“NewsWrap"
for the week ending June 6, 2009
(As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,106, distributed 6-8-09)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley]

Reported this week by Rick Watts and Tanya Kane-Parry

  New Hampshire this week became the 6th U.S. state to open civil marriage to same-gender couples.  Democratic Governor John Lynch signed the bill into law after the state House and Senate approved compromise language to strengthen protections for religious institutions that refuse to wed or recognize lesbian and gay couples.  The governor had demanded the additional language before he would sign the measure.  Same-gender couples can begin marrying in New Hampshire on January 1st.
Gay and lesbian couples will be able to marry in the state of Vermont in September.  They can already do so in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa.  Opponents in Maine are threatening a public referendum to overturn the marriage equality law there.  The U.S. federal government, however, does not recognize same-gender civil marriages in any state.

  By the minimum two-thirds margins required, Nevada's legislature voted on May 30th and 31st to override Republican Governor Jim Gibbons' veto of a domestic-partnership bill.
The vote was 28-to-14 in the Assembly.  In the Senate, 10 Democrats and 4 Republicans voted for the override, and 5 Republicans and 2 Democrats voted against it.
The new law extends nea rly all state-level rights and obligations of marriage to both same-gender and heterosexual registered domestic partners.
Gibbons had claimed the bill violated a 2002 state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.   He also argued that a gay or lesbian couple could sign private contracts if they desired the protections of marriage for their relationship.

  A civil unions bill in the state of Illinois, however, died quietly this week as the legislative session came to an end.
The bill, titled the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, specified that religious bodies would not be required to recognize the unions.  The measure would have extended virtually all the state rights of marriage to both same-gender and heterosexual couples.
While a House panel approved the bill in March, it went no further.  Representative David Reis, who has sponsored a number of failed bills to constitutionally ban same-gender marriage, reportedly added several financial amendments to the measure, which slowed its progress in the House.

  But a lesbian couple legally married on the Coquille Indian reservation near Coos Bay, Oregon in late May.  It was believed to be the first such marriage in the U.S.
Kitzen Branting and Jeni Branting, each in her late 20s, tied the knot in a Coquille meeting hall under a tribal marriage equality law passed last year but just now taking effect.
Their marriage will not be recognized in the state of Oregon or by the U.S. federal government.  But it will be legal on the property of the tribe, which is a sovereign nation.

  Following up on our report last week, the newly-formed group behind a lawsuit challenging California’s Proposition 8 in U.S. federal court, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, announced its Board of Directors this week.  They include Academy Award-winning “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, movie director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer Reiner, and Bruce Cohen, the producer of the gay-themed film “American Beauty”.  Chad Griffin, a former communications staffer in the Clinton administration, serves as Board president.
Attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies filed suit in federal court last week on behalf of 2 California same-gender couples who were denied marriage licenses by the state.  Olson and Boies argued opposing sides in the Bush v. Gore elections case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000.  But they’re heading up the new rights group’s lawsuit together, and say they believe it will eventually be heard by the same Court.  But virtually every U.S. LGBT advocacy group has expressed deep reservations about the lawsuit.  They fear a loss in the Supreme Court could set back marriage equality efforts in the country for decades.

  The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that judges in lower courts or in local town halls are required to marry gay and lesbian couples.  It said members of the20judiciary are subject to anti-discrimination laws just like everyone else in Spain.
According to a report at “typically-spanish-dot-com,” a magistrate in Sagunto, Valencia had filed an appeal with the high court saying that he did not want to conduct such ceremonies on religious grounds.  The General Council for Judicial Power, the body that oversees the judiciary in Spain, has already ruled that judges can’t refuse to marry same-gender couples.  Spain equalized its marriage laws in 2005.

  Centrelink, the Australian government's social-benefits agency, will begin to treat same-gender de facto couples the same as heterosexual married couples on July 1st.
Centrelink assistance includes health care, prescription drugs, unemployment payments, disaster aid, rent subsidies, and a wide range of other benefits and welfare programs.
Even though the move is a step toward equality, it will also result in a loss of benefits for some couples who previously qualified based on their individual incomes.
And while same-gender couples enjoy limited forms of legal recognition in some states, Australian federal law defines marriage as exclusively heterosexual, and the Government has rejected proposals for a national civil unions law.

  The Hong Kong Government promised this week to amend its Domestic Violence Ordinance to include gay and lesbian couples “so as to provide them,” the announcement said, “with additional civil remedies on top of the current criminal legislative framework.E2
The Government last August extended the scope of the law to include former heterosexual spouses, former heterosexual cohabitants, and other immediate and extended family members.  The inclusion of same-gender couples was one of the demands of LGBT activists during a recent demonstration in the city.
Following formal consultations to begin later this month, the new laws on domestic violence will remove all references to marriage or gender and refer instead to "cohabitation partnerships."
In the same announcement, however, the Government stressed that Hong Kong will continue to refuse recognition to same-gender marriages or similar relationships.  It further specified that "’domestic violence’ and ‘cohabitation relationships violence’ are two different categories with no inter-relationship.”

  The Scottish Parliament this week passed legislation to enhance sentencing for hate-motivated crimes committed against LGBT and disabled people.
The vote follows the adoption of similar legislation in England and Wales.
The Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill adds perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability to existing bias crime laws covering race and religion.  Courts must consider the motivation for the offense, which could then result in a more severe sentence.

  Meanwhile, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted 326-to-267 last week to uphold the appointment of a partnered gay minister to a parish in Aberdeen.
The Reveren d Scott Rennie was appointed a year ago, but had been unable to assume his duties as opponents sought to block the move.
At the same time, the General Assembly ordered a moratorium on the appointment of any more gay ministers until a Church commission studies the issue and reports back in 2011.
Church ministers opposed to Rennie's placement have vowed to withhold collection-plate funds from the national church in protest.
The Church of Scotland -- "the Kirk" -- is Presbyterian, and counts 14 percent of Scots as members, though 42 percent of the population named it as their denomination in the 2001 census.
The General Assembly of the 2.3-million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) defeated a motion in April to allow open gays and lesbians to serve in the clergy, though it was reportedly by a narrower margin than for similar efforts in previous years.

  The Church of Sweden has appointed a lesbian as the bishop of Stockholm.
Eva Brunne, who is in a registered partnership, is believed to be the world's first lesbian bishop.  The 55-year-old has a 3-year-old son with her partner, Gunilla Linden, who is herself a priest.
Brunne won the post by a 413-to-365 vote and will succeed Bishop Caroline Krook, who plans to retire in November.
A gender-neutral marriage law in Sweden came into force on May 1st, allowing same-gender couples to marry in religious or civil ceremonies.  The Church of Sweden, which is Lutheran, had blessed lesbian and gay civil partnerships, which were in f orce before the marriage equality law was passed.  The Church supported the new law, but said it will not formally decide whether to perform same-gender marriage ceremonies until its conclave in October.

  And finally, after a 7-year absence, India’s only LGBT publication, “Bombay Dost,” is back.  The then-underground English language magazine � the title means “Bombay Frieends” � stopped publishing after 12 years when it ran outt of money in 2002.  It’s re-emerged as a twice-yearly glossy after securing 3 years of major funding from the United Nations Development Program.  Bollywood actress and former Miss India Celina Jaitley has also provided funding and offered her vocal support, although she says she’s received hate mail for doing so.
“Bombay Dost” is now available in bookstores and on newsstands across India, and internationally through its website, “Bombay-Dost-dot-i-n-dot-c-o”.
In its earlier incarnation, the magazine was generally sold only by roadside vendors, and was often wrapped in plain brown paper.  The re-launched 56-page glossy includes one “beefcake” shot of Mr. Gay India in swimming trunks, but is otherwise filled with LGBT news and analysis, along with book and art reviews.  The next issue will come out in October.
British colonial-era laws against consensual adult same-gender sex are still on the books in India.  But a more vocal LGBT community has become increasingly visible. =2 0A first-ever Pride march was held last year in the capital of New Delhi, and the country’s highest court is considering a challenge to those laws criminalizing sex “against the order of nature”.  Editor Vikram Phukan told “Advocate-dot-com” via e-mail that “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.  We want [a cover to read] ‘Freedom, at last!’”



An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!