Texas Sodomy Law To Be
Tested
DALLAS — The U.S. Supreme Court
is being asked to review one of only
four remaining state laws banning
consensual same-gender sex.

On July 17, Lambda Legal
Defense filed an appeal with the high
court of the Texas conviction of two
men who were arrested for having
sex in a private home. On September
17, 1998, sheriffs deputies, respond-
ing to a false report of an armed
intruder, entered John Lawrence's
apartment and found Lawrence and
Tyron Garner having sex. Both were
arrested and jailed overnight and later
convicted and ordered to pay a fine.

Higher courts within the
Texas system upheld the conviction,
but Lambda hopes the Supreme
Court will strike down the law entire-
ly. Other than Texas, only Missouri,
Kansas and Oklahoma ban consensu-
al sex between two men or two
women.

Dems May ‘Take Back’
Interest in Miami

MIAMI — If Miami voters vote to
repeal the city’s gay rights ordinance,
the Democratic Party will cross
Florida off the list of possible sites
for the 2004 national convention.

The gay-rights ordinance,
passed by the County Commission in
1998, prohibits discriminationin .
housingiand employment on the basis
of sexual orientationflt is being
threatened by Take Back Miami-
Dade's successful effort to put a
voter referendum on the fall ballot.
Eladio José Armesto, the group’s
spokesperson, said the Democratic '
Party is using “political blackmail” to
coerce Dade voters. Armesto is a
member of the Miami-Dade County
Democratic Executive Committee
and was censured by the party for his
role in the anti-gay initiative.

Joe Andrew, the person
responsible for selecting the site of
the 2004 convention said that many
delegates would feel uncomfortable
meeting in Miami if it rejected civil
rights for gays. “Would it matter if a
piece of legislation passed that was
antagonistic to a core part of our
Democratic Party, gays and lesbians?
Sure. it would matter,” said Andrew.
Four cities are in the running to host
the Democrats and bring an estimated
$200,000 into their economies:
Miami, Boston, Detroit and New
York. The decision will be announced
in November.

Ontario says No to Second
Class Citizens

TORONTO — Ontario’s provincial
government will not quibble with a
landmark July Superior Court ruling
that said denying gays and lesbians
the right to marry was “creating sec-
ond class.citizens.”

“If two people decide that
they want to be in a union, why
would I interfere with that?” said
Ontario premier Ernie Eves.

The federal government has
not yet decided if it will appeal to the
Supreme Court. Eves, however,
called on the government to abandon
any consideration of appealing the
decision and enact legislation to

make gay marriages legal. “We'll just
be urging the federal government to
get on with what the court has decid-
ed and to do something about the
issue so that all provinces, notjust
ourselves, can follow suit,” Eves

.said.

The premier also criticized
the Alberta government for threaten-
ing to use the notwithstanding clause
in the Constitution to prevent any
laws accepting gay marriage from
being enforced on the province.

Germany confirms
Partnerships

BONN —A law granting gay and les- -

bian couples legal partnerships was
upheld by that country’s highest court
in July.

An attempt by three of
Germany’s most conservative states I
to overturn the law that went into
effect in August of last year in the
Constitutional Court stemmed from
their contention that it put gay “life
partnerships” on a par with marriage
and would give them access to spe-
cial constitutional protections.

The court dismissed the
challenge to the law, ruling that the
institution of marriage was not com-
promised by the law.

, The decision is seen as an
embarrassment for Germany's conser-
vative party, the Christian Democrats.
_The country is embroiled in a heated
election campaign. Earlier this sum-
mer, party leader Edmund Stoiber
said that he would seek to overturn
the law if the CD were elected to
office. He has since attempted to
soften his position, but many in the
party are pledged to repeal the .
legislation.

The partnership union law
gives certain rights to members of
officially registered gay and lesbian
couples, such as adoption of the
spouse's family name, patient visiting
and information rights, the right to
make bequests and to have joint
health insurance coverage.

US servicemen charged in
Gay Bashing

VANCOUVER — Two US sailors are
charged with assault and weapons
offenses after an apparent gay-bash-
ing.

The attack began when a
man was approached by the pair ask-
ing for directions. Before the victim
could say anything one of the sailors
allegedly sprayed him in the face
with what police said was a noxious
gas.

When the man, whose.
name was not released by police, fell
to the ground the pair began kicking
him and yelling homophobic epithets.
The two men took off, and the victim
gave chase with help from a passer-
by.

“When he was cornered, ‘
one of the suspects produced a knife
in a somewhgt threatening gesture,”
said Det. Scott Driemel, a spokesper-
son for the Vancouver Police
Department V

“At this point Vancouver
Police were able to arrive and two
individuals were arrested.”

Driemel said additional
charges are pending.

Muppet Upsets GOP
congressmen

WASHINGTON, DC —A group of
conservative Republicans have con-
demned the introduction of an HIV
positive Muppet on public television,
and have issued a veiled threat to
public television that it could face
spending scrutiny if it goes ahead
with the project.

The Muppet is scheduled to
begin appearing on the South African
version of children's show Sesame
Street later this year. The announce-
ment, at the World AIDS conference
in Barcelona last month, was imme-
diately hailed by AIDS workers.

But the congressmen's let-
ter to PBS, obtained by entertainment
industry paper Variety, questions the
appropriateness of such a character
and subject matter on public televi-
sion. “We look forward to working
with you to ensure that only age and
culturally appropriate programs air
on PBS, which is a mainstay that mil-
lions of parents have come to rely
upon over the past 35 years,” it says.

The letter was signed by
five Republican members of the
House Commerce Committee, led by
chairman W.J. Tauzin of Louisiana. It
reminds PBS president Pat Mitchell
that Congress has the last word on
funding for the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting.

In announcing it would
introduce the new character, the net-
work said it was hoped the new
Muppet would help combat the
spread of HIV and AIDS by educat-

ing youngsters on the epidemic. More

than 10 percent of the South African
population is infected with HIV.

The congressmen are sup-
ported by The American Family
Association.The AFA says the char-
acter is a means for “homosexual
activists to influence young viewers.”

‘Along with Tauzin, the let-
ter was signed by Representatives Joe
Barton (R-Texas), Cliff Steams (R-
Florida), Fred Upton (R-Michigan),
Charles Pickering (R-Mississippi)
and Richard Burr (R-North Carolina).

Dog Owner Sentenced in Dog
Mauling Death

SAN FRANCISCO —— The woman in
charge of two dogs who mauled a
San Francisco lesbian to death last
year was sentenced last month to the
maximum of four years behind bars.
With time served, Marjorie Knoller,
46, will be out in about 14 months.

Diane Whipple was
attacked by two giant Presa Canario
dogs, outside her apartment door in
January 2001. During her trial
Knoller testified that she tried to fling
herself between the animals, each of
which weighed more than 100
pounds.

Knoller had been convicted
in March of second-degree murder,
involuntary manslaughter and having
a mischievous dog that killed some-
one. Noel, 60, was found guilty of
the manslaughter and mischievous
dog charges.

But the judge threw out the
murder charge, saying Knoller had no

‘ way of knowing the dogs would kill

someone when she lefi her apartment
that day.

In sentencing Knoller,
Judge James Warren said she
deserved the maximum because she
had shown no remorse and had lied
under oath in denying that her dogs
menaced others. V

“You knew those dogs were
dangerous, you knew you could not
control them, you took them outside
anyway and it was clear at some
point, someone was going to get hurt
by those dogs,” the judge told
‘Knoller, ordering her to pay $6,800
in restitution to Sharon Smith,
Whipple's partner.

“This isn't about money. It
wouldn't matter if it was $6,800 or
$68 million,” Smith said outside
court. “I'm very happy today to be
where we are and that Marjorie’s
going to prison.”

Stalin and Khruschev?
MOSCOW — Russian author
Vladimir Sorokin was arrested in
July for writing a satirical novel in
which he describes former commu-
nist leaders Josef Stalin and Nikita
Khrushchev having gay sex. Sorokin
is a cult writer whose books are pop-
ular with young intellectuals. Police
said the book, Goluboye Salo (Blue
Lard) contained pornographic pas-
sages. If convicted, Sorokin faces up
to two years in prison.

Goluboye is Russian slang
for gay. Although the book was pub-
lished three years ago, ‘prosecutors
said they were acting on a complaint
from a man who had recently pur-
chased the futuristic novel at one of
the street markets in Moscow, read it,
and got angry.

Sorokin, 46, denies the
book is indecent. “Pomographic liter-
ature is aimed at sexually arousing
the reader and contains pornographic
scenes only. My novel Blue Lard has v
only two erotic scenes and is about
the collapse of Russian literature,”"
Sorokin told Interfax news agency.
“This could be the beginning of a
‘mopping-up‘ operation, not just in
literature but in culture as a whole,"
he said of the charges laid against
him.

In June Sorokin was the
target of street protests by the youth
wing of a party that supports
President Vladimir Putin.

Judge: Your Kids or Your
Partner

BOISE — An Idaho man is appealing
a county magi‘strate's ruling that he
either stop living with his partner or
lose visitation rights with his
children.

It is believed that the rul-
ing, by Bonneville County magistrate
Mark Riddoch, is the first time the
rights of gay parents have been heard
in an Idaho court.

Riddoch told Theron
McGriff as long as he lived in the
same house with his partner, he
would not allow visitation by
McGriff’s two school-age children.

The magistrate awarded
custody of the children to McGriff’s
ex-wife, Shawn McGrifi'. The ruling
stated thatMcGriff could receive visi-
tation rights “providing Father is not
residing in the same house with his
male partner.”

 

 

 

the rest of ourworld

Shawn McGriff’s attorney,
Marie Tyler, said the mother's
biggest concern was how Theron's
homosexuality would affect the chil-
dren.

“(They) are engaging in
fiction if they believe that sleeping
with a homosexual partner in Idaho
Falls, Idaho, is no different than
sleeping with a heterosexual partner,”
Tyler said.

“I will take it as high as I
need to take it," McGriff said. “I
can’t live like this without my
kids.”The state Supreme Court has
the option of hearing the appeal, or
letting the lower court ruling stand.

He and his partner recently
bought a house together. Because of
the ruling, McGrifi‘" s partner moved
into a mobile home in front of the
house.

Tyler said she is confident
that if the Idaho Supreme Court hears
the case, it will follow the leads of
North Dakota, Ohio and Michigan,
where custody has been denied to
gay parents because they were living
with same-sex partners.

Majorlty Supports Same-Sex
Partnerships

WASHINGTON, DC — A US national
survey shows a clear majority of
Americans support basic partnership
rights for same-sex couples.

The poll, by Witeck-Combs
Communications/Harris lnteractive,'
was taken in.June. It shows that
Americans support granting gay and
lesbian couples joint property rights,
providing for estate inheritance laws,
and the granting of emergency health
care authority and hospital visitation
rights.

In addition, a plurality of
individuals surveyed (48 percent)
also supports Social Security survivor
benefits for same-sex couples, with
34 percent opposed and 18 percent
undecided.

U.S. adults were asked
whether same-sex couples should
have the following rights and benefits
that are provided to legally married
couples: 7l percent support hospital
visitation rights; 66 percent support
emergency health care authority; 60
percent support joint property rights;
59 percent support estate inheritance
laws; 48 percent support Social
Security survivor benefits.

When asked specifically
about the distribution of $2.3 billion
in funds raised for families directly
impacted by September ll, 48 per-
cent supported giving the same com-
pensation to same-sex couples as to
legally married couples. Just under a
third (31%) indicated they were
opposed, and one in five (21%) said
they neither supported nor opposed
equal benefits.

2,050 adults took part in
the survey. Six per cent self-identi-
fied as gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans-
gender. The survey was conducted
online between June 20 and 26, 2002
by Harris Interactive, a worldwide
market research and consulting firm,
in conjunction with Witeck-Combs
Communications, Inc., a strategic
public relations and marketing com-
munications firm with special expert-
ise in the GLBT market. V