“NewsWrap"
for the week ending July 18, 2009
(As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,112, distributed 7-20-09)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley]

Reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Chris Coleman

  Lithuania's Parliament overrode a presidential veto this week and approved a bill to outlaw the distribution of material that could be harmful to the “intellectual or moral development” of children.  The “Law on Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information” lists 19 examples, including material that "agitates for homosexual, bisexual, and polygamous relations," or graphically depicts violence or death.
The Baltic country’s former president rejected the bill before he left office at the end of June.  But in a move that wasn’t expected so quickly, lawmakers voted 87-to-6 this week for the override.  Forty-eight lawmakers either abstained or were absent in the 141-seat legislature.
Lithuania’s newly inaugurated President Dalia Grybauskaite condemned the measure, but was required to sign it into law.  She told reporters this week that she would attempt to use constitutional tools to amend it, though she offered no details.  The legislation is slated to take effect in March.
Supporters said the measure was necessary to defend traditional family values in the heavily Roman Catholic and former Soviet republic of 3.4 million people, which joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.  Opponents charge that the new law violates Lithuania's commitments as a member of the E.U., and of the United Nations.
Critics also say that it’s poorly worded, fails to define “public dissemination,” doesn’t specify the punishment for offenders, and is a clear violation of free speech rights.

  In better news for sexual and gender-variant minorities, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled this week that trans people are entitled to equal treatment by their government.  “They are citizens of Pakistan,” the 3-judge panel wrote, “and enjoy the same protection guaranteed under... the Constitution.”  The Court said that gender variant people should have equal access to international development funds and income support programs.
Effeminate men in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, especially from poor families, are often thrown out of their homes, are forced to earn a living through begging and prostitution, and have problems with identity cards that show female photos but male genders.
The Court ordered the development of programs for them by social welfare agencies at the federal and provincial levels.  It also directed the Interior Ministry to ensure police protection for gender-variant men from violence and harassment.  The judges said they wanted to review progress on those fronts in late August.

  But the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission – or IGLHRC � reported thi s week that LGBT people in Honduras are being targeted for violence and arbitrary arrests.  It said there’s been a noticeable increase in such actions since the June 28th military coup in that Central American country ousted its now-exiled elected President Manuel Zelaya.
IGLHRC says a transgender activist was shot to death after she went to work during the 2-night curfew imposed immediately after the coup.  Local activists say that her body was found with one gunshot wound through the back and one in her head, and that she was targeted by military police.
The global queer rights group says 5 well-known LGBT activists were arrested, detained and beaten while in custody the day following the coup.  They were participating in a demonstration in support of the democratically elected government.
In a statement, IGLHRC’s Latin America and Caribbean Program coordinator Marcelo Ferreyra warned that "Human rights and fundamental freedoms are being challenged in Honduras in the aftermath of the coup," and noted the “danger for those whose sexual orientation or gender identity does not conform to social norms.”  The statement called for “the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Honduras."

  Elsewhere, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center in Ulan Bator, Mongolia has been denied registration as a nongovernmental organization by the country’s Legal Entities Registration Agency because � quoting the official rejection letter � the group8 8 0s name “has a meaning that conflicts with Mongolian customs and traditions and has the potential to set the wrong example for youth and adolescents."
For its part, the Center says their name “is how we define ourselves; these are internationally accepted terminologies, and it is important that the public come to understand just what these terms mean."  The group can’t legally operate in the north central Asian country without registration.
Human Rights Watch wrote last week to Mongolia’s Minister of Justice and Home Affairs asking the government to “uphold the rights to freedom of association, to freedom of expression, and to equality and nondiscrimination” by allowing the Center to register.

  And Gibraltar's Parliament has rejected a move to equalize the territory’s age of consent.  It’s currently 16 for heterosexual and lesbian sex, but 18 for gay men.
Felix Alvarez of Gibraltar’s Equality Rights Group noted that such equality “continues to be an international-law obligation, and I am confident change will come about in time."
Gibraltar is a small self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula.
Alvarez called on British and European governments and nongovernmental organizations to pressure Gibraltar's government to end the discrimination.

  In other news, the leadership of the U.S. Episcopal Church, the American wing of the global Anglican Communion, took further steps this week20to affirm its inclusiveness of gays and lesbians.
The actions are likely to strain the Church’s relationship with fellow Anglicans, who comprise the world’s third-largest Christian denomination.  The rift began with the confirmation of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003 as the world’s first openly gay and partnered Bishop.  Theologically conservative Anglicans, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, insist on upholding Scriptural condemnations of homosexuality.  Many also oppose the ordination of female ministers.
The Episcopal General Convention, meeting in Anaheim, California, voted earlier in the week to drop a pledge it had previously made not to ordain any more openly gay clergy.
It agreed to the moratorium 3 years ago to ease tensions with fellow Anglicans.  Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams of the Church of England, the titular head of the Anglican Communion, addressed the Convention in person and appealed for continued restraint.  He said he feared the reversal would outrage traditionalists and widen the rift.
Later in the week, the Convention overwhelmingly voted to “collect and develop theological resources and liturgies" for blessing same-gender relationships.  While several Episcopal dioceses already do that – as do some congregations in the Anglican Church of Canada, a country with national marriage equality � there’s currently noo official liturgy for such ceremonies.  Bishops cited the growing number of U.S. states that recognize same-gen der unions.  The new prayers could be available for approval at the Episcopal Church’s next General Convention in 2012.
Conservative Episcopalians opposed to lesbigay-inclusiveness have already formed the Anglican Church in North America.  The Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori, warned against Communion recognition of the breakaway group, arguing that “schism is not a Christian act”.
Some observers believe that dissolution of Anglican Communion ties to the Episcopal Church is now inevitable.

  And finally, we reported last week on 5 gay men being ejected by security guards from a restaurant in El Paso, Texas after 2 of them had been kissing.  The security guards were backed up by an arriving police officer, who erroneously cited the state law against gay sex, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in 2003.  Protests have been held outside of the East Side Chico’s Tacos location, part of a popular citywide chain, and the men have filed a formal complaint with police officials.  The American Civil Liberties Union has said it may represent the men in a discrimination lawsuit.
Another gay kiss created controversy this week.  Matt Aune and his boyfriend Derek Jones, both in their mid-20s, were detained on July 9th by security guards outside the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah after one kissed the other on the cheek.  Since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints owns the Main Street Plaza outside its facilities , police were called, and the 2 men were handcuffed, cited for trespassing, and then released.
The men had kissed on the walkway outside the Church, given up by the city in 2003 in a controversial land-swap deal.  It became private property, allowing the Church to ban protesting, smoking, sunbathing and other "offensive, indecent, obscene, lewd or disorderly speech, dress or conduct."  In exchange, the city got Church property for a local community center.
The Church issued a statement this week defending its actions, claiming that the men went beyond a simple kiss, and had “engaged in... groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol."
Jones flatly denied the allegations.  On his blog, he wrote that "This especially irked the both of us because, having walked through [the Plaza] on a frequent basis... there are either marriage ceremonies going on, young Mormon couples cuddling in front the fountain, hugging, holding hands, etcetera."
About a hundred people � including supportive heterosexual coupless � gathered at Temple Square on July 12th for a peaceful “�kiss-in” to protest the incident.  Security guards monitored the protesters, and called police when they crossed onto Church property, but there were no arrests.
Further protests are in the works.



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