Feb 15, 2008   | COMMENTS     

Judge: McGreevey boyfriend must turn over bank records

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — A judge has ordered the boyfriend of former Gov. Jim McGreevey to turn over records from three joint bank accounts the gay couple shares as part of the ongoing divorce proceedings between McGreevey and his estranged wife. However, Australian-born investment manager Mark O’Donnell won’t be forced to reveal his salary, stock portfolio or any financial dealings with New Jersey politicians, Union County Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy ruled this week. Cassidy said O’Donnell’s other finances are not relevant to McGreevey’s divorce case.

Dina Matos McGreevey sought broad access to O’Donnell’s ledger sheet, contending the gay couple’s money is intertwined. O’Donnell is chief investment officer of the Kushner Companies, a private real estate development firm chaired by Charles Kushner, a once-prominent Democratic campaign donor who served time in federal prison for campaign and tax-law violations. The McGreeveys are battling over child support and custody issues. McGreevey surprised the nation when he announced in August 2004 that he was gay and would resign. He said he had been the target of a blackmail threat from a former lover who was on his staff.

Hearing set on legality of gay marriage in California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s high court last week set a March date to hear arguments over the legality of gay marriage in the state. The Supreme Court will hear three hours of arguments on the issue March 4 in San Francisco. Justices then have 90 days to rule. The six consolidated cases being heard together challenge state laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. The Supreme Court has banned same-sex marriages in the state until it decides the issue. The plaintiffs are the city of San Francisco, the state’s leading gay advocacy group and several same-sex couples who have not been allowed to marry. They are being opposed by the attorney general, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and activists who argue only voters can overturn the existing marriage statutes. Gay marriage opponents have been gathering signatures to qualify ballot measures for the June and November elections that would make gay marriage illegal under the California Constitution and in some cases, revoke the spousal rights same-sex couples now have if they register as domestic partners.

Municipalities barred from joining lawsuit over gay rights

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The question of whether the state should provide benefits to same-sex partners wasn’t decided in a split-decision ruling last week by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. But in the course of barring eight municipalities from joining the lawsuit, court members lashed out at one another in sharply written separate opinions. Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, writing for the four-member majority, accused the three justices in the minority of stirring “the cauldron of hot-button issues” with a dissent addressing abortion, the influence of the American Civil Liberties Union and gay rights. The Supreme Court’s ruling simply upheld two lower courts’ decisions preventing eight Wisconsin municipalities from joining a lawsuit filed against the state in 2005. It was brought by 12 current or former state employees and the ACLU. The lawsuit claims the state’s refusal to provide health insurance to the gay employees’ partners violates the equal protection clause of the Wisconsin Constitution. The employees argue that their rights are violated because only heterosexual workers can receive health insurance, sick leave and family leave benefits for their spouses.

Anti-gay protesters continue lawsuit against city of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Oral arguments were scheduled this week in an appeal of a lawsuit over bullhorn-wielding protesters at a gay street festival in Philadelphia. The activists contend that city police violated their free-speech rights by arresting them at the 2004 Outfest event. A federal judge ruled in the city’s favor last year, saying, “There is no constitutional right to drown out the speech of another person.” The judge noted that the Outfest event had a permit from the city but the protesters didn’t apply for a permit. The protesters are 11 people affiliated with a conservative Christian group called Repent America.

Lawsuit claims discrimination in Utah woman’s firing

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A lesbian who claims she was fired from the University of Utah because of her sexual orientation has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the school. Court papers filed in 3rd District Court allege Heidi Borjesson was fired from her job for “arbitrary personal reasons,” including her appearance, sexual orientation and because she ‘mothered animals’ instead of children.”