*Age Of Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
21st February 2005 Los Angeles based
international lesbian and gay radio magazine This Way Out www.thiswayout.org included coverage of the
February 14th “Love In For Love Equality” as well as a six minute
edit of voxpops recorded at the event by John Frame (featuring Paul Martin
from the Queensland AIDS Council, Shelley
Argent from Brisbane Parents Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
and 16 year old student Gede from Toowoomba. The following text includes
full details of this particular This Way Out program – sections relevant
to the call for Qld Sodomy Law Reform are highlighted in red.
THIS WAY OUT
the international gay & lesbian radio magazine
RUNDOWN for Program #882, distributed 2/21/05
(hosted this week by Greg Gordon and produced with Lucia
Chappelle)
Courageous queers confront
homophobic violence in Jamaica;
Aussie activists
target Queensland inequality;
Russia's top court ducks a marriage proposal while Canada's Parliament
debates it, Auckland's Big Gay Out overpowers preaching
protesters,
lesbigay equality events mark Valentine's Day in Australia and the U.S.,
a conservative pundit casts out his lesbian daughter, and more GLBT news
FEEDS MONDAY FEB 21 from 14:30-14:59 ET on PRSS DIGITAL FREQUENCY A72.7
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=> RUNDOWN <=
Opening teases/theme music/intro continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:15
SEGMENT #1 - NewsWrap
for the week ending February 19, 2005
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #882, distributed 2-21-05)
[Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill,
Rex Wockner, and Greg Gordon]
Reported this week by Cindy Friedman and Jon Beaupré
Russia's Supreme Court this week found that it lacks the authority to
open
marriage to same-gender couples. For that reason it dismissed the appeal
of
two gay men who were asking the court to amend two clauses of
Code. Plaintiffs Edward Murzin, a member of the Bashkortostan State
Assembly,
and Eduard Mishin, editor of "Kveer" magazine, had applied for a
marriage
license in
marriage to heterosexual couples. They're not actually a couple
themselves but
they plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in their quest to
open marriage to Russian gays and lesbians.
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin:
"... we must always remember that 'separate but equal' is not equal."
second reading of his Government's bill to open marriage to same-gender couples
with a ringing endorsement of equality's importance to the nation. He
said:
"To those who would oppose this bill, I urge you to consider that the core
of
the issue before us today is whether the rights of all Canadians are to be
respected. I believe they must be. Justice demands it.
Fairness demands it.
The
Emphasizing that the courts of seven provinces and one territory have already
changed the definition of marriage, he attempted to reframe the debate,
saying,
"... there is only one issue before this House in this debate. For
most
Canadians, in most parts of our country, same-sex marriage is already the law
of
the land. Thus the issue is not whether rights are to be granted.
The issue
is whether rights that have been granted are to be taken away."
To override the courts would require invoking the so-called
"notwithstanding"
clause, something no Prime Minister has ever done -- and something Martin
claimed would threaten the rights of all Canadians. Marriage equality
opponents
who have said it would not be necessary to use the notwithstanding clause to
return to a heterosexual definition of marriage Martin called "insincere,"
"disingenuous" and "wrong," citing the opinion of 134
constitutional law scholars.
Leader of the Opposition Conservative Party Stephen Harper called
Martin's
approach a "blindly ideological interpretation of the charter".
He proposed
an amendment in which the Commons would deny the bill a second reading because
"the principle of the bill fails to define marriage as the union of one
man
and one woman to the exclusion of all others." Calling compromise
"the real
Canadian way," he said his party would be proposing further amendments to
define
marriage exclusively as between one man and one woman while allowing the provi
nces to offer same-gender couples equal legal standing through other forms of
civil union. He said his party would also be offering amendments to
protect
everyone who wanted to stand apart from same-gender marriages, not just
religious leaders asked to perform weddings.
Harper stated flatly that, "Same-sex marriage is not a human
right." He
cited a United Nations commission's 2002 response to New Zealanders seeking
marriage equality.
Marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples is a current legislative
issue in
week's Big Gay Out pride festival in
religious protesters got physical, at least to the point of pushing and
shoving,
although no arrests or injuries resulted. Justin Pearce of the
preach to the several thousand lesbigays his belief the Bible calls their sex
sinful. His intended audience also tried to drown him out with chants of
"shame"
and an accordion, while the renowned openly lesbian entertainers the Topp
Twins offered him hugs instead. After a while the crowd simply ignored
him and
his fellow demonstrators.
In other recent pride news from Down Under, the 10th annual Pride March
in
set some new records. An estimated 60,000 lesbigay and trans people
marched
in 99 contingents before a crowd of about 50,000. The state of
Police Show Band participated for the first time, and the
There were numerous events and exhibits in the Midsumma festival surrounding
the end-of-January
ceremonies. But the talk of the city were the four-meter tall banners on
the outfits of comic book superheroes.
Earlier this month the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival held
its
launch rally and concert with a crowd of 10 to 12,000 revellers. New
South
Wales Governor Marie Bashir gave a welcoming address. The festival
features
more than 100 events and exhibits before the culminating Mardi Gras parade.
This week Valentine's Day was marked by several events around
Love-In for Love Equality in Brisbane organized a campaign for equal
treatment of gay youth under Queensland state law, which although
gender-neutral
currently applies a higher age of consent to anal sex than to other acts.
The
year-old national group Australian Marriage Equality held its official launch
event, a speaker's forum in
There were also Valentine's Day actions around the
made February Freedom to Marry Month. In California's 7th Freedom to
Marry
campaign, gay and lesbian couples attempted to apply for marriage licenses in
58
counties and even nine high school couples in Victorville held a mock wedding
as a demonstration of support. But by far the most widely reported event
was
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's City Hall celebration of the anniversaries
of the more than 4,000 gay and lesbian couples who were married there last
year. Legal action stopped the city from licensing those marriages after
about
four weeks, and later the California Supreme Court voided them all.
Newsom
urged a crowd of about 1,500 to continue the struggle.
Other places where same-gender couples were applying for marriage licenses
and being rejected included
At least a half-dozen demonstrations were staged around the
gay-supportive
the State House in
marriage equality.
There were dueling demonstrations at the state capitol in
Mexico
family. But supporters of gay and lesbian marriage were demonstrating by
the
hundreds there as well, including at least one couple celebrating the
anniversary of their marriage a year ago in
Attorney-General intervened to stop the licensing of same-gender couples there
with an
opinion that those marriages were illegal.
African-American anti-gay conservative pundit and never-elected
political
hopeful Alan Keyes has cut ties with his 19-year-old lesbian daughter Maya
Marcel-Keyes after it was announced she'd be a featured speaker at a rally in
Maryland. The rally launched a lobby day this week by the lesbigay group
Equality
Maryland. Marcel-Keyes devoted most of her speech to the plight of a gay
male friend who had been thrown out by his conservative family and died a
victim
of abuse and life on the street. But she revealed that her own family has
stopped communicating with her, ejected her from their home and cut off her
college tuition. Unlike her friend, she's received hundreds of offers of
support
and even a scholarship from the Point Foundation, a group that helps keep
throw-away gays and lesbians in college. Her father famously remarked in
an inter
view last year that the Vice President's lesbian daughter Mary Cheney is
"a
selfish hedonist" and went on to say, "If my daughter were a lesbian,
I'd look at
her and say, 'That is a relationship that is based on selfish hedonism.'
I
would also tell my daughter that it's a sin, and she needs to pray to the Lord
God to help her deal with that sin." Marcel-Keyes describes her
father as
having "a lot of integrity".
engagement ever to be printed in the 220-year-old "Times of London".
John O'Connor
and Mark Jones announced they will be blessed at an Anglican Church in
once they contract a legal Civil Partnership. The British Parliament
hasn't
actually created those civil partnerships yet, but the bill is in progress and
is expected to be enacted later this year.
And finally... openly lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge has won Grammy
Awards in the past, but although she was a failed nominee at this week's Grammy
festivities, she won something bigger than a statuette. She performed in
a
heartfelt tribute to Janis Joplin in her first public appearance since
announcing
she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was successfully treated for
that
disease, but she thrilled thousands of cancer survivors by daring to show a
side-effect of her chemotherapy to the Grammy crowd and a huge TV
audience. In
a move that brought much media attention to cancer, Etheridge appeared on
stage and on the arm of her partner Tammy Lynn Michaels looking healthy and
beautiful with a gleaming bald head.
(written by CINDY FRIEDMAN, with thanks to
reported this week by CINDY FRIEDMAN & JON BEAUPRE) [
billboard [:15] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:10
SEGMENT #2 - The
Australian state of Queensland currently criminalizes gay
youth by making anal sex by people under 18 years old punishable by up to 14
years in prison... yet other forms of consensual sexual expression -- including
having babies -- are legal there at age 16. On the eve of Valentine's Day
in
the first ever public rally to demand a truly equal age of consent under
["QueerRadio"/4ZZZ-FM], who helped organize the event, includes
comments by PAUL
MARTIN (new general Manager of the Queensland AIDS Council), SHELLEY ARGENT
(Coordinator for Brisbane PFLAG) and GEDE (a 16 year old rural high school
student) [5:35] + "TWO" I.D. by Academy Award winning
screenwriter BILL CONDON
[:15] . . . 5:50
SEGMENT #3 - JAMAICA's lesbian, gay, bi, and trans communities live in a
by-gone age compared to their North American, European and Aussie/Kiwi
counterparts. Undaunted by the homophobic violence that surrounds them,
activists in
the
justice. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch recently sponsored
two
representatives from the JAMAICA FORUM FOR LESBIANS, ALL SEXUALS, AND GAYS on
a 7-city networking tour around the
their stop in Los Angeles, This Way Out's LUCIA CHAPPELLE spoke with GARETH
and KARLENE -- who cannot use their full names -- about J-FLAG's courageous and
unprecedented work [intro music from "Get Up, Stand Up" by PETER
TOSH] . . . .
.
[www.jflag.org]
Closing Credits/continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TOTAL PROGRAM TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28:50
===================================== * ===============================
STATION PROMO COPY:
ANNCR: NEXT TIME ON "THIS WAY OUT," COURAGEOUS QUEERS CONFRONT
HOMOPHOBIC
VIOLENCE IN
INEQUALITY... IN THE NEWS, RUSSIA'S TOP COURT DUCKS A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL
WHILE CANADA'S PARLIAMENT DEBATES IT, AUCKLAND'S "BIG GAY OUT"
OVERPOWERS
PREACHING PROTESTERS, LESBIGAY EQUALITY EVENTS MARK VALENTINE'S DAY IN
AUSTRALIA AND THE U.S., AND A CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT CASTS OUT HIS TEENAGE
LESBIAN DAUGHTER.
THOSE STORIES -- AND MORE THIS WEEK -- WHEN YOU TUNE IN TO "THIS WAY OUT:
THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY RADIO MAGAZINE",
______________________________________
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