´NewsWrap" for the week ending June 28, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,057, distributed 6-30-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Pam Marshall and Chris Wilson A first-ever LGBT Pride march in Havana ended before it could begin on June 25th when Cuban security agents swooped in on Don Quixote Park, where the event was scheduled to start, and arrested nine of its organizers. There were no reports about how many activists, if any, remain in custody. The Unity Coaliton, South Florida's leading Latin queer rights group, told the ´Miami Herald¡ that marchers had planned to demand an apology from the Cuban government, which under Fidel Castro often jailed LGBT people solely because of their sexual orientation, sending many to so-called ´re-education¡ labor camps. But one gay Cuban told the ´Herald¡ that a Pride march was unnecessary, primarily thanks to the nation's leading sexologist, Mariela Castro - daughter of Cuban leader Raul - because LGBT people are slowly gaining acceptance there. Mariela spearheaded a first-ever observance of the International Day Against Homophobia in mid-May, which was the largest gathering of LGBT activists in the island's history. State television had even aired the Oscar-winning ´Brokeback Mountain¡ the night before. Mariela, who's publicly lobbied for greater rights for LGBT people, had not endorsed the Pride march. 40-year-old gay personal trainer Felix Lopez, who watched the Pride parade end before it could begin, told the ´Herald¡ that "Important strides have been made... We don't need to be instructed by people in Miami or any other part of the world. We're slowly gaining a space in our society and that's important." It's not clear if reaction to the latest LGBT Pride March in Jerusalem indicates growing acceptance there. But unlike past marches, which were marred by violent protests by mostly-Jewish religious fundamentalists, the June 26th event was largely uneventful. Members of a small parliamentary religious party had sought a ban on the march, which was rejected by Israel's high court earlier in the week. An estimated 3,000 LGBT activists and their supporters paraded for about four blocks from Independence Park up King David Street to a rally at Liberty Bell Park. They were guarded by about 2,000 police officers. Authorities said that there were a few small-scale protests away from the route, and one man was arrested before the march began. Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders have routinely condemned the march as offensive to religious values in the Holy City. Unlike more flamboyant events in other parts of the world, which feature scantily-clad marchers and booming sound trucks, most Jerusalem Pride participants wore everyday clothing and walked calmly down the street, some holding banners or rainbow-colored balloons. One banner read ´Gay rights are Human rights.¡ A statement by the leadership of Open House, the LGBT center that organized the march, noted that they'd been in talks with religious leaders to assure them that the event would be low key and that provocation was not its intent. But, they said, ´[W]e must assure that our rights as citizens of Jerusalem are defended.¡ As the Pride march was being held in Jerusalem, more than a thousand conservative leaders of the global Anglican Communion, including 280 bishops from 35 countries, were ironically meeting there. The once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, scheduled next month in London, has been the primary policy-making gathering in the Church, a worldwide consortium of about 77 million Christian believers that sprouted in the 17th century from the Church of England. But Anglican traditionalists, mostly from Africa, Latin America and Asia, angered by what they perceive to be the Church's acquiescence to more queer-accepting branches in Canada, and the U.S. Episcopal wing, are boycotting Lambeth and meeting instead in Jerusalem. One of its leaders, Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, said this week that ´there is no longer any hope... for a unified communion.¡ Adding fuel to the perhaps already fatal fire in mid-June, British newspapers were reporting that two male priests had sealed their civil partnership using a traditional wedding rite at London's St. Bartholomew the Great Anglican Church. The ceremony, which included Holy Communion, was conducted by the Reverend Martin Dudley in violation of guidelines issued by the Church of England and the bishop of London. As the fallout from the news reports escalated, one of the men, New Zealand-based Anglican Reverend David Lord, resigned from the priesthood. His partner, the Reverend Peter Cowell, is a priest vicar at St. Margaret's Church, a parish attached to Westminster Abbey that falls under the jurisdiction of the Queen rather than the bishop. The Church of England allows celebrations of civil partnerships, now legal in the U.K., to include prayers and hymns, but not a formal blessing or use of a wedding rite. The titular head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, along with the Archbishop of York, condemned the ceremony. ´We cannot comment on the specific circumstances because they are the subject of an investigation launched by the Bishop of London,¡ the joint statement said. While clergy who disagree with the policy are free to lobby for reform, ´they are not,¡ the statement said, ´at liberty simply to disregard it.¡ Meanwhile, openly gay U.S. Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire recently celebrated a civil union with his partner of more than 19 years, Mark Andrew. The couple held a non-religious civil ceremony, followed by a private church service attended by about 120 guests at St. Paul's Church in Concord. Same-gender civil unions became legal in New Hampshire this year. In other news, gays and lesbians in the eastern European nation of Albania face routine societal abuse, according to a new report by Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights. "An open discussion regarding homosexuality remains taboo in Albania," he wrote. "LGBT persons are routinely subject to intolerance, physical and psychological violence, and [are] seen by many as persons suffering from an 'illness'... There have also been cases of mistreatment by the police.¡ Hammarberg added that "to sensitize people on diversity of sexuality requires education, [including] a combination of public campaigns, integration of further sexual education within school curricula and further training of state professionals including law enforcement, judicial and medical personnel." There's as yet been no response to the report, issued on June 18th, from Albanian government officials. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's ´Al-Medina¡ daily newspaper reports that religious police arrested 21 men on June 20th for homosexuality and confiscated large amounts of alcohol. The Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which employs the religious police, acted on a tip that there was a large gathering of young men at a home in the eastern Saudi city of Qatif. The paper says dozens of men were initially arrested but most were released. 21 may still remain in custody. Homosexuality is outlawed in Saudi Arabia under sharia, or Islamic law, as in many other predominantly Muslim nations. Convictions are punishable by flogging, imprisonment, or even public beheading. But self-identified lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer women in Lebanon have formed a new organization called MEEM, m-e-e-m. The group issued a statement saying that it was "created on the idea that women should be encouraged to empower themselves and each other through mutual support... Our goal is to create a safe space in Lebanon where LBTQs can meet, talk, discuss issues, share experiences and work on improving their lives and themselves." In the U.S., lesbigay activists are hoping that the announcement this week by New York Republican state Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno that he won't seek re-election might signal a change for the better there. The Democratically-controlled state Assembly has more than once passed a queer-inclusive school anti-bullying law and marriage equality legislation, but Bruno has used his power to prevent consideration of those measures in the Senate. Longtime LGBT rights campaigner, academic and writer Dennis Altman became a Member of the Order of Australia in early June in the Queen's Birthday honours list. His first book, published in 1971, was called ´Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation.¡ He's since written 11 other books, including a number addressing gay men and HIV/AIDS. Altman is currently a professor of politics at La Trobe University in Melbourne. And finally, veteran British actor Sir Ian McKellen has been made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and equality. The 69-year-old outspoken LGBT rights activist was celebrated by the Queen at an investiture ceremony held in Buckingham Palace this week. Companions of Honour include the Queen and only 65 other members, all outstanding talents in their fields, from openly gay painter Sir David Hockney to acclaimed actress Dame Judi Dench. McKellen, who was previously awarded a knighthood in 1990, is probably best known around the world as the wizard Gandalf in the ´Lord of the Rings¡ trilogy, which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2002, and as Magneto in the popular ´X-Men¡ movie series. His other Oscar nomination came in 1999 for his role in ´Gods and Monsters¡ as gay movie director James Whale. McKellen helped found Britain's leading LGBT equality organization Stonewall in 1989. He'd come out as a gay man a year earlier following the passage of the notorious Section 28, which made it illegal for local authorities, including schools, to "intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality." The law was eventually repealed in 2003. During a famous BBC interview that year, Sir Ian claimed that when he visited the then-Local Government Minister Michael Howard in 1988 to lobby against Section 28, Howard refused to change his position but asked him to leave an autograph for his children. McKellen complied, but wrote "Fuck off, I'm gay.¡ Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more!