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NEWS ITEMS AFFECTING GAYS AND LESBIANS
FOR 2002 - APRIL to JUNE
Sponsored link.
News of 2002-APR:
 | APR-6: USA: LesGay "truth" days: On APR-10, groups and
individuals working towards equal rights for gays, lesbians,
bisexuals and transgender people will hold a "Day of Silence."
It is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network (GLSEN), in collaboration with the United States
Student Association. Some gays, lesbians, bisexuals and
heterosexuals will not speaking for most of the day. They will
hand out "speaking cards" which say: "Please
understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating
in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the
silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and
their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is
caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe
that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these
injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What
are you going to do to end the silence?"
More information. |
| MAY-7: Canada: Gay-lesbian couples gain rights: The government of Alberta is
considered one of the most socially conservative in Canada. However,
they have allowed gays and lesbians to adopt. The
government has introduced two bills:
 | Bill 29 would give same-sex couples the same inheritance rights as married
couples if one dies without having prepared a will. The courts ordered
the government to pass a bill with this content. |
| Bill 30 would recognize same-sex couples who have lived
together for three years, or who have signed a relationship
contract, or who have a child. Partners would be required to pay
spousal support payments in the event that their relationship
fails. The government is going to hold the bill over until the
fall of 2002 in order to gauge public reaction. 2 |
|
| MAY-10: TX: Houston Vineyard church expels lesbian couple:
The Houston Vineyard church -- a charismatic group -- has expelled a lesbian
couple because they refused to break up their committed
relationship. Donna and Marti Rickard had been permitted to attend
services and take communion but were prohibited becoming members
or serving in any official capacity. Pastor Dan Palandro said:
"In order to bring more pressure on them to really take seriously
what they are doing is sin, and for the integrity of our church --
what we believe, the life we believe we're called to live -- [we
felt] we needed to withhold the ministry of the church from them
and ask them to leave, as an act of discipline -- in line with
Matthew 18 and I Corinthians 5....We do have some people who are
wrestling with issues of homosexuality who [for example] are
serving in our food pantry, and also serving tables in another
ministry we have. So we are willing for them to be in a 'serving'
capacity of that nature. But areas they wanted to be in [such as]
on the worship team [or] our prayer ministry team -- we wouldn't
allow them to do that." 3 |
| 2002-MAY-17: Australia: Gays and lesbians refused refused
communion: Groups of gays and lesbians who are promoting equal rights
for homosexuals attempted to come forward for communion in various Roman
Catholic cathedrals on Pentecost Sunday. Included were twenty individuals
at St. Mary's in Sydney and twelve at St. Patrick's in Melbourne. They
were refused communion. Similar groups in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York,
and Rochester were given communion. In Melbourne, Archbishop Denis Hart
blessed the group. Archbishop George Pell told the congregation at St.
Mary's that "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Homosexual
acts are contrary to the natural law, they close the sexual act to the
gift of life." The group returned to their pews and stood in silent
protest. Spokesperson Michael Kelly said: "Refusal to give communion is
the second most serious sanction in church life, after excommunication. So
it's a very rare and very important sanction that's been imposed on us."
Pell later read out a prepared statement regretting that "an
ideological demonstration" was mounted during Mass. He said that any
Catholic who who publicly defined himself as "supporting or practicing
activities contrary to church teaching in a serious matter is not entitled
to receive Holy Communion." He said that he would "continue to
dialogue privately and publicly with those who think differently."
Kelly said that the group had sent church leaders nine written appeals for
dialogue over the past five years. All have been ignored. 4 |
| MAY-20: USA: Discovery.com program features birth to
lesbian couple: The Learning Channel (TLC) features two
episodes of a program called A Baby Story every weekday.
Each episode follows a couple through the last stages of pregnancy
and the actual birth. On the 2 PM ET program today, they featured
Kim and Ali, a lesbian couple. They discussed how the couple met,
and their developing relationship. Included was a brief movie of
their union ceremony. A highlight of the program was Kim's
description of a tour of the hospital delivery facilities by Ali
and her daughter. The daughter seems to have become peeved when
the staff referred to the "moms and dads." She piped up that she had
a "Mom and a Mommy." The baby was born by C-section since it
otherwise would have been a breech birth. Personnel at the
Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in California seem to
have handled the two mommies in stride. If you want to send TLC a
letter expressing your appreciation or condemnation, they can be
reached at
letters@discovery.com. |
| JUN-01: USA: Compensation for gay partners of 9-11 victims:
Vote.com conducted a poll
of Internet users to determine public opinion on compensating gay
and lesbian partners. After two days of polling, with 7,335 total
votes cast, the results were:
| 71% "Yes: Many of the 22 surviving partners of gay
victims were in financially interdependent relationships; their
needs must not be neglected." |
| 29% "No: Applying the same standards to gay partners and
married couples would set a troubling precedent. |
|
| JUN-04: Israel: First Gay Pride March to be held in
Jerusalem: Hagai Elad, is the director of the Jerusalem
Open House, an group that provides support for gays and
lesbians in Jerusalem and in the West Bank. He announced that the
march "...will take place on Friday [June 7] in coordination
with the municipality and under heavy police protection. We are
expecting thousands to participate in this unprecedented march,
including groups from Italy, Sweden and Canada." It will be
called "Love without Borders". In late May, Orthodox Jewish
members of the city government held an emergency meeting to find
ways of blocking the march. According to a Jerusalem weekly, the
officials promised "riots never seen before in this city"
and vowed not to "let this parade take place."
Ultra-Orthodox Shas deputy Nissim Ze'ev said on Israel radio that
it "would constitute an injury to the holy character of
Jerusalem ... and to the morals and the sacred values of the
people of Israel, which was based around the family".
5 |
| JUN-05: USA: Psychoanalytic Association endorses
gay/lesbian parenting: The American Psychoanalytic
Association is the smallest of the APA's which also include
the American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological
Association. According to Focus on the Family, they have "given
unqualified endorsement to homosexual adoption and parenting. The
group says sexual orientation shouldn't even be considered in
legal decisions concerning parenting." Their statement says,
in part: "Gay and lesbian individuals and couples are capable
of meeting the best interest of the child....[They
should be] afforded the same rights and....responsibilities as
heterosexual parents." Chairperson Gary Grossman headed
the committee which issued the statement. He commented that it
should "help judges, who may have their own biases for whatever
reasons, to look at the evidence and listen to the professionals..."Optimally,
children do better with two parents, but the gender of the parents
is really not so relevant." 6 |
| 2002-JUN-15: Canada:
Anglican diocese decides to bless same-sex unions: The diocese
of New Westminster consists of 80 parishes in southwestern British
Columbia, at the western extreme of Canada. At their annual
meeting, they passed a motion by a vote of 215 to 129 to bless
same-sex unions in church rituals. The resolution contained:
| A conscience clause
which allows priests to opt out of the performance of such
blessings if they wished. |
| Provision whereby
individual parishes can vote on whether or not they will endorse
the decision. |
| Provision allowing parishes to request the
help of a visiting bishop to tend to pastoral needs of parishes
which are uncomfortable with the blessing of same-sex committed
relationships. |
A crowd of delegates walked
out of the meeting after the results were announced. A group
called the Anglican Communion in New Westminster, who
represent members of nine churches, issued a "...dissent from
the resolution..." Steve Schuh, president of Integrity
Vancouver -- a gay-lesbian-transexual support group -- said: "At
long last, the church as found a way to give us a space to
recognize God's blessing in our life. It's been a long time
coming...On the other hand, there is also sadness that some of our
conservative friends don't feel like they can be in a church that
welcomes gay and lesbian people in this way." This is the
first diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada to endorse
same-sex unions. They join the United Church of Canada, the
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches,
Unitarian Universalist congregations, and probably other
liberal Canadian religious groups in providing this recognition
and service. 7 |
| JUN-18: USA: Nickelodeon program to have episode on
same-sex couples: The Nickelodeon channel is a
U.S.-based children's TV channel which broadcasts on a number of
satellites worldwide. It is owned by Viacom who also own Paramount
and MTV. They have regular programs like Clarissa Explains it
All, about a teenager who explains what is happening in her
life and the motivations behind the events; and Rugrats, an
animated show involving six young kids. They also have aired "Nick
News Specials" such as "Terrorism and the American Spirit"
and "Faces of hope: The kids of Afghanistan." They plan to
air another special on JUN-18 called "My Family is Different."
It deals with intolerance and prejudice faced by children who are
raised in families headed by same-sex parents. Producer and
Peabody Award winner Linda Ellerbee
says the program "is about families, diversity, respect and
tolerance." She added "It is never a wrong time to
talk about hate. It's just not. That's all our show is about."
She said that she decided to create the special after learning
that the word "fag" had become the most common school-yard
epithet in the U.S. The Fundamentalist Christian Traditional Values Coalition (TVC)
was
outraged. They sent out a news release on MAY-8 saying that this
program "proves that this network has been co-opted by
homosexual activists who are targeting children. Sodomy is not a
family value. Nickelodeon has now lost the trust of parents."
Later, TVC spokesperson Andrea Lafferty said, sight-unseen, that
the program: "...is a cover for promoting homosexuality for
kids." Famous Fundamentalist leader Jerry Falwell appears on
the show. He said that Nickelodeon's intent is to "invade the minds
and hearts of children who enjoy Nickelodeon..."It is unthinkable
that Nick would open its airwaves for the promotion of a lifestyle
that most people of faith do not approve of and certainly to take
advantage of the minds of little children who trust Nickelodeon"
and teach them that having a homosexual orientation is OK. In spite of Falwell's opposition to the program,
-- he urged that it not be aired -- he seems to
support its purpose. He also said that: "violence and hostility
toward children who may be a member of a same-sex family is
wrong....Little children are not responsible where they live and
that they have two fathers or two mothers...[these children]
"should be treated with respect and love like any other child."
Response of the public to the program:
| The TVC set up a petition on their web site so that any
visitor could
demand that Nickelodeon cancel the special. TVC claims that over
100,000 have signed. According to Nickelodeon, they have only
received a fraction of that number. |
| CNN
covered the story during the morning of JUN-18. Their E-mails were
running ten to one in favor of the program. |
| Vote.com added a
question to their web site: "Do You Support Nickelodeon's
Decision To Air a Special For Children About Same-Sex Parents?"
Actually, the program is not about same-sex parents; it is
about the hatred, discrimination, and harassment that children of
same-sex parents experience. 18,235 votes had been tabulated as of
2002-JUN-18 at 9:40 PM ET. Results were:
 | 74% Yes! "The program is about tolerance, not sex.
Kids need to understand the destructiveness of hate." |
| 26% No! "It's a cover for promoting homosexuality to
children. Nickelodeon has violated the trust of parents."
|
|
It may be worth noting
that none of the complaint or supportive letters or votes were by people
who have actually viewed the program. 8,9 |
| 2002-JUN-20: ME: Salvation Army to lose funding:
Portland ME city council approved an ordinance in 2001-MAY that
requires organizations to provide health benefits to the domestic
partners of homosexual employees if the organization is to receive
funding from the city. The local branch of the Salvation Army has
been receiving $60,000 a year in funding for it s Meals on Wheels
program and for a senior center. But they refuse to extend
benefits to the spouses of gay and lesbian partners. City
Councilman James Cloutier, said: "Portland has a well
established element of non-discrimination ... and this is simply a
requirement that we have that all organizations that receive
public funds are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of
sexual orientation." |
| 2002-JUN-27: USA: President Bush signs benefits bill:
The President signed a bill into law that would allow death
benefits to be paid to the survivors of firefighters, police
officers and police chaplains who die in the line of duty. This
includes heterosexual and bisexual workers who are married;
heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual workers who live together in
common-law living arrangements; and gay and lesbian workers who
have have civil union status from the state of Vermont. Gay-rights
organizations praised the fairness of the bill. Some homosexual
partners of workers killed in the terrorist 9-11 attack were
denied benefits after their companions died in the bombing, for
the sole reason that they were of the wrong gender. Several
complaints were voiced by Fundamentalist Christian groups to
Bush's action. They oppose this recognition of gay and lesbian
relationships as legitimate. Rev. Lou Sheldon of the
Traditional Values Coalition, said that Homosexual groups: "see
it as a foot in the door. They see it as an opportunity to take
advantage of it and use it further in courts of law where they can
say, 'You see, we were treated as if we were married.' " Gary
Bauer, president of American Values, said "There's a
collapse of the effort to defend traditional values here in
Washington. This bill should have never gotten through Congress."
11 |
Sponsored link:
References:
- "Day of silence project," at:
http://www.dayofsilence.org/
- John Cotter, "Alberta to Give Same-Sex Couples Similar Rights as
Married Couples," Canadian Press, 2002-MAY-7. Online at:
http://www.hrc.org/familynet/
- Jim Brown and Bill Fancher, "Church Disciplines Lesbian Couple by
Asking Them to Leave," Agape Press, at:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/
- Patrick Goodenough, "Catholic Bishops Refuse Communion To
Homosexual Activists," CNSNews.com, at:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus
- "Jerusalem To Hold Its First Gay Pride March," Agence France-Presse,
2002-JUN-4, at:
http://www.arabia.com/afp/.
- Stuart Shepard, "Psychoanalytic Group Endorses Homosexual
Parenting," Focus on the Family, at:
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/
- Emily Yearwood, "Anglican diocese blesses same-sex unions,"
Canadian Press, 2002-JUN-16. Published in the Toronto Star, 2002-JUN-16,
Page A3.
- Lisa de Moraes, "Conservatives to Nickelodeon: Not in front of
the children!," Washington Post, 2002-JUN-7, at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com
- "U.S. kids' network to air same-sex special," Associated
Press, 2002-JUN-17.
- Pubai Shanbandar, "Salvation Army to Lose Funding Over Domestic
Partner Flap," CNSNews, at:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?
- David Brody, "Bush signs questionable benefits bill," Focus
on the Family, 2002-JUN-27, at:
http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/A0021267.html
Notice:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. sec 107: The news items
contained in the above hyperlinks are provided without profit by the
Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, PO Box 27026, Kingston,
ON, Canada, and are intended to be available to anyone
interested in the topics included, for educational purposes only. Any
editor, author, Webmaster, writer, publisher, news service, etc. that
objects to being part of this listing may request that future works be
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same source.
Copyright © 2002 by the Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2002-JUN-29
Compiler: B.A. Robinson
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