“NewsWrap" for the week ending October 11, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,072, distributed 10-13-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and DonnaAnn Ward The Connecticut Supreme Court, in a 4-to-3 decision issued on October 10th, ruled that same-gender couples should be able to marry in the state. The majority said that even though civil unions for lesbigay couples have been available in Connecticut for about three years – granting virtuallly all the rights of marriage but the name – such a separate categoryy violated the state constitution’s guarantees of equal protection under the law. Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote for the majority that ”... because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody, the segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm." Melinda Tuhus filed this report from New Haven for “Free Speech Radio News”... Connecticut legalized civil unions for same sex couples in 2005, but many advocates have been pushing for the right to marry. Anne Stanbach, director of Love Makes a Family, said this victory was 8 years in the making: “It is a historic ruling. I think the Court said very clearly that civil unions are a separate20and unequal status, and I think people will be getting married before the end of this year for sure.” The ruling in Kerrigan & Mock et al v. Department of Public Health came 17 months after the case was argued at the state Supreme Court. Connecticut joins Massachusetts and California as the only states allowing full marriage rights for same sex couples. For FSRN, I'm Melinda Tuhus in New Haven. The Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders filed the case in 2004 on behalf of eight Connecticut same-gender couples after they were denied marriage licenses. That prompted the state legislature to pass a civil unions law the next year that was intended to satisfy marriage equality advocates. The lawsuit proceeded up the judicial ladder, however, as gay and lesbian couples continued to demand full marriage rights. In one of three separate dissents, Justice Peter Zarella argued that any decision on same-gender marriage should be left to the legislature. Lawmakers, however, have been reluctant since passing the civil unions measure to take that step. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose office represented the state in the case, said the decision will take effect on October 28th, and that it can’t be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court because the case involved the state constitution, not federal law. But there’s a proposal on the November ballot asking voters whether or not the state should convene a constitutional convention to consider20opening Connecticut to “direct initiatives.” Opponents of the Court’s marriage ruling support “direct initiatives,” which could enable them to put a constitutional marriage ban on the ballot. Peter Wolfgang of the Family Institute of Connecticut told reporters that "Connecticut voters will have one opportunity on November 4th to reassert their right to self government. We must vote yes.” Meanwhile, the Iowa Supreme Court announced this week that it will hear arguments on December 9th in a case challenging that state’s law banning same-gender marriage. In California, earlier polls showed that Proposition 8 was losing. That November ballot measure would reverse the ruling issued by the state’s Supreme Court earlier this year and eliminate marriage equality for same-gender couples. TV and radio ads now running up and down the state by the better-funded proponents have changed the polling numbers. The ads argue that people could be sued for their personal beliefs, that the tax-exempt status of religious institutions would be endangered, and that young schoolchildren would be forced to learn about same-gender marriage. Lesbigay activists have called the claims in those ads outright lies. But the latest polls now show Proposition 8 favored by 47 percent of likely voters, with about 42 percent opposed. Major support for Proposition 8 has come from the U.S.-based Roman Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus, the rabidly anti-LGBT Focus on the Family, and several well-heeled members of the Mormon Church. While supposedly “neutral” in political matters, Mormon elders made a televised appeal to followers gathered at church buildings in California, Utah, Hawai’i and Idaho urging them to work for the passage of Proposition 8. Voters in Arizona will also decide on a state constitutional amendment to ban same-gender marriage on November 4th. The latest polls in Florida also show increasing support for a state constitutional amendment there that would not only ban same-gender marriage, but specify that “no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.” Opponents say such language would also prohibit civil unions or domestic partnerships, not only for lesbigay couples, but for unmarried heterosexual couples who live together but choose not to marry. Domestic partnerships are also favored by senior citizens, a major voting block in the state, who would lose government benefits by remarrying. Amending the state constitution requires a 60 percent vote in Florida, but recent polls show support for the ballot proposal has grown to 55 percent. Elsewhere, Portugal’s Parliament this week voted by a large majority against a bill to allow gay and lesbian couples in the predominantly Roman Catholic country to marry. Prime Minister JosĂ© SĂłcrates of the ruling Socialist Party had warned last week that such legis lation was not on the government’s agenda. Two minor leftist parties sponsored the civil marriage measure, but only 28 members in the 230-seat legislature voted for it. Marriage equality for lesbigay couples will become legal in Norway on January 1st, but Bishops of the Church of Norway voted this week against allowing pastors to perform weddings for those couples. The Lutheran denomination counts nearly 85 percent of the country’s population as members. After what were reportedly hours of heated debate, Bishops decided to allow pastors to recite a prayer for civilly-married gay and lesbian couples, as long as it’s not a formal blessing ceremony. About 40 anti-gay Anglican Church bishops from Africa, Australia, the U.S., India and Canada took part in a conference last week near the Ugandan capital of Kampala. It was a follow-up to a conference held in Jerusalem earlier this year by Church traditionalists who oppose openly-gay Anglican Bishops – speciffically Episcopalian Gene Robinson of New Hampshire – and the blessinng of same-gender couples, conducted primarily by Anglican clergy in North America. Bishops, other clergy and laypeople from the Global South – Africa, Asia and Latin America – formed what they called a “church within a church” in Jerusalem, saying that while they don’t want to leave the global Anglican Communion, they oppose its liberal wing and must act separately to support traditional Biblical teachings against homosexuality. A bishop from southern India told reporters that "We need to explain to those who disagree with us on the issue of taking the authority of the Bible as we do." Uganda’s leading Muslim cleric called last year for gay people to be rounded up and marooned on an island in Lake Victoria until they die. And the government of Uganda announced this week that they intend to strengthen the country’s laws against homosexuality. Ethics and Integrity Minister James Buturo told a news conference that "The state of moral health in our nation is challenging, and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality... Who is going to occupy Uganda 20 years from now if we all become homosexuals? We know that homosexuals don't reproduce." He blamed “increasing globalization,” charging that “ten years ago this phenomena was not [here], but the disease has penetrated everywhere.” Consensual adult same-gender sex is already outlawed in the east African country, punishable by up to life in prison. LGBT activists held a first-ever press conference in Kampala a year ago to demand basic civil rights. Fearing reprisals, many wore disguises. A coalition of Christian and Muslim groups filled a downtown stadium a week later demanding the arrests of all gay people. Ugandan LGBT activists have been increasingly targeted by police for detention and abuse since then. Buturo said that new legislation would be introduced to prosecute anyone who simply comes out publicly as lesbian or gay. But an estimated 10,000 LGBT people and their supporters came out for the 19th annual Pride festivities in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 4th. According to local media reports, 32 floats, and many equally colorful marchers, wound their way down the parade route to a multi-stage performance space featuring well-known DJs and drag entertainers. “Love Not Hate” was the overall theme this year, focusing on the troubling rise in anti-LGBT hate violence. While sexual orientation discrimination was outlawed in the country’s post-apartheid constitution, and marriage equality was established there in 2006, a number of Black lesbians have been brutally murdered in the townships in recent months. And finally, famous Italian comic Sabina Guzzanti will not be prosecuted for saying in July that Pope Benedict XVI will go to Hell for the Roman Catholic Church's treatment of gay people. Justice Minister Angelino Alfano decided not to launch a formal investigation. A local prosecutor in Rome had charged that Guzzanti's comments broke a law that protects the dignity of the Church. A Vatican spokesman said that the Church approved of the decision to drop the matter.