www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

December 18, 2009

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 3

Parker beats anti-gay attacks, wins Houston mayor race

by Anthony Glassman

Houston-Voters on December 12 made this city the second-largest in the world with an openly gay mayor, handing former city controller Annise Parker 53.6 percent of the mayoral vote in a runoff election.

Houston also became the largest city in the United States with an out mayor.

Parker ran on a platform of relatively conservative fiscal responsibility, but antigay advocates launched a series of attacks against her, alleging that she would use the office to push through a series of pro-gay ordinances.

Parker, 53, faced fellow Democrat Gene Locke, 61, in the run-off when neither garnered over 50 percent of the vote in the general election in November.

Locke promised to lower the crime rate and increase the size of the police force,

Annise Parker

newsbriefs

while Parker noted that her experience as controller made her more qualified to lead in tough economic times.

Locke, who is black, enjoyed the support of the city's African American clergy, some of whom accused Parker of having a "gay agenda."

Other anti-Parker activists send out fliers pointing to her 19-year relationship and her support from LGBT organizations.

Locke denied involvement with the mailers, but $40,000 in funding for them. was traced to two members of his finance committee.

After the results, Locke called for unity and reconciliation.

"We have to all work together to bring our city closer and closer together," he said, according to the New York Times.

"Tonight, the voters of Houston have opened the door to history," Parker said. "I acknowledge that. I embrace that. I know what this win means to many of us who never thought we could achieve high office.'

She was joined onstage by her partner, Kathy Hubbard, and their three adopted children.

Her election drops Paris and its mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, down to third in rankings of cities with gay or lesbian mayors. The largest city with a gay mayor is still Berlin, helmed by Klaus Wowereit.

The second-largest U.S. city with a gay mayor is Portland, Oregon.

V

Proposed Uganda law would give death penalty to gays

Kampala, Uganda-Legislation has been proposed in this historically anti-gay nation that would carry life sentences for being gay, and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."

The bill would call for the death sentence for those who engaged in same-sex activity while infected with HIV, in cases of samesex rape and "serial offenders."

Someone who knew of someone gay and did not report them could face three years in prison under the proposed law.

Homosexuality is already illegal in the country under colonial-era laws, but Christian and Muslim clerics are pushing for the new measure, which would also prosecute Ugandans living abroad.

"They are supposed to be brought back to Uganda and convicted here," Frank Mugisha, a gay Ugandan, told CNN. "The government is putting homosexuality on the level of treason."

Another facet of the impetus for the bill is support from religious conservatives in the United States.

Hard-line clerics in Africa are supported by a number of American groups, who hope to use their increasing numbers to stem the global flow of LGBT acceptance. Moderates and liberals in Africa are silenced by accusations of colonialism, according a new report from the organization Political Research Associates.

However, according to the report, it is the colonial influence of conservatives in the U.S. that is driving the Ugandan bill and other items across the continent.

One conservative American pastor who has disavowed the Ugandan efforts is Rev. Rick Warren, who posted a YouTube video condemning the legislation, calling it "extreme, unjust and unchristian towards homosexuals."

HIV activists, supported even by conservative American politicians, warn that the measure could turn back gains in the fight against AIDS that have been made in the last decade.

"Who will go to HIV testing if he knows that he will suffer the death sentence?" Elizabeth Mataka, the United Nations Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa, asked a group of reporters at the beginning of the month. "The law will drive them away from seeking counseling and testing services."

Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister of Canada, pulled aside Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni at a Commonwealth summit in November, telling him,

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“We find them [the laws] inconsistent with, frankly, I think any reasonable understanding of human rights, and I was very clear on that with the president of Uganda,” he told reporters.

Opposition is even coming from within the Ugandan government, as one of Museveni's senior advisors wrote a newspaper opinion piece against passage of the bill, calling it draconian and urging Parliament to vote against it.

Church council backs Ohio equality law

Columbus-The Ohio Council of Churches voted unanimously at the end of October, approving a resolution in support of the state's Equal Housing and Employment Act.

The group, which represents congregations in various Christian denominations including Catholic, United Church of Christ, Episcopalian, Greek Orthodox, Baptist, Presbyterian and others, favors the bill as it currently stands, without any additional amendments.

"I am pleased to have so many of Ohio's faith voices join me in supporting H.B 176," said Equality Ohio board chair Rev. Michael Castle. "Together we can advocate for social policies that are long overdue in Ohio.”

Equality Ohio is the main group backing the LGBT equality bill, which passed the Ohio House in September. It now awaits action in the Senate.

"The support of the Ohio Council of Churches should make one thing clear: Equality in housing, employment and public accommodations is an issue that people of faith in Ohio can support," concluded Castle, who is pastor of Cross Creek Community Church in Dayton.

Nevada to allow male prostitutes

Carson City, Nevada-In the only state with legalized prostitution, one thing has been missing: men for hire in the statesupervised brothels.

That is about to change after a unanimous vote to change the state brothel codes.

Until now, prostitutes were required to have cervical testing for sexually transmitted infections, which bars males from the profession.

The change, requested by the owner of a small brothel called the Shady Lady Ranch, allows urethral testing in addition to cervical testing.

Owner Bobbi Davis brought the issue to

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the State Board of Health, which unanimously approved the change on December 11.

Davis said that she will begin having men working for her in the new year, and that they could decide for themselves whether they would take male or female clients, as her female employees do now.

George Flint, a lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association, was not as pleased with the change.

Prior to his 24 years as the organization's lobbyist, he was an Assemblies of God minister, and he went on the record expressing "concerns" about the decision.

"There should be some fallout and backlash from this decision," he said, according to the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. "Some may feel it's a repugnant thing to do or something that does not have the appetite of the state as a whole."

"We've worked hard for years to make the traditional brothel business in this state socially acceptable and something we can be proud of that most Nevadans accept. We have some concerns that this can be diluted by what Ms. Bobbi Davis wants to try," he continued.

Episcopalians elect second gay bishop

Los Angeles-A second openly gay bishop has been elected in the Episcopal Church.

The Los Angeles diocese elected Mary D. Glasspool on December 5. She was among a field of six candidates, and currently serves as a canon to bishops of the Diocese of Maryland. A canon is a senior assistant.

The position she will take is that of suffragan, or assistant bishop. The other suffragan position in the Los Angeles diocese was filled on December 4 with the selection of Diane M. Jardine Bruce. The two are the first women in the diocese's 114year history to be given bishoprics.

Glasspool has been in a committed rela-

EHI

tionship since 1988.

Rev. V. Gene Robinson was elected bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003. Outcry from conservatives in the United States and across the global Anglican Communion led to the United States branch voluntarily halting the elevation of openly gay clergy to bishoprics, but continued schismatic activities by conservatives led them to end the ban.

Austria passes

civil union law

Vienna, Austria-Parliament passed a civil union bill on December 10, giving most of the legal rights, benefits and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples.

It makes Austria the 20th nation to enact civil union, including Colombia, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland and Uruguay, among oth-

ers.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain, South Africa and Canada allow full same-sex marriage.

The Republic of Ireland, a Catholic stronghold like Spain, is also looking at a civil union bill, which was debated in parliament on December 3.

The measure is supported both by the governing coalition, as well as opposition parties Fine Gael and Labour. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the bill is expected to pass within a month.

The Boss backs marriage equality

Trenton, N.J.-Despite being delayed on December 10, a bill to allow same-sex marriage in New Jersey brought forth some heavy support from the state's most notable denizen.

Bruce Springsteen posted on his website an exhortation supporting the bill. According to the message, "the Boss" "has always spoken out for the rights of Continued on page 5

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