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| Tim Bostic and Tony London |
Its been a hectic week on the job/career front (more on that in a later post), but one enjoyable respite was HRBOR's May Third Thursday event hosted by the law firm Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock. The law firm that launched the challenge to Virginia's anti-gay animus motivated Marshall-Newman Amendment. Each of the named law partners in the firm are friends and years ago we all belonged to the same law firm which in later years became a part of the Richmond based Williams Mullen mega firm. Also in attendance at the well attended event were Tim Bostic and Tony London, the original two plaintiffs in Bostic v. Rainey. Tim and Tony are likewise personal friends. Thus the law suit has very personal overtones to me over and above the fact that I had to travel to Washington, DC, to marry the husband because of the continued religious based animus enshrined in Virginia's laws.
The event also had some poignancy because it was the first Third Thursday event since I rolled off of the HRBOR board of directors. A position I had held for seven years. One of the ironies is that HRBOR's existence came into being in part because of Virginia's anti-gay bigotry. Having been forced out of a large law firm during a merger where the taking over firm did not want an openly gay partner who "might offend the sensibilities" of conservative clients, the concept of HRBOR was to create a way for those in the LGBT business community who might be shunned by the larger business community to market and build their businesses through mutual support. The concept has worked far beyond what Christianna Flynn - my original conspiratorial, if you will, could ever have dreamed. Moreover, in the process, HRBOR has helped change the perception of LGBT owned businesses in the larger business community. I am honored that I was able to play a small part in this process.
The lesson? That sometimes ordinary people can set things in motion that are larger than themselves. A piece in the Daily Press reviews how a casual conversation between friends sparked the lawsuit now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The story follows how Tony London's casual conversation with Bob Ruloff lead to the momentous legal events in Virginia. Here are excerpts:
It was just over a year ago that Tony London told a lawyer friend that he wanted to get married to his longtime partner.
London, 55, a real estate agent and retired Navy sailor, had been dating Tim Bostic, 49, an English professor at Old Dominion University, for 24 years.
Last June, following a real estate loan transaction, London and his real estate lawyer, Bob Ruloff, began talking about how California's ban on same-sex marriage had been overturned.
London then told Ruloff that he and Bostic were planning to get married in Maryland, which had recently allowed same-sex partners to wed.
That conversation not only helped boost London's and Bostic's courage. It also spurred a local law firm to spearhead a case that's now being considered by a federal appeals court — and could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
At their Norfolk home that June night, Bostic and London considered the pros and cons of pushing the issue in court. They came to their decision within 30 minutes, Bostic said. Just then, he said, a younger and less established gay couple walked past their home.
"If Tony and I wouldn't do it, who will?" Bostic said.
Meanwhile, Ruloff talked to Tom Shuttleworth, the senior partner at the Virginia Beach firm, Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock. Shuttleworth was quickly on board. "It's going to be a long, hard challenge, but if they're up for it, we're up for it," he said.
Over the next couple weeks, one of the Virginia Beach firm's associates, Charles Lustig — whom Ruloff called the law firm's resident "constitutional scholar" — researched the issue and drafted the lawsuit.
On July 18, 2013, Lustig walked into the U.S. District Court in Norfolk and handed the complaint to a counter clerk. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell, former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk George E. Schafer III were named as defendants.
Lustig wrote: "By denying those individuals the same 'marriage' designation afforded to opposite-sex couples … the Commonwealth of Virginia is stigmatizing gays and lesbians, as well as their children and families, and denying them the same dignity, respect, and stature afforded officially recognized opposite-sex family relationships."
A week after the suit was filed, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer, Matt McGill, learned of the case through news reports.
McGill works with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, an international law firm based in Los Angeles that was heavily involved in the push to legalize same-sex marriage in California. McGill then called Erik Porcaro, a childhood friend — and an attorney with the Virginia Beach law firm.
Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock, with about 15 lawyers, is a respected firm, and among the larger ones in Hampton Roads.
But Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, with more than 1,100 lawyers, is a global firm. It's where Ted Olson, the nation's former solicitor general under George W. Bush, works.
"I thought we were incredibly lucky to team up with them," Shuttleworth added. "We were very delighted to have them on the team. It was not really an issue in my mind. We were just pleasantly surprised that we had the opportunity."
Ruloff said he, too, is happy he got involved a year ago, and believes this will be a historic case. "If Tony had gone to Maryland (to get married), and I had not spoken up, I would not like myself," he said.
Bostic said he found it amazing that the lawyers involved on the plaintiffs' side are mostly "older straight white men."
"They don't have any dog in this fight," he said. "That they're willing to put themselves out there and support us, it's kind of awe-inspiring. It's humbling."
Kudos to Tim and Tony and to Bob, Tom and the rest of the SRSHM attorneys. It was moving hearing Bob and Tom speak at the event and I was very touched when they both gave me a big hug. I feel lucky to count these guys as friends.
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