. The Minister of Justice has already told the media that, while it won't establish marriage equality, the government opposes discrimination and will therefore include same-gender couples in the civil unions legislation. The announcement has upset the Greek Orthodox Church. Its governing synod described the proposal as a "catastrophic bomb" which threatened Greek society and compared such action to "prostitution." But a lesbian couple in Athens reportedly has or soon will celebrate their marriage, officiated by the mayor, in the city's Kessariani quarter. Activists hope they've found a loophole in the Greek civil marriage law because it refers only to participating "persons" without specifying gender. Greek LGBT activists are already celebrating their government's decision to grant asylum to a 40-year-old gay Iranian man. Known only as “Alex,” he was arrested, beaten and tortured in his home country because of his sexual orientation. His two previous political asylum applications had been rejected, and he was facing deportation. The advocacy group Greek Homosexual Community led a campaign on his behalf, and issued a statement this week saying, "We are happy to announce that the gay Iranian refugee, known as 'Alex,' was finally granted asylum following the reconsideration of his case.” The status of Iranian gays and lesbians seeking asylum based on their homeland's treatment of sexual minorities has caused controversy in several other European countries, including Great Britain and the Netherlands. In other news, police in Beijing raided and closed two gay bathhouses in late March, according to information circulated on queer Asian mailing lists in China and Malaysia. The March 26th report, which carried the byline of well-known Chinese AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, said that 70 patrons and employees had been taken into custody in a raid on the city's most popular gay bathhouse, Club Oasis. Patrons were released 30 hours later, but staffmembers remained behind bars. It said another Oasis bathhouse in the city was raided the next day, and that the staff, but not customers, had been detained. The report said a third bathhouse may have met a similar fate, but provided no details. It also included a list of other recent alleged police actions against gay men, including a bar raid and temporary closure, round-ups in well-known cruising areas, and arrests of sex workers tracked down via their Web postings. But in the U.S., an Arizona oversight panel has given final approval to Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano's plan to provide domestic partner benefits to state employees and retirees. The LGBT advocacy group Equality Arizona called it "a defining moment for Arizona." Benefits would be available to both same- and opposite-gender couples where one partner is or was a state worker. The Grand Canyon State boasts a significant population of heterosexual senior citizen couples, who prefer domestic partnerships to remarriage for Social Security and tax purposes, so including opposite-gender couples in the plan was likely a key factor in its approval. Arizona joins thirteen U.S. states, the District of Columbia, hundreds of major companies, and some 200 communities nationwide offering some form of domestic partnership benefits. And finally, two stories about American federal tax dollars at work. First, Democratic U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reportedly had to intervene when the Pentagon refused to allow the same-gender partner of Representative Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin on a military flight taking Congressmembers and their spouses on a fact-finding trip to Europe. The lawmakers visited France, the Czech Republic and Poland last month. According to a report this week by “Politico.com,” Pelosi had to call Defense Secretary Robert Gates directly. She urged him to follow the precedent established by her Republican predecessor, Dennis Hastert, who didn't object to Baldwin taking her partner of several years, Lauren Azar, on an earlier trip. Gates told Pelosi that he'd approve Azar for the trip once he received a letter from her authorizing it, but said any future requests would be handled on a case-by-case basis. It's hardly the first time that the Bush administration has been accused of LGBT discrimination. Special Counsel Scott Bloch, the person responsible for protecting whistleblowers and investigating complaints of discrimination in the federal workplace, has refused to act on any involving sexual orientation. U.S. ambassador to Romania Michael Guest also resigned last year after the State Department refused to recognize his male partner. And the State Department this week refused to issue a U.S. passport to Jason Hair-Wynn of Attleboro, Massachusetts because he hyphenated his last name after legally marrying his boyfriend in the Bay State. The local “Sun Chronicle” newspaper reported that the U.S. State Department informed Hair-Wynn that if he wanted to renew his passport, he'll have to legally change his name back to what it was before he got married. He's an HIV/AIDS counselor who's scheduled to begin work in July at orphanages in Ghana. A letter to Hair-Wynn from the State Department specifically cited a section of DOMA, the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” passed under the administration of then-President Bill Clinton in 1996, which states that: “In determining... any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administration bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." Hair-Wynn told the newspaper that he "can't even process this... It is weird to get discrimination in writing." He said the federal Social Security Administration gave him a new Social Security card with his married name on it, and the state Registry of Motor Vehicles reissued his documents as well. But Hair-Wynn says that working with kids in Ghana is more important than fighting the State Department, so he'll change his name again so that he can renew his passport. ************** Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)