NewsWrap for the week ending August 24th, 1996 (As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #439, distributed 08-26-96) [Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Ron Buckmire, Bjorn Skolander and Greg Gordon] Advertising revenue is booming for U.S. gay and lesbian periodicals, according to the 3rd annual report by Mulryan/Nash. The report found a record total of nearly 74-million-dollars spent for an almost 20% increase over last year. That's more than three times the growth rate ofadvertising in mainstream periodicals -- and also well ahead of other niche markets. New York-based Mulryan/Nash was founded specifically to help mainstream advertisers target the "pink dollar" ... but each year their annual survey of well over 100 magazines and newspapers in the United States has found the greatest advertising income coming from bars & clubs, 800 & 900 phone numbers, and personal ads. Virginia lesbian Sharon Bottoms, who in 1993 lost custody of her son to her own mother in a highly publicized case that went to the Virginia State Supreme Court , was ready to exchange further pursuit of full custody for more visitation. She kept her part of the bargain, announcing last week that she was giving up the legal struggle for Tyler Doustou, now age 5, but she didn't get much in return. She had been limited to seeing him twice weekly at sites other than the home she shares with her partner, April Wade. This week a lower court judge gave Sharon the chance to take Tyler home alternate weekends, plus one summer weekend and two holidays per year, but only if Wade is absent from their apartment. And while Wade had previously been allowed to talk with Tyler by phone, she is now barred from speaking with him at all. Wade is bitter, Sharon is broken-hearted, and Sharon's mother, Kay Bottoms, is pleased. Although 16 U.S. states so far have enacted laws to deny legal recognition to same-gender marriages which might -- someday -- be performed in another state, Mississippi 's Republican Governor Kirk Fordice didn't wait for the state legislature: he issued an Executive Order on August 22. Fordice announced the order in a press conference at the state capitol while flanked by members of right-wing groups including the Mississippi Family Council and the American Family Association. California's Republican state legislators are also determined to deny legal recognition to gay and lesbian couples. The California Assembly had enthusiastically passed in January one bill designed to deny recognition to legal gay and lesbian marriages performed in another state. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Senate floor -- a Senate committee added an amendment to establish in California a statewide domestic partners registry for purposes of health care benefits, hospital visitation, conservatorship, and inheritance. It was a motion to repeal that amendment that split the Senate down the middle and created the rare opportunity for the President of the Senate, Democratic Lieutenant-Governor Grey Davis, to cast a tie-breaking vote. Saying, "I have always opposed same-sex marriages but I have always supported domestic partnerships," Davis voted for the domestic partnership provisions. Openly lesbian Democratic California Assemblymember Carole Migden told the media, ``If indeed the bill reaches the Governor's desk, if he vetoes it, it means we were successful in not banning gay marriage, and if he signs it, it means there's a domestic partnership bill with expanded benefits. So either outcome would be favorable.'' California Governor Pete Wilson vetoed a domestic partnership measure in 1994 and has said he'll veto the current bill if it comes to his desk in its present form. However, the day after the tie-breaking vote, another bill originally concerning traffic tickets was commandeered into carrying a denial of recognition to same-gender marriage, and was passed by the Assemly by a margin of 4-to-3. California Senate President Pro-tem, Democrat Bill Lockyer, has said he will not allow the jury-rigged bill to reach the Senate floor. A Moroccan man has won the right to stay in Britain based on his 13-year gay relationship with a British national. When the Home Office moved to deport the Moroccan, he appealed the decision with the support of the Stonewall Immigration Group. The Immigration Appeals adjudicator ruled in favor of the gay couple on compassionate grounds, and indicated that deportation might have been in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Stonewall says this is their 16th win with no defeats, which makes them hopeful of future policy change establishing immigration rights for same-gender couples. Consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader became the Green Party's candidate for the U.S. Presidency this week, but he's not adopting their platform, which includes supportive positions on gay and lesbian civil rights. When asked about legalization of same gender marriages, he refused to answer, saying, "It's an excellent platform, but I'm independent and I'm not running on any platform. I'm emphasizing the parts that reflect my own interests." The leadership of eight major U.S. transgender organizations met in mid-August to form what they hope will be a national movement against gender-based oppression called "GenderPAC". Although the "PAC" does refer to a political action committee, the coalition is much more than the elections fund-raiser that usually implies: the group hopes to combine the approaches used by all the largest national U.S. gay and lesbian organizations to win social justice for tranys of all ages in every institution in society. GenderPAC will hold a National Mobilization Meeting in Philadelphia in early November for serious strategic planning. When Sweden's national church, the Svenska Kyrkan, began its annual synod August 20th, gays and lesbians were nowhere on the agenda, although gay and lesbian ordinations and partnerships are continuing controversies within the church. So two Swedish national gay and lesbian organizations, the advocacy group RFSL and the Christian group EKHO, called a meeting and press conference of their own. They presented a gay-friendly minister and an openly gay man describing their experiences. They hope to develop a network of people to work against homophobia within the Church. Sweden's hip commercial television channel ZTV will unveil the nation's first regular weekly gay and lesbian TV show, HOMOGEN, on September 2nd. HOMOGEN will be co-hosted by veteran lesbian activist Anita Kettunen with gay press photographer Peter Knutson on the culture beat. Music, news and fitness segments are also planned by producer Nicke Johansson, who's known for his documentary of the Stonewall 25 celebration in New York City. Also about to begin in Sweden is a weekly column by gay press journalist Claes Gylling in the mainstream newspaper "Arbetet/Nyheterna". The U.S. national Deaf Queer Resource Center (DQRC) has announced that its website has received two significant honors in the past week. First it was named one of the most outstanding sites on the Web by Q Planet, and then it won the United Kingdom's Freedom Award of Excellence. Now on the eve of its first birthday, the DQRC site has received more than 60,000 visits and is now averaging more than 200 each day. Intended to provide resource information on the Web for and about the deaf lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender communities, the site also includes a discussion forum, a bulletin board and a people section. The Web site is located at deafqueer.org. "OLA-Archiwum", Poland's first lesbian archives, is being organized by a team of women in the city of Lodz. The archives will collect a range of lesbian-feminist writings, including foreign materials in translation, and also serve as a safe gathering place and a center for activism. Ultimately the archive will have a library, international resource bank and regular publications. A small study looking at testosterone in butch-femme lesbian couples and in oil field engineers was reported at the mid-August meeting in Toronto of the American Psychological Association. Although in the 28 lesbian relationships studied, the butches appeared to have higher testosterone levels than their individual partners, they did not have more testosterone as a group. As for the mining engineers, the opportunities for money and advancement might make the field attractive to men with high testosterone levels, but the isolation, long hours and lack of physical activity tend to drive them away. That study was based on only 9 engineers in training, of whom only 1 of 5 with high testosterone levels intended to continue the work, while all 4 of those with low testosterone planned to stay. The studies by James Dabbs of Georgia State University at Atlanta associated higher testosterone levels with assertiveness, dominance, competitiveness, and masculinity. And finally ... in the wake of the Republican National Convention, some San Diego residents felt their city had been psychically polluted. So, more than 200 liberals -- at least a quarter of them gays and lesbians -- gathered at the Convention site to exorcise what they described as "residual evil". Their "spiritual cleansing" ritual included burning sage and Native American chanting and drumming. The participants all felt better afterwards ... and one even remarked that the weather had gotten cooler "after all that hot air left town". ---------*----------- Sources for this week's report included: The Associated Press; Business Wire/U.S.; Reuter News Service; The San Francisco Chronicle; United Press International; The Los Angeles Times; EuroQueer Digest; Kom Ut/Sweden; Rex Wockner International News Service; and cyberpress releases from the Forum On the Right to Marry/Boston; the Stonewall Immigration Group/U.K.; RFSL/Sweden; and the International Lesbian & Gay Association.