Friday, March 17, 2000

• Vermont House Votes for Gay Marriages

  
  

  Yesterday, the Vermont House moved toward approving historic legislation allowing gays to form "civil unions’’ that would carry many of the benefits–and burdens–of marriage. The bill takes Vermont to the very edge of recognizing gay marriage. It if passes, Vermont will have gone further than any other state in recognizing same-sex couples. The legislation has the support of Democratic Governor Howard Dean and is also expected to win Senate approval.

• Irish Gay and Lesbian Activists Protest Exclusion From New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

  
  

  Today, Irish activists risked arrest at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City. The Irish Gay and Lesbian Organization has organized a contingent of activists from Ireland to join in a civil disobedience action at the parade. Irish Gay and Lesbian groups are banned from marching at today’s event. They say they are protesting New York Mayor Giuliani’s "quality of life" policies, the silencing of opposition voices, and the role of police harassment in legal demonstrations.

• Philip Berrigan

  
  

  On December 19, Philip Berrigan and a group of activists calling themselves Plowshares Vs. Depleted Uranium (Susan Crane of Baltimore’s Jonah House, the Rev. Stephen Kelley from New York City, and Elizabeth Walz, a Catholic worker from Philadelphia) disarmed two A-10 Warthog (Fairchild Thunderbolt II) aircraft. The aircraft were located at the Maryland National Guard base in Middle River, Maryland. The activists hammered and poured blood on A-10s because the Warthog, used against Iraq and Yugoslavia, has a gun which fires depleted uranium ammunition.

• Privatization of Water Discussed at World Water Forum

  
  

  The World Water Forum gets underway in The Hague, the Netherlands today. Organized by the World Bank, the conference will call for radical changes in the way water services are subsidized, especially in the world’s poorest regions. Water demand is expected to increase by 40 percent over the next two decades, and a key aspect will be the involvement of the private sector in the management of water resources. A report released by the World Bank and the United Nations calls for a hike in water prices in developing countries. Dozens of delegates from NGOs, environmental organizations and other groups will also be at The Hague to protest against plans for water privatization. They will hammer home the message that commercialization of water is unpopular, undemocratic and unnecessary.

• Indonesian Army Unit Involved in Murder of East Timorese

  
  

  Last August, in a historic referendum, the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. This, after 24 years of Indonesian control and a regime of terror. During this period, the Indonesian military murdered a third of the East Timorese population.