Gay man wins $1 mill discrimination suit

A Mainer won suit against his former employer that denied him promotions for being gay.

Withers: Hockey GM fights homophobia in schools

[1] [2]

Brian Burke [3], the GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs, was the main speaker when Egale Canada [4], the country’s national gay and lesbian political rights organization, launched a new site. Called MyGSA.ca [5], the web address serves as an information center for Canadian teachers and their gay and lesbian students.Burke talked about his son, Brendan [6]; the young man, a senior at Miami University and advocate for gay rights, died in an early February car accident. Before his untimely death, father and son were profiled on ESPN [7]. The story focused on a young gay man and the support he received from his father, family, and the Maple Leafs organization.

The elder Burke wants to continue the good work his son started. This means making sure gay and lesbian students can attend school without harassment

“I hate bullies,” he said. “We have to get to the point where everyone can go to school free of fear.” [8]

Burke is convinced there is a closeted player in the NHL, but fear keeps that unknown player from stepping out. It’s not clear if Burke by himself can sweep that away. That job takes more than one man; however, he gets points for being a great father and doing his best to make sure no kid feels he/she has to hide.

[1] http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2010/05/18/brian-burke-fights-homophobia-in-schools/
[2] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Burkes-top.jpg
[3] http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2010/05/18/brian-burke-fights-homophobia-in-schools/
[4] http://www.egale.ca/
[5] http://mygsa.ca/first
[6] http://www.365gay.com/news/burke-talks-about-sons-death/
[7] http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2009/11/25/nhl-gm-brian-burke-supports-his-gay-son/
[8] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/keeping-his-sons-voice-alive-brian-burke-joins-fight-against-homophobia/article1572404/

Neff: In Texas, only gay marriage is til death do they part

Spouses can’t always take that bit about “till death do us part” literally.

And judges and lawyers don’t always take that bit about “till death do us part” literally either. Some dedicate their workdays dissolving such vows.

Yet in some states that don’t recognize same-sex marriages, same-sex marriages could last till death do they part.

Oh, these funny times.

A Dallas man, identified only as J.B. in court papers and the press, is trying to divorce a man he married four years ago in Massachusetts and separated from — amicably enough — two years ago.

J.B. was winning his case for divorce before District Judge Tena Callahan, when the Texas Attorney General tried to intervene and stop the process. It seems that because the state of Texas does not recognize same-sex marriages, the court shouldn’t divorce the two men, according to the AG.

Callahan ruled against the AG, which appealed her decision.

“My client is a married man and he needs a divorce. But for the actions of the attorney general, there would already be one less same-sex marriage in Texas,” attorney Jody Scheske told a three-judge appeals court panel in a hearing last week.

Oh, these funny times.

“The parties lack standing to file a divorce because they are not married. If you are not party to a marriage, you cannot file for a divorce,” an assistant Texas solicitor general argued last week before the federal appeals court.

The assistant Texas solicitor general said, the court should “void” the union not divorce the men.

An annulment, then, is Texas’ preferred alternative to a gay couple’s divorce.

Oh, these funny times.

The stakes in this Texas case are considerable, because in finding that she has standing to hear the gay man’s request for a divorce, Callahan also found that Texas’ 2005 constitutional amendment that defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman violates the right to equal protection and therefore violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Had the Texas Attorney General not tried to intervene and block the court from hearing the divorce case, the district court judge might not have deemed the anti-gay amendment unconstitutional. We don’t know really. Callahan might have taken up the constitutional issue, or she simply might have granted the divorce.

Attorneys for J.B. say they didn’t want a constitutional fight or a federal case — just a divorce for their client.

“My client’s very private matter has become a public spectacle,” Scheske told the court last week.

Oh, these funny times.

J.B., seeking to end his marriage, is at the forefront of a legal dispute that could tear down a ban against gay marriage in Texas.

And opponents of gay marriage are worried, which is why the Plano-based right-wing Liberty Institute argued alongside the attorney general against what it called “judicial activism at it’s worst.”

Opposing J.B.’s divorce, Liberty Institute attorney Hiram Sasser said a gay divorce is an attack on same-sex marriage.

Oh, these funny times.

And Sasser, who said he represented the two authors of the anti-gay amendment that 76 percent of Texas voters supported in 2005, cited Bill Clinton in his defense of the Texas ban and his opposition to the gay couple’s divorce.

Clinton signed the federal Defense of Marriage Act that allowed states to refuse to honor another state’s same-sex marriage and defined marriage at the federal level as the union of one man and one woman.

“I think President Clinton said it best when he said we have to honor the decisions of the states,” Sasser said.

The former president, however, has said that his position on same-sex marriage is evolved and he “didn’t like signing DOMA.”

Oh, these funny times.

Chinese gay man killed 6 in sex games

Arab man arrested for gay video

Presbyterian church ordains gay man

A Madison Presbyterian church ordained an openly gay man in a relationship counter to church policy.

Schumer recs gay man for judge

Senator nominates gay man to judgeship

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, is recommending Daniel Alter to serve as a judge in the Southern District federal court. Alter is the first openly gay man to be nominated for a federal judge post in U.S. history.

“Daniel Alter couldn’t be a more perfect choice. He is …