“NewsWrap" for the week ending May 17, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,051, distributed 5-19-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by DonnaAnn Ward and Erica Springer The California Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated marriage ruling on May 15th, and by a 4-to-3 vote opened the institution to gay and lesbian couples, saying the state constitution demanded it. That makes California the second U.S. state - Massachusetts, of course, was the first, in 2003 - to legalize same-gender marriage. In doing so, the California high court overturned Proposition 22, a measure passed by 61 percent of the state's voters 8 years ago that actually only banned the recognition of same-gender marriages performed elsewhere. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has twice cited that measure to veto marriage equality bills passed by the state legislature, but he issued a quick statement following the ruling promising to uphold it. The “usual suspects” on the right predictably condemned the decision, calling the California high court justices - six of whom were appointed by Republican governors - “activist judges.” They say they're planning to ask the Court to stay its ruling until after the November elections. Groups like the so-called Campaign for California Families have submitted petitions to state officials with what will likely be the required number of signatures to qualify a measure for the November ballot to ban same-gender marriage. Most observers don't believe requesting a stay will pass judicial muster. But voter passage of an initiative to nullify the ruling of the state's highest court and constitutionally ban same-gender marriage would only require a simple majority. Assuming the Court rejects a request for a stay of its ruling, it could be at least a month before clerks across the state will be able to issue marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples with altered references to “bride” and “groom” - and by the way, there's no residency requirement. That would leave at least a few months for same-gender couples to legally marry in the state before a possible voter-approved ban. More than 48,000 California couples have registered their domestic partnerships since they were created in 2000, most of them gay and lesbian. If the ballot measure to ban same-gender marriage qualifies and passes, it may require the state Supreme Court to ultimately decide whether or not the thousands of marriages expected to take place until then would be annulled. It's generally agreed that Republicans have used queer marriage measures on state ballots to move social conservatives to the polls, but some analysts are saying that the tactic may not be as effective as in previous years. Even California's Republican Governor Schwarzenegger told reporters that he opposes such a ballot measure, noting far more pressing concerns for voters this year in conjunction with the presidential race, with the sagging economy and seemingly-endless war in Iraq topping the list. LGBT activists nevertheless warn that a full-scale battle to defeat the probable ballot measure, sure to be well funded, will require major community resources. We'll have a lot more on this story later in the program. In other news, a gay couple married in Canada has filed suit against the Swedish government for refusing to recognize their marriage. Lars Gardfeldt and Lars Arnell complain that Swedish income tax law treats their relationship only as a civil partnership, even though foreign marriages of heterosexual couples are recognized. A federal court agreed to hear their case this week after lower courts had rejected it. Civil partnerships were enacted in Sweden in 1995 giving registered same-gender couples most of the rights and obligations of marriage. But a parliamentary committee studying the issue last year called them outdated and recommended full marriage equality. Six of Sweden's seven political parties support that, but the tiny Christian Democrats, part of a four party governing coalition, has successfully blocked the government from introducing such legislation. A January public opinion poll found that 70-percent of Sweden's electorate support in principle the idea of same-gender marriage. Members of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Lesbian and Gay Rights this week condemned attacks in Moldova's capital city of Chisinau on May 11th against a small group of activists attempting to hold a banned LGBT Pride event, compounded by police inaction to quell the violence. A bus with about 60 Pride participants was surrounded by a mob of screaming extremist religious and neo-fascist opponents. They broke into the bus, grabbing flags and banners and shouting “Beat them to death” and “Don't let them escape.” Police reportedly failed to respond to at least nine attempts to summon them. GenderDoc-M, the leading queer advocacy group in the central European nation, which is not yet an E.U. member, reports that the bus was able to make its way to their offices, and that there were no serious injuries - at least no physical ones. The group issued a statement charging that "Six traffic police cars stood approximately 100 metres away without taking any action whatsoever.” The country's Supreme Court ruled in December 2006 that a previous ban on LGBT Pride marches was illegal, but this is the fourth consecutive year that Chisinau authorities have refused to sanction one. GenderDoc-M called on the European Union and human rights groups to condemn the violation of that ruling, and the violence, "at the highest level with Moldovan authorities, and to put pressure on the Moldovan government to implement its own laws without discrimination and its international human rights commitments.” Homophobes attacked a gay demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 3rd after about 25 activists staged a "Day of Silence" action in Chernyshevsky Park. They had taped their mouths shut, handed out leaflets and sat on benches. Although police were supposed to be guarding the event, assailants began assaulting two participants before officers approached. The activists were not seriously injured. Similar events took place in at least two other Russian cities. An action in Novokuznetsk took the form of a "flash mob" in which 20 activists, linked via online social networks, came together to quickly distribute fliers, then leave before police could react. One participant was reportedly injured when a group of skinheads attacked the group. Police in Penang, Malaysia, detained 14 men this week at a health fitness facility believed to be operating as a gay sex club. The country's “Star” newspaper reported that vice authorities' raid on the gym netted some 1,800 condoms littered around the premises, and that six men were discovered naked in three toilet stalls. This is the third time that the center has been raided since November 2007, when 34 men were detained. The men in current custody are being questioned about other alleged illicit activities at the center. Homosexual acts in the Southeast Asian nation are a criminal offense punishable by lashings and up to 20 years in prison. Elsewhere, an openly lesbian member of South Africa's national women's soccer team was brutally murdered in Kwatema, east of Johannesburg, in late April. According to media sources, 31-year-old Eudy Simelane was repeatedly raped and stabbed by a gang of youths as she and friends returned home from a tavern. Five suspects were later taken into custody. Carrie Shelver, a spokeswoman for People Opposed to Women Abuse, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation that the killing likely was "a homophobic hate crime" because Simelane's lesbianism was well known. This is only the latest in a continuing series of assaults on lesbigay people in the country. While South Africa constitutionally protects gays and lesbians from discrimination, and marriage equality was enacted in 2006, entrenched and often-violent homophobia endures, especially outside major metropolitan areas. And finally, we also sadly note the passing in the U.S. of Mildred Loving, who died on May 2nd at the age of 68. She and her late husband Richard filed the lawsuit that led to the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down all bans on interracial marriage, a case that's been frequently cited in support of same-gender couples' right to marry. On the 40th anniversary of the “Loving v. Virginia” ruling last year, Mrs. Loving expressed strong support for extending marriage rights to same-gender couples. "My generation believed that... it was God's plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love,” she wrote. “But... the older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry... I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what [the] Loving [case], and loving, are all about." ************** Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)