“NewsWrap"
for the week ending August 30, 2008
 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,066, distributed 9-1-08)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley]

Reported this week by Christopher David Trentham and Greg Gordon

  The Democratic Party made U.S. history this week with its presidential nomination of Barack Obama.  And at its quadrennial convention in Denver, the LGBT delegation, which by some accounts numbered more than 300 – and may have been larger than all but 3 states � joined aboutt 2,500 party faithful for the 4-day gathering.
Only two openly-lesbigay speakers addressed the convention, although rocker Melissa Etheridge performed prior to Obama’s speech formally accepting his party’s nomination.
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin didn’t reference her sexuality or LGBT issues in her convention speech, which focused on healthcare.  And longtime Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andrew Tobias discussed the economy during his speech � but did say that [sound:] "As aa gay man, I yearn for a president who believes in equal rights for all Americans."
And “mentions” in speeches by non-gay allies may have satisfied the LGBT delegates.  Venerable Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, during his surprise appearance, argued that [sound:] “Barack Obama will close the book on the old politics of race and gender and group against group and straight against gay."

  As she outlined the reasons she ran for president, and why she's now supporting Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton � a history-maker in her owwn right � said that Democrats need [sound:] "To fight for an Americaa defined by deep and meaningful equality -- from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights..."
Speaking the next night, 2-term President Bill Clinton noted that [sound:] “Senator Obama's... values of freedom and equal opportunity, which have given him his historic chance, will drive him as president to give all Americans -- regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability -- their chance to build a decent life and to show our humanity, as well as our strengths, to the world.”
Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance at a luncheon for LGBT delegates with a lengthy speech the day after she spoke to the convention... [sound:] “We all know that our country’s journey to equality is not finished yet.  We know it right here in this room.  It’s been five years since Lawrence vs. Texas, and 39 years since Stonewall.  But still, we’ve got work to do before we achieve equality in the LGBT community.”
And candidate Barack Obama argued for LGBT equality during his electrifying formal acceptance speech � more about that later in the program.

  While not as LGBT-specific in language as previous party platforms, the Democrats do call for repeal of “Don t’ Ask, Don’t Tell,” state their opposition to the Clinton-era anti-lesbigay Defense of Marriage Act, and urge the passage of a “comprehensive” Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Openly gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank dismissed questions from reporters about the less-specific references to LGBT people in the party platform this year as unfair.  He called it a "sign of maturity" and said that the LGBT movement is "fully integrated" into the party.

  Elsewhere, the governing Australian Labor Party’s newest Senator, Louise Pratt � the first Member of Parliament with a transsexuaal partner � used her maiden speech this week to break from her partyy’s policy and call for marriage law reform.
"I look forward to a time when we will have removed at a federal level all discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and sexuality,” she said, “to a time when my partner is not denied a passport because his gender is not recognized under our laws, [and] to a time when if my gay friends wish to be legally married, they can be."
Pratt has joined openly gay Green Party leader Bob Brown and openly lesbian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong in the Australian Senate.
Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government, however, has consistently opposed marriage equality for same-gender couples.

  Pioneering lesbian activist Del Martin died this week in San Francisco at the age of 87, with her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, at her side.  Her death came about two months after they became California’s first legally married same-gender couple.  "I am devastated,” Lyon said in a statement, “but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed."
Along with six other women, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon formed the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco in 1955, named for a Parisian book of lesbian erotic poetry.  The group blossomed into the first national lesbian advocacy organization in the U.S.  The pair co-authored the seminal "Lesbian/Woman" in 1972, a book that offered an intimate account of lesbian relationships.  A year later, Martin became the first out lesbian to serve on the board of directors of the National Organization for Women, even though opponents worried that her selection would brand all feminists as lesbians.
Del Martin is survived by her daughter, Kendra Mon, from a four-year marriage to her college sweetheart; two grandchildren; and of course her wife Phyllis Lyon.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who officiated at their wedding on June 16th, ordered American flags at City Hall and the rainbow flag in the Castro District to be flown at half-staff.  Plans for a public memorial are pending.

  In other news, a legally married Belgian man and his Senegalese husband were sentenced in the African country this week to two years in prison for “acts against nature”.
Richard Lambot and Moustapha Gueye, each in their early 60s, were married in July in Belgium, where it’s legal, and then returned to predominantly Muslim Senegal, where homosexual acts are punishable by up to five years behind bars.  They were arrested when the marriage certificate was discovered in their luggage.  Their lawyer claimed that the 2 men aren’t gay, that Gueye was Lambot’s “domestic helper,” and that they’d only married to help Gueye get papers to live in Belgium.  But police said they found “evidence of homosexuality” during a search of Lambot’s home in Dakar.  They had apparently returned to Senegal to prepare to permanently relocate to Belgium.

  In the U.S., a group that wants to revive the 1913 Massachusetts law that banned marriages there if they wouldn’t be legally recognized in a couple’s home state has been given the green light to circulate petitions to put the issue before state voters.  MassResistance has until the end of October of this year to gather the 33,000 signatures necessary to qualify the measure for the November 2010 ballot.  The original law was repealed in late June by the Massachusetts legislature.  In signing the repeal, African-American Governor Deval Patrick, who has an openly lesbian daughter, noted that the original law was enacted to ban state recognition of interracial marriage.
While same-gender couples have been legally marrying in Massachusetts since 2004, couples from20other states were prohibited by that 1913 law from marrying in the state.
Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, the largest conservative group behind a failed effort to constitutionally ban same-gender marriage there, told reporters that his group is not participating in the referendum effort "because there is no winning on this issue."

  Constitutional same-gender marriage bans will be on the ballot this November in the states of Arizona, California and Florida.  And a proposal to essentially ban gay men and lesbians from becoming foster or adoptive parents was certified this week for the November ballot in Arkansas.
The measure would prohibit unmarried couples living together from fostering or adopting children.  Arkansas doesn't allow same-gender couples to marry or recognize those marriages conducted elsewhere.
The Arkansas Family Council Action Committee submitted petitions this week with about 24,000 more signatures than the 62,000 required to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Arkansas Families First wil be campaigning against it.  The group claimed last week that they’d found numerous signatures that should have been rejected by the state as invalid, and may file a lawsuit over that issue.  They say that the measure would unfairly discriminate against unmarried couples, and limit the number of available foster and adoptive homes in the state.

  But finally, along with the Men’s 10 Meter Platform Diving gold medal winner, Australian Matthew Mitcham � the only openly gay competitor at the Beijing Olympics � several ouut lesbians also brought home medals.
Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg, partners in sport and in life, were part of Norway’s gold medal-winning handball team. Natasha Kai helped the U.S. win gold in women’s soccer, while Linda Bresonik was part of Germany’s bronze medal-winning team.  And Vicky Galindo and Lauren Lappin powered the U.S. women’s team to a silver medal in softball.
While Olympics coverage in the U.S. by NBC was filled with heart-warming personal stories of medal-winners and their families, LGBT viewers complained that there were no shots of Mitcham’s boyfriend Lachlan Fletcher cheering him on, nor coverage of Mitcham hugging and kissing him after winning gold with the highest score for a single dive in Olympics history.  NBC called the omissions “inadvertent”.
But if you were watching TV in Australia � or surfed youtube  � you could have seen Mitcham handing his Olympics bouquet to Fletcher, hugging his boyfriend and his mother, and saying: [sound:] “I would like to say thank you to absolutely everybody who helped get my partner Lachlan and my mum here with me to support me... because it was so important to have those two people here with me.”



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