“NewsWrap"
for the week ending February 27, 2010
(As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,144, distributed 3-1-10)
[Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley]
Reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and John Torres
Consensual adult homosexual acts are no longer illegal in
Fiji, according to a February 26th report in the “Fiji Times”.
The change came through the Crime Decree, which took effect at
the beginning of the month and replaced the South Pacific
island nation’s archaic Criminal Penal Code.
Former High Court Judge Nazhat Shameem told the newspaper that
the Criminal Penal Code punished “sodomy and unnatural
offences,” but that there were no such provisions in the Crime
Decree.
She added that the removal of laws against private consensual
adult gay sex in the new Crime Decree was probably inspired by
a 2005 High Court ruling by Justice Gerard Winter. Australian
tourist Thomas McCosker had been arrested for sodomy while
visiting Fiji, convicted, and sentenced to two years in jail.
In overturning his conviction on appeal, Winter ruled that the
act of sodomy should not be contained in the laws of Fiji if
the nature of the sexual activity was consensual.
Unlike the old Criminal Penal Code, Crime Decree laws against
rape also don’t specify the gender of the victim. So
homosexual acts are illegal only if they are committed without
consent.
The “Fiji Times” also said that authorities still have the
power to make arrests for indecent behavior in public, though
the definition of what is considered “indecent” was unclear.
The new Crime Decree is also harsher on both female and male
prostitution than its predecessor.
Religious leaders have strongly opposed the decriminalization
of homosexuality. The vast majority of indigenous Fijians are
Christian, and Methodists are the largest Christian
denomination. Outspoken New Methodist Church pastor Atunaisa
Vulano called gay people an “abomination,” and suggested that
physical punishment should be considered as a way to change
their sexuality.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Senate defeated a marriage equality
bill this week by an overwhelming majority of those present
and voting. Only five of the 50 votes – all Green Party
members – supported the measure. But 26 Senators weren’t even
in the chamber. Some of the Labor and Liberal Party absentees
were described as being uncomfortable with the positions of
their respective major parties – both support the federal law
defining marriage as exclusively heterosexual.
Openly lesbian and gay MPs were said to be in a cabinet
meeting, or at a meeting in the Opposition leader’s office.
The Greens pledged to reintroduce the bill after this year’s
elections.
Elsewhere, Britain’s Westminster Council has approved the
use of the Houses of Parliament for same-gender civil
partnerships, as well as non-religious heterosexual civil
marriages. It will be the first time civil partnership
ceremonies will be held in the Palace of Westminster.
Two venues will be available: the Jubilee Room, which
overlooks Cromwell Green and has space for 80 people, and the
MPs' Dining Room, with views of the Thames, which has space
for 150.
MPs, peers, certain parliamentary officials and their family
members can currently wed at the Chapel of St. Mary in
Parliament. Such religious venues cannot be used for civil
partnerships or civil marriages, however.
Alison Cathcart, Westminster's Superintendent Registrar for
almost 20 years, has married celebrities including Sylvester
Stallone and Joan Collins. She said she was “delighted that
this prestigious venue has been granted approval, and [we]
very much look forward to conducting the first civil ceremony
in such famous and historical settings.”
Openly gay M.P. Chris Bryant has already said he wants to be
the first to celebrate his civil partnership on parliament's
grounds. He became engaged to his partner Jared Cranney last
year.
Updating a couple of previous “NewsWrap” reports, Mexico’s
Supreme Court has rejected challenges by three states to the
recently enacted marriage equality law in Mexico City. The
states had argued that passage of the law would require them
to recognize those same-gender marriages. But the high court
called the challenges “inappropriate”, saying that one state’s
laws could not be challenged by other states, nor laws enacted
in the nation’s capital.
The Mexico City law, passed in late December and effective
March 4th, gives gay and lesbian families full marriage
equality, and includes adoption rights.
The Court has yet to rule on the challenge by a fourth state,
Jalisco, which specifically objects to the adoption provision,
arguing that children have a right to a family consisting of a
mother and a father. A fifth state, Sonora, filed a challenge
of its own.
Federal prosecutors have also targeted the law, claiming that
it violates the Mexican constitution, which guarantees to
"protect... the organization and development of the family."
Marriage equality supporters, however, say that the new law
will bolster the region’s economy. Mexico City’s Tourism
Secretary Alejandro Rojas told reporters that the capital
"will become a center where (gay) people from all over the
world will be able to come and have their wedding, and then
spend their honeymoon here.”
And in the U.S., Democrats in West Virginia’s House of
Delegates this week rejected an attempt by Republicans to
advance a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban samegender marriage. The measure reportedly had the support of
both majority and minority party leaders. Minority Republican
delegates were unsuccessful, however, in trying to force a
floor vote on the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment.
There was a lot of buzz on U.S. LGBT Web sites about an
opinion issued this week by the Attorney General in the state
of Maryland. Democrat Douglas F. Gansler concluded that the
state’s highest court is likely to uphold the recognition of
same-gender marriages legally performed elsewhere. Democratic
Senator Richard S. Madaleno Jr. had requested the opinion from
Gansler. "It's reaffirmation of what we thought,” Madaleno
said, “that Maryland can recognize gay marriage."
However, while it was issued by Maryland’s top lawyer, it’s
merely a legal opinion. Even Gansler said in a one-page
summary that his conclusion "is not free from doubt." Its
confirmation would require judicial approval of the
recognition in the state of a couple legally wed elsewhere who
file a lawsuit after being denied that recognition.
Maryland’s executive and legislative branches could also weigh
in on the issue.
In New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key and other MPs braved
the rain to join thousands at Auckland's Big Gay Out on
February 14th.
Key spent about two hours chatting with people and posing for
photos. The Prime Minister got up on stage last year with two
drag queens and, to the delight of the crowd, showed off his
dance moves.
Auckland Mayor John Banks helped launch this year’s Aroha
festival from the stage, where a variety of singers, bands,
comedians and dancers performed.
Entry to the festival was by gold coin donation, with the
proceeds going to HIV prevention initiatives.
In Australia, hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists
participated in or watched Sydney’s 33rd annual Mardi Gras
Parade on February 27th. We’ll have more details about that
celebration of LGBT Pride next week.
In other news, an all-girls boarding school in South Africa
shut down its dormitory this week after several of the
students were reported to be involved in relationships with
each other.
Two girls who were caught kissing told school authorities that
other girls in the dorm, which houses about 300 students, were
also involved in relationships. 27 girls were subsequently
expelled from the unidentified school outside Durban in
KwaZulu-Natal province. According to local media reports,
some of the girls unable to return home have been moved to
houses near the school on a temporary basis.
South Africa is the only nation in Africa with antidiscrimination laws to protect its LGBT citizens. However, as
is the case across the continent, religious and cultural
hostility towards sexual minorities remains widespread.
But a spokesperson for the nation's education department said
the school did not have the right to expel the students based
solely on their sexual orientation.
And finally, it’s not known how many athletes at the Winter
Olympics in Vancouver were gay or lesbian. Flamboyant U.S.
figure skater Johnny Weir, dubbed by some as “Liberace On
Ice”, got a lot of media attention, but finished sixth in the
competition. While there were homophobic remarks made about
him by some broadcasters, a few activists criticized him for
not specifically coming out as a gay man.
But Philip Steenkamp, President and CEO of the 2010 Olympic
and Paralympic Games, was not shy about his sexual
orientation. According to queer media reports, during a
reception at Pride House, a venue specifically created for gay
and lesbian athletes and visitors, Steenkamp thanked his
partner, calling him “a true Olympic widow. I really want to
thank him for all the support he’s given me.”
And openly lesbian Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst was golden in
the women's 1,500-meter race. She also won gold in the 3,000meter event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Then just 19 years old, she became the Netherlands' youngestever gold medal winner. “I’m so proud and happy,” Wüst told
the “Washington Post” soon after her Vancouver victory. “I
don't have the words for it,” she added. “I think I'm the
happiest person on Earth right now.”