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Rights and votes
WASHINGTON – All across America this year, voters are being asked to decide the rights of gays and lesbians.
Referendums are proposed on same-sex marriage, on teaching public school students about homosexuality, and on whether gays should receive the same civil rights protections as racial and religious minorities. Many votes were requested by groups who oppose what they call “special rights” for gays and lesbians.
“To our knowledge, there have never been this many (gay-rights issues) on the ballot,” says David Elliott, spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “It’s a backlash against the progress we’ve made toward equality.”
In Traverse City, Mich., for example, city commissioners adopted a bitterly contested resolution opposing discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Opponents began circulating petitions to force a vote in November on a proposed city charter amendment that would nullify the toothless resolution and prohibit commissions from approving gay-rights measures of any kind.
The Christian Coalition is seeking a referendum on repealing a gay-rights ordinance in Dade County, Fla. Oregon activists are collecting signatures in support of banning homosexual instruction in public schools. And critics of an anti-discrimination measure adopted this year in Davenport, Iowa, have begun a drive to overturn it.
Presbyterian unions
NEW YORK – Local Presbyterian churches have the authority to conduct religious ceremonies celebrating gay unions that stop short of marriage.
The decision by a 16-member court is binding unless the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) overrides it.
The case, one of three on gay issues argued before the tribunal in June stemmed from a ceremony performed in Dobbs Ferry, NY. The Northeast regional church court ruled that ceremonies of “holy union” for same-sex couples may be conducted if it is made clear they are not marriages.
The high court agreed, though it instructed regional church bodies to make a clearer distinction between marriages and “blessing services.”
A second case before the high court involved a homosexual candidate for ministry who said he did not intend to remain celibate, even though church rules require clergy to observe either “fidelity in marriage” or “chastity in singleness.”
In that case, the Northeast regional court decided he could continue as a candidate, and that his “manner of life” could be evaluated prior to ordination.
Again, the high church concurreD. It said the denomination’s standards of fidelity and chastity are to be applied at the point a person is considered for ordination, not during candidacy.
Singapore speech ban
SINGAPORE – Gays and lesbians have been forbidden even from talking about their sexuality in Singapore.
Authorities canceled a planned forum on the topic, saying it would legitimize practices considered unlawful in this conservative city-state.
In a statement, police said they “cannot allow the holding of this public forum, which will advance and legitimize the cause of homosexuals in Singapore.”
Businessman Alex Au, who had requested government permission to hold Singapore’s first forum on gays and lesbians on Sunday, said he was saddened by the ban.
“It seems that civil society can only operate within the narrow confines of what the authorities deem to be the public interest,” Au said.
Gay wealth – not
WASHINGTON – A new scientific study is exploding yet another myth about the gay community: the one about the high disposable income gays have.
The study finds that just isn’t the case.
Men who consider themselves “unmarried partners” of another man are better educated on average, but make less money than heterosexual men of the same age.
Women who have female “unmarried partners” also tend to be more educated, but earn salaries comparable to those of heterosexual women in the same age bracket.
Those are among the conclusions of a study in the June issue of Demography, the journal of the Population Association of America.
Advocates applauded what they said was the first comprehensive study of homosexuals but cautioned against drawing any firm conclusions until more research is done.
The study also found that 22 percent of lesbian couples living together have children, compared to 5 percent of gay couples living together. Sanders said that may show that gay couples have less pressure to get higher-paying jobs.
Catholic silence
BALTIMORE – The Vatican has moved to silence a nun and a priest ordered to stop ministering to gays and lesbians.
Sister Jeannine Gramick said she and the Rev. Robert Nugent were summoned to Rome and instructed by their religious orders not to talk about the Vatican’s decision. While they ended their ministry, both have spoken about the church’s decision.
Gramick, of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, said she would not obey the Vatican.
“I choose to obey the voice of God within me, and in this instance, the voice of God is saying that I should not collaborate with my own oppression,” Gramick said.
A statement released by the order said that Gramick was obligated by her vows to follow the Vatican’s latest directive. She could be dismissed if she fails to comply.
Nugent chose to abide by the directive.
“I am now prohibited from speaking or writing in the public forum about the Notification itself, about the ecclesiastical process that led to it or about the issue of homosexuality,” Nugent said in a short press statement.
Zimbabwe crime
HARARE, Zimbabwe – The former president of Zimbabwe has been ordered to jail on sex and assault convictions in a ruling that said homosexual acts remain illegal.
Canaan Banana, 64, was convicted in 1999 of 11 counts of sodomy and abusing his power to sexually assault and carry out “unnatural acts” with men, most of whom were part of his presidential staff. He had appealed the convictions, contending they violated privacy rights enshrined in Zimbabwe’s constitution.
Zimbabwe’s five Supreme Court judges were divided over whether consensual sodomy by homosexuals should remain illegal, Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay said. Three of the judges took into account conservative African attitudes toward homosexuality and ruled the law should remain in effect, he said.
More polls
NEW YORK – A new national poll confirms that at least half of Americans still don’t like the idea of gay marriage.
But just as many say gay partners should have some legal rights of a married couple, such as inheritance, Social Security benefits, and health insurance.
More women than men feel gay marriage is OK. So do more Democrats than Republicans, more young people than old, and more people who feel gays are born with that sexual orientation.
The poll, conducted for The Associated Press by ICR of Media, Pa., found that 51 percent were opposed to allowing gay couples to marry, while 34 percent approved.
Half the respondents were asked the question a bit differently – whether they approved of allowing gays to form a “domestic partnership” that would give them the rights and benefits of opposite-sex marriage.
In that question, which did not refer to “gay marriage,” the number that approved allowing such a relationship grew slightly to 41 percent while the opposition was almost half.
The AP poll found that at least half of Americans support the rights of gays to receive health insurance (53 percent), Social Security benefits (50 percent) and inheritance (56 percent) from their partners.
Tuilian fight
SAN FRANCISCO – Dr. John Hensala is suing the U.S. Air Force for trying to force him to repay the government the cost of his education.
The Air Force ordered him to repay $70,000 in tuition for medical training at North-
western University and Yale.
That was after he disclosed to his superiors that he was gay. He then was discharged and billed the cost of his education.
The Air Force said Hensala deliberately timed his announce-
ment to get out of his military obligation.
But Hensala, 35, said he did not know he was gay when he signed up.
“This is largely on principle,” Hensala said in an interview in his apartment in San Francisco’s largely gay Castro District. “I would be able to pay back the funds eventually. But an employer who fires someone just because they’re gay... I don’t think it’s the right of the employer to say, ‘You owe us this money.’”
Italian Outing
ROME – There has been controversy in Italy over World Gay Pride week festivities coinciding with Jubilee Year festivities of the Roman Catholic Church.
Even that was upstaged when a member of the Italian Cabinet revealed his bisexuality.
Agriculture Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio revealed his sexual orientation in Panorama news magazine. “Courageous,” said the caption under his photo.
Very few public figures in Italy outside the fashion world are openly anything but heterosexual. Pecoraro Scanio’s announcement won quick praise in some circles.
“He broke a taboo,” the daily newspaper La Repubblica said.
But Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of dictator Benito Mussolini, was quick to criticize Pecoraro Scanio for going public. Mussolini is a member of parliament from the National Alliance, a party born out of the ashes of her grandfather’s political movement.
“Sexuality should remain a private matter,” she said.
Gay Days Growing
ORLANDO, Fla. – Gay Days at Walt Disney World has finally come out of the closet.
During one year of the celebration, Disney posted signs at the entrance warning guests that there was a gathering of homosexuals in the Magic Kingdom. In other years, passes to other Disney parks were offered to guests who might be offended by large numbers of gays.
In the celebration’s tenth year its 10th year this weekend, it’s now as much a part of Disney as Mickey Mouse.
The event has expanded to the company’s three other parks, as well as non-Disney ones such as Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando. And for the past few years, popular Disney World attractions such as the Typhoon Lagoon water park and the Pleasure Island nightclub have held related parties and performances.
Puerto Rico demo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Gay and lesbian activists in Puerto Rico are demonstrating to end a ban on homosexuality.
Dozens waving flags emblazoned with the gay-rights rainbow symbol walked through the Condado tourist district to a rally in Luis Munoz Rivera Park recently. There, speakers decried the law that makes sex between people of the same gender a crime punishable by 10 years in prison.
No one has ever been charged under the law, and prosecutors recently refused to arrest a lesbian pastor who offered herself as a test case. But homosexuals complain that the law encourages prejudice against them.
“We demand peace for the lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals and transgendered who are bombarded with taunts, contaminated by homophobia, abused by violence,” Amparo Fidalgo, spokeswoman of the gay rights coalition Rainbow Pride, said to a cheering crowd.
Gay rights advocates have been quietly lobbying lawmakers to change the law, but they have all declined to present such a bill, Fidalgo said.
Auto benefits
DETROIT – Tolerance and acceptance has come to the heartland.
The big three automakers – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – will extend health care benefits to the partners of gay employees.
The announcement from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler AG covers about 465,000 employees and could signal that such benefits will become standard in corporate America.
“This is really a landmark,” said Kim Mills, education director with the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group in Washington. “We’ve never really seen an industry get together as a group and say we’re going to institute these benefits.”
The companies said they decided to extend health benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of employees after agreeing to study the issue as part of new contracts made with the United Auto Workers last fall.
Starting Aug. 1, employees can apply to get medical, dental and prescription benefits for their same-sex partners.
Texas sodomy
HOUSTON – An appeals court has struck down the law against sodomy in Texas.
The court threw out the case of two Houston men who were arrested inside a home in 1998 for having sex with each other.
Texas has had a sodomy law since 1860, but dropped criminal penalties for partners of the opposite sex in 1974.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 14th Court of Appeals said the law violates the Texas Constitution’s equal-rights protections.
“The simple fact is, the same behavior is criminal for some but not for others, based solely on the sex of the individuals who engage in the behavior,” Justice John S. Anderson wrote.
The law was challenged by John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, who were arrested when police entered Lawrence’s apartment and found the men having sex. They were charged with “deviant homosexual conduct,” punishable by a fine of up to $500.
Dean fired
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A group of college professors has censured a Roman Catholic college that fired a dean because he is gay.
The American Association of University Professors accuses Albertus Magnus College of violating the academic freedom of Michael Hartwig, a former priest who had been an associate dean and religion professor.
College spokesman Mike Serpe called the censure “predetermined” and “biased,” saying the school took proper steps in not renewing Hartwig’s employment for a different reason.
Hartwig had publicly described himself as “a priest on leave” in a newspaper article, but college administrators said he had told them when hired in 1991 that he had left the priesthood.
The controversy put them in an awkward position, Albertus Magnus leaders said.
Hartwig also was identified as a priest on leave, as well as gay, in The Wanderer, a national Roman Catholic magazine.
Hartwig maintains he was fired because he was gay. A lawsuit over his dismissal in 1997 is pending in Hartford federal court.
Prosecutor out
CHARLESTON, S.C. – A prosecutor who revealed he is gay has been defeated in a bid for re-election.
Prosecutor David Schwacke was the first openly gay Republican to hold office in the South.
“The one thing I’m most proud of is I never let what was going on in my personal life ever interfere with my coming in to do my job,” said Schwacke. He lost to former federal prosecutor Ralph Hoisington on Tuesday, although the margin was so close there will be a recount.
“Clearly the gay issue came into play for some voters,” said Schwacke, who sought a third term as solicitor after acknowledging in 1997 that he was homosexual.
He said being the incumbent helped him with other voters, who “ultimately discounted it as an issue because they were able to look at the record.”
Hoisington won by 255 votes out of 29,915 cast, less than 1 percent, triggering an automatic recount under state law. Charleston County will recount on Friday while the recount in Berkeley County is expected next week.
Hoisington’s campaign included signs with the slogan “For Our Families,” which were taken in some quarters as a not-so-veiled reference to Schwacke’s homosexuality.
Scottish sexuality
EDINBURGH, Scotland – Scotland’s parliament has repealed a law that barred the promotion of homosexuality in schools.
That’s a controversial measure that the British government has failed to get rid of in England and Wales.
The law – known as Section 28 – was passed by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, and its repeal was one of the campaign promises of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labor Party when they ousted the Tories in 1997.
Government officials argue that the law inhibits staff in local authorities, which run many schools and colleges, from counseling gay and lesbian people, and makes it difficult for teachers to stop people from bullying of homosexual students.
Members of Scottish parliament approved the repeal bill 99-17. In England and Wales, the repeal would be by the House of Commons in London.
“Repeal is not and never has been about the promotion of homosexuality in our schools,” Communities Minister Wendy Alexander told the parliament. “Nor is repeal about political correctness or even marriage. It is about building a tolerant Scotland.”