“NewsWrap" for the week ending June 7, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,054, distributed 6-9-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Pam Marshall and Chris Wilson The mayor of a small tourist town on a tiny Greek island may be charged with breach of duty - which carries a possible five-year prison sentence - after he officiated this week at the country's first same-gender civil marriages. Defying a prosecutor's order calling them illegal, Tilos Mayor Tasos Aliferis held the ceremonies shortly after sunrise on June 3rd for a gay couple and a lesbian couple - neither fully identified in available media reports - provoking the wrath of the country's conservative government and powerful Orthodox Church. Hundreds of the couples' friends and families and dozens of curious townspeople witnessed the ceremonies. The mayor and equality supporters pointed to Greek marriage laws, updated 26 years ago, that don't specify gender in civil weddings. The country's top public prosecutor, Giorgos Sanidas, however, announced that he'd immediately ask the country's high court to annul the marriages. He cited an article in Greece's constitution that he said “protects family rights” and defines marriage as exclusively heterosexual. An Orthodox Church spokesman told state NET television that "Homosexuality is a curse, a deadly sin, it goes against psychological and biological normality." But Mayor Aliferis said he stood by his decision to perform the marriages, telling the same TV station that "When someone tries to enforce human rights, he cannot be persecuted for that." Edwin Ho and Kevin Boreham, who've been together for 25 years, exchanged rings and vows in a small lakeside celebration on June 2nd as the first same-gender couple to register their partnership in the Australian Capital Territory. It was not the civil union that the territorial government wanted. Legislation to create those was twice quashed by the federal government - under both Liberal and Labor administrations - as being a violation of the national law defining marriage as heterosexual only. The current Territory law allows lesbian and gay couples to register their commitment, but outlaws formal ceremonies. Two Australian states also grant some form of legal recognition to same-gender couples, but only to their respective residents. But Australia's federal opposition Liberal Party has stifled efforts by the Labor Government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to pass legislation giving gays and lesbians the right to inherit their partner's public sector superannuation or death benefits. The bill passed in the Assembly to initiate reforms of about a hundred laws Rudd's government has identified as financially discriminating against same-gender couples. But Liberal Party leaders this week demanded a full inquiry in the Senate, including committee hearings, expressing concerns that the changes might chip away at the country's heterosexual-only marriage law. The move effectively delays consideration of the reforms package for months, and could even kill the effort entirely. There have been more developments arising from the California Supreme Court's May 15th marriage equality ruling. The high court this week rejected an appeal by rightwing opponents to stay the ruling until after the next elections. But - as expected - an initiative to overturn the court ruling and constitutionally ban same-gender marriage also formally qualified for the November ballot. Equality advocates are gearing up for what promises to be a bitter and costly battle. Meanwhile, state officials have settled on yet another date - this time perhaps the final one - on which same-gender couples can marry. Spokesperson Suanne Buggy told reporters that "[The Court's] decision on same-sex marriage will be final at 5 p.m. June 16, 2008, (and) the California Department of Public Health's Office of Vital Records directs county clerks to begin using the new state marriage license forms at that time." Those forms replace “bride and groom” with “Party A” and “Party B”. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has announced that city clerks will be issuing licenses and performing ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples “the minute” the decision takes effect, that their offices will stay open until 8:00 p.m. on June 16th, and be open from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. thereafter, “as long as there is demand.” Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, one of the Los Angeles couples in the landmark marriage lawsuit, announced this week that Tyler and Olson would wed “on... the first day possible.” The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a self-identified Christian legal organization - and one of the groups that had requested a stay of the California Supreme Court ruling - this week also filed a lawsuit, joined by several Republican state senators, to stop New York from recognizing same-gender marriages legally performed elsewhere. Democratic Governor David Paterson outraged conservatives in May by ordering state agencies in New York to recognize such marriages, including those conducted in Canada, and the U.S. states of Massachusetts, and soon California. Unlike Massachusetts, California has no residency requirement, and it doesn't take a PhD in economics to expect gay and lesbian weddings to bring a financial “Gold Rush” to that state. Most analysts have noted that since Paterson's directive was based on state court rulings ordering recognition of those marriages, it's unlikely that judges will favor the legal challenge. Meanwhile, the Democratic-dominated New York state Assembly this week overwhelmingly passed a wide-ranging bill banning discrimination based on gender identity or expression - but, like marriage equality legislation previously passed there - the measure will likely be stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. Elsewhere, faced with Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's ban on LGBT Pride events for the third year in a row, about 35 Moscow activists bamboozled police and successfully staged two surprise actions on May 31st. As city riot police blockaded City Hall in anticipation of an attempted Pride event there, activists demonstrated nearby at the Tchaikovsky statue outside the Moscow Conservatory. They unfurled banners, spoke with trusted journalists who'd accompanied them to the location, and chanted, "Tchaikovsky was also gay," and "Equal rights for LGBT." The group then staged a brief march down the street, dispersing before police could arrive. A second action began across the street from City Hall, where activists blockaded themselves inside a third-floor apartment and draped a large banner above the street that read, "Rights for gays and lesbians - homophobia of Moscow mayor should be prosecuted." They also released 250 balloons from the apartment's windows. Police officials told the “Interfax” news agency that protesters below threw garbage and eggs at the apartment balcony, and that at least 36 of them were arrested. Police finally broke down the apartment door about 8 hours later, charging four activists inside with holding an unsanctioned demonstration. They each face fines if their cases go to court. Organizer Nikolai Alekseev told gay journalist Rex Wockner that "[W]e showed that we are not only a force for gays but a political force and [we] won't compromise on our rights." Thousands were able to celebrate in Tel Aviv at the Israeli city's 10th annual Pride Parade on June 6th, which included the official dedication of the area's first LGBT community center. Celebrants marched through major thoroughfares to Gordon Beach, where a host of musicians performed and revelers partied into the night. There were a few confrontations with religious fundamentalists, who held signs along the parade route such as “Animals - you have nothing to be proud of, take your medication!” But there were no reports of physical altercations or arrests. In other news, Malta's Court of Magistrates has ruled that identifying someone as homosexual is not defamatory, according to a report in “The Malta Independent”. The decision came in a case over reports by three newspapers in the small Mediterranean island nation that a homicide victim was gay. Police have said that the victim's sexual orientation is relevant to their ongoing investigation of the unsolved murder. But his brother sued over the characterization, claiming it defamed his brother's memory. He says he'll appeal the ruling. In the U.S., the Wisconsin state Supreme Court has ordered a conservative pastor to pay 87,000 dollars in legal fees to an LGBT rights group he accused of defaming him. Grant Storms of the Reformer Ministries in Marrero, Louisiana claimed in the lawsuit that Action Wisconsin defamed him by publishing remarks he made at a 2003 conference in Milwaukee that the group said advocated the murder of gays. Storms was one of several speakers at the "International Conference on Homo-Fascism." Action Wisconsin obtained an audio recording of his conference speech during which Storms said anti-queer activists should, according to a transcript, "start taking it to the streets." He mimicked gunfire: "Boom, boom, boom, boom. There's twenty! Ca-ching!" A Milwaukee County Circuit Court ruled in 2006 that the group's interpretation of the remarks as inciting violence was reasonable, and that the lawsuit lacked merit from the day it was filed. Judge Patricia McMahon awarded Action Wisconsin 87,000 dollars in legal fees. An appeals court then overturned her decision. But in a 4-to-3 ruling this week saying Storms should have known the lawsuit was frivolous, Wisconsin's high court reversed the appellate ruling, allowing the original decision - and monetary award - to stand. And finally, the Human Rights Commission in the Canadian province of Alberta has fined a conservative Christian group 5,000 dollars for a homophobic letter published in a newspaper in the city of Red Deer that the panel said exposed lesbians and gay men to hatred and contempt. Former executive director Stephen Boissoin of the Concerned Christian Coalition wrote a letter to the editor in 2002 that compared gays and lesbians to pedophiles and drug dealers. It was published under the headline "Homosexual Agenda Wicked." After a gay teenager was attacked in the city, teacher Darren Lund filed a complaint charging that the letter was a hate crime. The rights panel issued the fine this week, also ordering the group to stop publishing disparaging remarks about homosexuals, to remove such comments from its Web sites and publications... and to issue Lund a written apology. ************** Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)