Summary: A former attorney in Michigan that was disbarred after verbally attacking a gay man, believes that since Trump is now in office, he has a chance of getting his law license back.
A former Michigan assistant attorney general that was fired, sued and the disbarred for stalking and harassing a gay man is trying to get his law license back. Andrew Shirvell lost his law license when for misconduct against a gay student at the University of Michigan.
Shirvell has appealed the Michigan disciplinary board ruling revoking his law license. He claimed in an interview that the hearing panel that heard his case was biased against him because he is a Christian and they were a bunch of liberals. He hopes that now Trump is in office that he will have a chance to get his license back.
In the press release, Shirvell said, “Given that my case is one of the most politically-charged to have ever come before a Hearing Panel … I cannot imagine a more biased panel of attorneys who sat in judgment of me. With Donald Trump now in the White House, conservative Christians like me will no longer tolerate being railroaded by the liberal elite.”
The former lawyer, now currently lives in Florida, said members of the appeals panel are “supporters of gay rights” so they are unsuitable to judge him. He said, “[Board member] Anthea E. Papista, among other things, failed to disclose that she is an enthusiastic financial supporter of homosexual rights and of Democratic candidates. And, Chairman Lamont E. Buffington failed to disclose that he was a member of the student government at the University of Michigan Law School who had ‘long experience in student government affairs.’”
In 2010, he was accused of harassing and stalking Chris Armstrong, an openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He claims the accusations led to him getting fired. Armstrong eventually sued Shirvell and was awarded $3.5 million.
Shirvell was behind a blog called “Chris Armstrong Watch,” which followed the student body president. He called Armstrong a “liar, a viciously militant homosexual activist, Satan’s representative, a militant homosexual extremist” and a Nazi. The Grand Rapid Press reported that Shirvell went to Armstrong’s home several times, even in the middle of the night. He would verbally attack Armstrong and his friends by outing them, even the ones that were not gay.
When CNN host Anderson Cooper asked Shirvell if he thought he was a “bigot” in 2010, he replied, “Absolutely not.” He saw himself as a “Christian citizen” using his First Amendment rights. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission ultimately said in 2010 that his actions “should not be tolerated from anyone, let alone a public official responsible for representing all people equally.”
He appealed the order in 2015 but was turned down by the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals. The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board agreed to hear his case.
Do you think Shirvell should have lost his law license or just his job? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
To learn more about other anti-gay issues in the news, read these articles:
- Anti-Gay Lawyer Arrested for Sexual Exploitation of Children
- The National Football League Trying to Battle Anti-Gay Bias
- Hollywood Stars Threaten to Boycott Georgia if Alleged Anti-Gay Bill Passes
Photo: lgbtqnation.com