Fiji judge overturns gay sex conviction on constitutional grounds
An Australian man and a Fijian man won appeals last Friday against two-year jail sentences for breaking Fiji's conservative laws prohibiting gay sex.
The move came just after a Hong Kong court threw out its unequal age of consent laws and ruled that the laws against homosexual sex were discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.
Comprising over 300 islands, Fiji is located some 4 hours away from Sydney.
A Fiji High Court judge on Friday overturned his conviction, and that of Fijian Dhirendra Nadan. Judge Gerald Winter said their convictions were invalid because they were inconsistent with the 1997 Constitution's protection of privacy and equality, which also specifically protects sexual orientation.
According to press reports, and Dhirendra Nadan, 23, of Nadi, appealed against sentences handed down after they were arrested in April.
McCosker was arrested on the same day at the airport after he reported Nadan to police for allegedly taking A$1500 from his wallet. He was then tried within 48 hours and sentenced to two years jail for consensual sex under the country's rarely enforced colonial-era homosexual laws.
Section 177 provides for up to five years' imprisonment for "any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another male person" under while Section 175 provides for up to 14 years' imprisonment "with or without corporal punishment," for "any person who has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature."
The pair was freed on strict bail after spending a week in jail.
Winter said in his judgment delivered in the town of Lautoka, "What the constitution requires is that the law acknowledges difference, affirms dignity, and allows equal respect to every citizen as they are." He said gay sex was illegal only when it occurred in public, without consent, or involved people under age 18.
"The state that embraces difference, dignity, and equality does not encourage citizens without a sense of good or evil but rather creates a strong society built on tolerant relationships with a healthy regard for the rule of law."
Coffee cups with gay quote get Starbucks in a little hot water
Coffee chain Starbucks has come under fire from various anti-gay groups over a quote by gay author Armistead Maupin whose Tales of the City chronicled San Francisco's homosexual community in the 1970s and 1980s.
The campaign also features quotes from other gay celebrities including singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, and musician Stephin Merritt. Other voices include music producer Quincy Jones, New Age author and alternative-medicine doctor Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan and others.
The evangelical Christian group, Concerned Women of America, has targeted Starbucks for promoting "homosexual values" and for the company's support of a San Diego gay pride event.
Meghan Kleppinger wrote in an Aug 10 column published on WorldNetDaily.com that she would boycott the coffee chain.
She said she was most alarmed that the two-day festival included activities for children, since it was discovered that at least two registered sex offenders volunteered to assist San Diego Pride with this year's festival.
"If Starbucks is doing this knowingly, it is blatant irresponsibility, and if they are doing it unknowingly, it is irresponsible of them not to have done their homework All I could think was 'Starbucks hates children,'" she wrote.
According to a statement read by San Diego Pride Co-Chair Philip Princetta at an Aug 15 meeting at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, the three men who were convicted of committing sexual acts with minors had resigned from the organisation before the festivities began. At the request of the board, the festival's executive director Suanne Pauley also resigned.
Alan Hilowitz, Starbucks' media manager, said the company was aware that the sex offenders volunteered for the Pride Festival and subsequently resigned before the event began.
As for its campaign, the Seattle-based coffee company responded by saying it was hoping to inspire old-fashioned coffee-house conversations by featuring the words of notable Americans on its coffee cups.
"The Way I See It" campaign does not set out to take a political stand but rather to encourage discourse, Starbucks spokeswoman Audrey Lincoff said. "If you think back to the history of the old coffee houses, before the Internet, these were places to converse," she said. "That's part of what the coffee culture has been for a century or more."
Starbucks won't be pulling the Maupin quote - or any other - from the campaign, but in fact will expand it to feature quotes from regular customers.
"Embracing diversity and treating people with dignity is one of the guiding principles of our corporation," Lincoff said.
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New Orlean's Southern Decadence another casualty of Hurricane Katrina
Southern Decadence, the South's biggest annual gay party, has fallen victim to hurricane Katrina as it ravaged Gulf of Mexico coastline including the southern Gulf states of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
Held every Labour Day weekend, the event typically attracts thousands of people to New Orleans annually. More than 110,000 attended the event last year. This would have been the festival's 33rd year.
Authorities have announced that the entire city must be evacuated, including around 10,000 refugees who sought shelter in the city's Superdome, after levees weakened by the monstrous Category 5 storm gave way and the roiling waters of Lake Pontchartrain flooded the historic jazz city.
An estimated 80 people have been killed while some have warned that the death toll could reach hundreds.
Martial law was declared on Tuesday in the city and surrounding districts, allowing the military control over civilian forces. Mayor Ray Nagin estimated that 80 percent of the city was under water. The Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency department reported that entrance to the city will remain impossible, except by helicopter or boat, indefinitely. And virtually all of the metropolitan area remains without power, communication or sanitation.
The historic French Quarter, which was initially spared flooding from the impact of the hurricane, is still not out of danger.
Tom Nibbio, North American sales manager for the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, recommended that tourists changing plans should call the central reservations line for local accommodations.
"Don't call the hotel directly," he said, indicating that calls to the few landlines still working would further stress the fragile phone system.
"This [hurricane] is not about gay people and it's not about the cancellation of a party," said Godes. "The region has been devastated by a natural disaster. As far as tourism, this is big enough to disrupt travel far beyond the Gulf Coast area."
Tuesday night organisers said that there would be a full refund on weekend passes for The Bourbon Pub, as well as advance tickets to the Shirley Q. Liquor shows at The Bourbon Pub. The refunds will be issued to the credit cards used for their purchases.
The American Red Cross is now mobilising its largest relief effort in its 124-year history to aid the victims. The organisation's eight service areas around the country - totaling more than 800 chapters - are being asked to identify 125 volunteers each day for Gulf Coast duty. The organisation has opened 230 shelters in the area, housing about 40,000 people, and will offer 500,000 hot meals a day cooked by Southern Baptist disaster workers.
To make a donation to the Disaster Relief Fund, visit the Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org, US residents can also call 1-800-HELP-NOW.
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California Legislature passes Gay Civil Rights Act
The California Assembly has passed legislation banning discrimination against gays, lesbians and the transgendered in employment, housing and the delivery of goods and services.
The bill now heads to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for his signature. He has 12 days to sign the bill into law.
While California law has prohibited discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability or medical condition, it did not specifically name members of the LGBT community as a protected group.
Although courts have consistently interpreted the law as applying to gays civil rights groups in the state fought for a number of years to have the law amended to be fully inclusive. The new legislation adds sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status to the existing law.
"The California legislature has once again demonstrated its commitment to true equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians," said Executive Director Geoffrey Kors of Equality California.
"By adding sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status, California will continue to be at the forefront of ensuring equality for all."
The Unruh Civil Rights Act provides protection from discrimination by all business establishments in California, including housing and public accommodations, because of age, ancestry, colour, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation.
Businesses subject to the Act include shopping centers, mobile home parks, bars and restaurants, schools, medical and dental offices, hotels and motels and condominium homeowners' associations.
The final passage of the bill comes as the Senate prepares to vote, possibly as soon as Wednesday, on gay marriage legislation. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act would require local clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples but allow people opposed to gay marriage to refuse to conduct weddings. If it passes the Senate it would need approval of the Assembly and then a final vote in both houses before going to the governor. Schwarzenegger has not indicated if he will sign either bill.
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