|
(Atlanta, Georgia) Atlanta's Bar Association
plans to honor a man accused of delaying for two decades the overturn of sodomy
laws used to persecute gays - former Attorney General Mike Bowers.
The Association plans to give Bowers its
Leadership Award at an October banquet.
As Attorney General, Bowers in 1986, fought went
all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend Georgia's anti-sodomy law from a
challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union. The high court in a 5-4 ruling
upheld the law.
It was eventually struck down by the Supreme
Court in 2003 in a case involving a similar law in Texas.
In a letter to the Bar Association, a gay lawyers
group says Bowers is undeserving and the award should be rescinded.
"Members in our community suffered for
almost an additional two decades because of him," Lori Surmay, president of
Stonewall BAr Association said in a letter. "The fact that he pushed very
hard in that case, where he had discretion not to, kind of speaks to where his
feelings were."
Surmay also notes that Bowers refused to sign an
equity statement at a job fair at Emory University and later rescinded a job
offer to a student when he learned she was a lesbian and had entered into a
commitment ceremony with her same-sex partner.
The Atlanta Bar dismissed Stonewall's complaint.
President Richard Herzog tells the Associated
Press that the Association's honor is for Bowers' 16 years of service as
attorney general during which he kept the state's law department independent
from control by the state Legislature. Herzog noted that his opposition to the
legislature led it to deny him a pay raise for about a dozen years.
"I understand [Stonewall's] concerns and
appreciate them," Herzog said. "But I think, in spite of those
concerns, Mike Bowers deserves recognition for his accomplishments."
Herzog said he replied to Surmay's letter noting
that "Giving a leadership award does not imply that every member of the
Atlanta Bar Association agrees with every action or position of the
Honoree."
©365Gay.com 2006
|
Entertainment
