It is the latest in a flurry of litigation between Shirvell and Chris Armstrong, the openly gay former University of Michigan student body president, whom Gordon is representing.

Andrew Shirvell

Shirvell filed the lawsuit late Friday in U.S. District Court, and is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, reported the Detroit Free-Press.

Armstrong has sued Shirvell for defamation for statements Shirvell made on a website attacking Armstrong because he is gay.

For six months, Shirvell waged an online campaign against Armstrong, and used his blog to continuously attack and harass Armstrong, calling him a “racist, elitist and liar,” and “Satan’s representative on the student assembly.”

Armstrong was the first openly gay student body president at U-M during his term last year, and has since graduated. Armstrong’s suit claims Shirvell “developed a bizarre personal obsession” with him in early 2010 after claiming the student was a radical homosexual activist.

Both Armstrong and Gordon have also asked the state bar to strip Shirvell’s law license. Shirvell has counter-sued Armstrong, and followed that with the suit now against Gordon.

“As my complaint makes clear, I have uncovered a significant amount of information during the past year that shows that Deborah Gordon has deliberately set out to destroy me by any means necessary,” Shirvell said in a news release.

In the lawsuit, Shirvell details a number of connections he says Gordon has with people at the attorney general’s office, including with the investigator the department, under then-attorney general Mike Cox, used to investigate Shirvell.

In November 2010, Shirvell was fired for “abusing” the powers of his office, for using his work computer to write his blog and for lying to investigators.

"Shirvell has a history of trying desperately to smear people, so this is no surprise," Gordon said on Tuesday. "His complaint is absurd and without any factual or legal basis."

Shirvell recently lost a motion in federal court seeking to have a good chunk of Armstrong’s suit against him tossed out.

Chris Armstrong (left), and Andrew Shirvell

“You’re basically at the beginning of the lawsuit trying to get to the end,” said U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow. “You’re wasting a lot of energy.”

Shirvell waged an online campaign against the University of Michigan’s openly gay former student body president, Christopher Armstrong. Last April, Armstrong, 21, filed a lawsuit against Shirvell, seeking more than $25,000 in damages.

Armstrong’s suit claimed Shirvell “developed a bizarre personal obsession” with him in early 2010 after claiming the student was a radical homosexual activist. The suit also says that Shirvell accused him of getting minors to drink alcohol and trying recruit others to become homosexuals.

Shirvell used his blog to continuously attack and harass Armstrong, calling him a “racist, elitist and liar,” and “Satan’s representative on the student assembly.”

Shirvell, who is representing himself, was appearing before Tarnow filing several motions to throw out the majority of a lawsuit filed against him by Armstrong. Shirvell claimed he was just exercising his First Amendment rights. In his counter-suit, he states that Armstrong pursued a “course of action” against him “to make an example out of (me) in order to deter others from criticizing (Armstrong’s) homosexual activist agenda.”

Shirvell maintains he’s the victim and that Armstrong is responsible for his recent professional troubles, including being fired by the state Attorney General’s Office in November 2010 for using his state computer to update the blog and then lying to investigators about it.

In court Wednesday, Shirvell argued that he made no effort to inflict intentional emotional harm on Armstrong and that none of his criticisms of the college student were over the line of acceptable criticism.

Tarnow dismissed the motions saying that a jury would decide on the merits of the suit and that after his review of its allegations, and that in his opinion there was more than enough to move it forward to a jury trail.

“They are so many allegations that even if one of these are (true) you’ll be going to trial,” the judge told Shirvell, repeatedly denied motions to knock out parts of Armstrong’s suit.

Tarnow told Shirvell he had proven the adage that it’s "not wise" to represent oneself in court.

Outside court, Shirvell told the Detroit Free Press that "he plans to keep fighting and will file more motions to try to get the suit tossed before it gets to the jury trial phase."

The Detroit Free Press also reported that "both sides have been fighting in court document filings over depositions and what questions each side must answer. Shirvell has asked Tarnow to compel Armstrong to answer questions about his sex life and religious beliefs."

via: Anoka-Hennepin GLBT website

The website is intended to answer questions about actions taken by the district in areas of training and support and will also provide a link to policies regarding Harassment, Violence and Discrimination; Bullying Prohibition; and Sexual Orientation Curriculum.

Anoka-Hennepin is the subject of media reports and national interest group pressure on issues related to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) students.

Anoka-Hennepin is a public school system and we accept every student regardless of real or perceived sexual orientation. We also do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, socioeconomic status, marital status or for any other reason outlined in our Equal Educational Opportunity Policy. [...]

Anoka-Hennepin School District

Over the past two years, a total of nine teens in the Anoka-Hennepin district have committed suicide, and many more students have reportedly attempted to take their lives.

State public health officials have labeled the area a “suicide contagion area” because of the unusually high death rate. Some of the victims were gay, or perceived to be by their classmates, and many were reportedly bullied.

Investigators from the U.S. Justice Department and representatives from the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights are looking into “allegations of harassment and discrimination in the Anoka-Hennepin School District based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes," according to a CNN report.

The district has also been named in a lawsuit filed by five gay and lesbian students over its policy regarding the teaching and discussion of sexual orientation in the classroom.

The suit alleges that the district’s current policy on neutrality regarding sexual orientation amounts to nothing less than a “gag rule,” and effectively constrains teachers from dealing with the harassment and bullying of the district’s LGBT students.

GOP presidential hopeful, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has also been criticized for her silence on the teen suicide problem in Akoka-Hennepin, which is located within her congressional district.

Historically, Bachmann has not supported anti-bullying legislation. Slate reported that in 2006, Bachmann told the Minnesota state legislature that passing an anti-bullying bill would be a waste of time.

Seth Walsh

Wendy Walsh claimed the Tehachapi Unified School District in Tehachapi, Calif., didn't protect her son, 13-year-old Seth Walsh, from being bullied for being gay.

On Sept. 19, 2010, Seth was found unconscious and not breathing, after he had tried to hang himself from a tree branch. Seth died on Sept. 28 after spending 9 days on life support.

According to the complaint, Seth left behind a suicide note that read:

"I love you. Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. I know this will bring much pain. But I will hopefully be in a better place than this shit hole. Please, put my body in burial and visit my used body. And make sure to make the school feel like shit for bringing you this sorrow. This life was a pleasure, mostly having you guys to bring me through the pain. Hopefully I become the universe."

The suit names as defendants Tehachapi Unified Superintendent Richard Swanson, Jacobsen Middle School Principal Susan Ortega, Vice Principal Paul Kaminski, and four teachers, and alleges Seth was continuously verbally and physically assaulted for a period of more than two years because of his sexual orientation.

On Friday, federal investigators from the civil rights divisions of both the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice concluded the Tehachapi Unified School District did not adequately investigate or otherwise respond to complaints from Seth’s family or Seth himself.

The report, based on interviews with Seth’s family, friends, school staff and more than 75 classmates, found that Seth was harassed by peers because he was gay, which “interfered with his education” and forced him into homeschooling to escape the torment.

According to the Departments of Education and Justice:

"The United States concludes that the Student [Seth Walsh] was subjected to persistent, pervasive, and often severe sex-based harassment that resulted in a hostile educational environment of which the District has notice, and that the district failed to take steps sufficient to stop the harassment, to prevent its recurrence, or to eliminate the hostile environment."

The investigation was ordered by the office of the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan following a civil rights complaint filed by Wendy Walsh.

Walsh is seeking compensation for wrongful death damages, medical expenses and punitive damages.

Seth was one of at least six teens who committed suicide in September 2010 as a result of bullying for their actual or perceived sexual orientation, bringing national attention to the adversity and intolerance endured by LGBT youth.

Marten Brandel

Police have arrested a local transient on suspicion of a hate crime for hanging a noose in the doorway of the offices of LGBT advocacy group Equality California last year.

Marten Joseph Brandel, 45, was arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime and hanging a noose on private property when he showed up for a meeting with his parole officer in Irvine Friday, according to Sgt. Anthony Bertagna of Santa Ana PD.

A noose was found hanging on the front door of Equality California's Santa Ana headquarters on October 29, 2010.

Bertagna said DNA on the noose matched samples already in the state system from Brandel, a transient with previous arrests ranging from drug possession to assaulting an officer as well as other property crimes.

When questioned by detectives, Brandel "admitted to committing the crime, but (didn't' say) why he committed it," Bertagna said.

Brandel is being held without bail because he is on parole.

Ronald Crump

A Los Angeles police sergeant who claimed he was harassed because he is gay, and then retaliated against for reporting the incidents, was awarded $1.1 million by a jury on Thursday.

Sgt. Ronald Crump, 39, a 16-year LAPD veteran, said he was transferred from a coveted job in media relations to Skid Row, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Sgt. Ronald Crump sued the city last year, alleging that his direct supervisor at the Los Angeles Police Department Media Relations Section -- Lt. John Romero -- made derogatory remarks about his homosexuality. Romero, who has since been promoted to captain, allegedly described him as "the new Ruby minus the heels," in reference to the woman he replaced in the unit.

On another occasion, Romero allegedly told him, "I was a religion major at Liberty University. Jerry Falwell would roll over in his grave if he knew I had hired you."

Crump argued to the jury that the transfer from the prestigious media relations section was punitive and that it cost him future opportunities for promotion. The jury agreed, and awarded him $1,165,215.

Chris Armstrong (left), and Andrew Shirvell

Last month, Chris Armstrong, 21, filed the suit against Shirvell, seeking more than $25,000 in damages.

Armstrong's suit claims Shirvell “developed a bizarre personal obsession” with him in early 2010 after claiming the student was a radical homosexual activist.

Shirvell used his blog to continuously attack and harass Armstrong, calling him a “racist, elitist and liar,” and “Satan’s representative on the student assembly.”

Now Shirvell has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, saying he was just exercising his First Amendment rights.

In the filing, Shirvell claims that Armstrong pursued a "course of action" against him "to make an example out of (me) in order to deter others from criticizing (Armstrong's) homosexual activist agenda."

In November 2010, Shirvell was fired for “abusing” the powers of his office.

At the time of his firing, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said, via a press release, that Shirvell was guilty of conduct unbecoming of a state law enforcement official and utilizing state resources to persecute and harass Armstrong.

The state bar’s Attorney Grievance Commission is also investigating Shirvell’s actions because Armstrong has also filed an ethics complaint seeking his disbarment.

Steven Saunders

A gay firefighter in White Plains, N.Y. is suing the city and the fire department, alleging he has been harassed, discriminated against and forced to endure a hostile work environment because of his sexual orientation.

Steven Saunders, a 17-year fire veteran, said he hasn't been able to do his job for almost a year now, because after confiding to the deputy chief that he is gay, fellow firefighters turned against him, reported USA Today.

In papers filed in state Supreme Court, Saunders, 43, said that after rumors about his sexuality began spreading in 2008, he informed his superiors that he was gay and was told by Deputy Fire Chief Richard Houlihan not to tell anyone, "especially anyone in the Fire Bureau."

The lawsuit alleges that, without permission, Houlihan then outed Saunders by telling others in the department that he was gay.

Saunders claimed that one firefighter, while making sexual gestures, yelled to another firefighter that he wanted him to "suck his dick" and that he was then going to "give it to him up the ass." He said he was also subjected to comments about "fags" and "cocksuckers."

Despite his complaints, the court papers say supervisors did nothing to stop it.

Tommy Bennett (left) and Rev. Jesse Jackson

A former employee of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition has filed a wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against the civil rights leader, alleging he was harassed and eventually fired because he was gay.

In the complaint filed with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, Tommy Bennett of Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood accuses his former co-workers of mocking and harassing him because of his orientation. The complaint says that his superiors did nothing to rectify the situation when he complained.

- Chicago Tribune

Bennett's complaint also alleges he was forced him to perform “uncomfortable” tasks, including escorting various women to hotel rooms to meet Jackson for sex.

Bennett claims that he let Jackson know that he "was uncomfortable cleaning up his hotel rooms, escorting women to his hotel room, being summoned to his hotel room after hours or packing his clothes."

Things reached an apex later in 2008, when Bennett says he "was summoned to Rev. Jackson's hotel room" at the Hilton Chicago O'Hare Airport Hotel. Bennett claims that he was eventually instructed to apply cream to Jackson, who "had a rash between his legs." Bennett says that he refused, resulting in Jackson allegedly calling Bennett a "little motherfucker."

- Windy City Times

“The Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., unequivocally deny Tommy Bennett’s false claims of harassment, retaliation and discrimination,” PUSH spokeswoman Lauren Love said in a statement.

Bennett worked for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition as the National Director of Community Affairs. He is currently a member of President Barack Obama’s LGBT Leadership Council.

WXYZ-TV

Andrew Shirvell (left), with a defaced image of Chris Amrstong posted on Shirvell's blog.

Chris Armstrong, 21, the first openly gay student body president at U-M, filed the suit against Andrew Shirvell in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, seeking more than $25,000 in damages.

The civil action is in response to Shirvell's "months-long personal campaign of lies and distortion," said Deborah Gordon, Armstrong's attorney.

The suit claims Shirvell "developed a bizarre personal obsession" with Armstrong in early 2010 after claiming the student was a radical homosexual activist.

Shirvell created a Facebook group under the name of "U of M Alumni and Others Against Chris Armstrong and his Radical MSA (Michigan Student Assembly) Agenda."

The page was later deactivated by Facebook, but a blog, titled "Chris Armstrong Watch" was created and began spreading false and defamatory information, the suit said.

Threats by Shirvell included statements such as "you're going down fruity-pebbles" and "I remember the good old days when 'guys' like this would get their asses kicked at school," the suit says.

- The Detroit News

Shirvell used the blog to continuously attack and harass Armstrong, calling him a “racist, elitist and liar,” and “Satan’s representative on the student assembly.”

On Sept. 28, Shirvell told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “I’m a Christian citizen exercising my First Amendment rights. I have no problem with the fact that Chris is a homosexual. I have a problem with the fact that he’s advancing a radical homosexual agenda.”

Among Armstrong’s radical, homosexual agenda: he supported gender-neutral housing at the university for transgender students who haven’t had sexual reassignment surgery.

In November 2010, Shirvell was fired for "abusing" the powers of his office.

At the time of his firing, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said, via a press release, that Shirvell was guilty of conduct unbecoming of a state law enforcement official and utilizing state resources to persecute and harass Armstrong.

The state bar’s Attorney Grievance Commission is currently investigating Shirvell’s actions because Armstrong has also filed an ethics complaint seeking his disbarment.

Tanisha Matthews claimed religious discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and that she was fired for her religious-based statements about gay people.

Gay City News reports:

According to the unsigned ruling, Tanisha Matthews, who describes herself as an Apostolic Christian, worked as an overnight stocker at a Walmart store ... while on a break, she took part in a heated conversation with other employees about God and homosexuality.

Another employee who participated reported to management that Matthews was "screaming over her" that God does not accept gays, they should not "be on earth," and they will "go to hell" because they are not "right in the head." During a company investigation of the incident, five other employees confirmed that Matthews said gays are sinners who are going to hell.

Walmart fired Matthews after the it concluded that she had engaged in harassment of co-workers, in violation of the company's Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy. Matthews sued the retailer, claiming she was fired for expressing her religious beliefs.

The ruling stated, "If Matthews is arguing that Walmart must permit her to admonish gays at work to accommodate her religion, the claim fails."

Walmart fired Matthews "because she violated company policy when she harassed a co-worker, not because of her beliefs," the court found.

And now, teachers and students at Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, Calif., have taken their concerns to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"We are troubled by what we are hearing and are looking into what we've been told is an anti-gay and homophobic environment," said James Gilliam, an attorney and deputy executive director for the ACLU of Southern California.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports:

In one instance, a Paloma Valley High School student alleged a teacher wrote an "S" on her hand and called her "a sinner." In another, a student group says it was barred from doing an activity for gay and lesbian history month, though an ethnic student group could.

An openly gay senior says he was unfairly disciplined after a dispute with a classmate who he says harassed him. [...]

Andrew Braham, 17, says he has endured harassment since his freshman year. He says he was disciplined after a series of verbal disputes, but others involved received lesser punishments.

The allegations at Paloma Valley come as bullying and harassment of gay teens has drawn national attention, in part because of a rash of suicides by teens and young adults who say they were bullied because they are or were perceived to be gay.

District officials said they are considering more anti-bullying training for students and staff and working to expand programs to other district high schools.

ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said he is looking into five school districts in Southern California where gay students allege discrimination or bullying. He also is representing Wendy Walsh, the mother of 13-year-old Seth Walsh, of Tehachapi, who committed suicide last year after he was repeatedly bullied for being gay.

The lawsuit, filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of Barbara Wyatt, and her daughter, Skye, allege the coaches and school compromise students' privacy and subject them to "unnecessary risk of harassment and trauma by disclosing their sexual orientation without consent."

Rhonda Fletcher, the Assistant Softball Coach, Cassandra Newell, the Head Softball Coach, Douglas Duke, the Assistant Athletic Director, and the Kilgore school district are named as defendants.

Skye, now 18 years old, claims she was interrogated by the coaches about her sexuality when she was a sophomore in March, 2009.

According to the lawsuit, Skye was led into an empty locker room by Fletcher and Newell; they locked the door behind them, and then "interrogated" her, demanding to know if Skye was gay and if she had been having a relationship with another girl.

The coaches then called Skye's mother, the suit alleges, and told her that her daughter was a lesbian and offered to give her the other girl’s phone number.

Wyatt said she was more upset at the way the situation was handled, and that "if things had gotten out of hand, there was no one there for her (Skye)."

Skye has since been removed from the softball team, and was said to have suffered “severe mental and emotional anguish," “social isolation” and had been “robbed her of the freedom to deal with her sexuality privately, at her own pace and on her own terms."

According to the suit, Wyatt filed complaints with the high school principal, the superintendent and the district's Board of Trustees, but nothing was done. She said she was told by the school that it was “legally obligated to share this information with the parent."

"We feel confident we handled it the right way," said Superintendent Jody Clements. "But that's why there is a legal system. We'll proceed and let the courts decide what was right."

The lawsuit claims the school and the coaches have "no legitimate state interest in the disclosure of students' sexual orientation to parents. Doing so is a severe and traumatic violation of students' privacy."

A copy of the suit is here (PDF).

Amber Yust

In October we reported the story of a transgender woman in San Francisco who received a hate-filled letter from a Department of Motor Vehicles clerk telling her that she was an "abomination" and that “all gay people should be put to death.”

This week, the DMV clerk, Thomas Demartini, who had worked as a customer service agent at the department's San Francisco office for about two years, submitted his resignation, according to a DMV spokesman.

Demartini has been on paid administrative leave since the incident; the DMV is reportedly nearing the end of its investigation and has plans to make its findings public.

In Ocotber 2010, Amber Yust went to a San Francisco DMV office in San Francisco to change her name on her driver’s license.

A week later, Yust alleges she received a personal letter at home from Demartini telling her she that she was “an abomination,” is going to hell and that homosexuals “should be put to death.”

Yust's lawyers said they learned that Demartini had previously refused to process an application from another transgender woman in August 2009, and that she too was going to hell. In that incident, the DMV issued and apology and allowed Dematini to keep his job.

Yust's attorney, Christopher Dolan, said Demartini should have been fired instead of being allowed to resign.

Dolan has filed a damage claim with the state, saying Yust suffered embarrassment and emotional distress -- it seeks damages in excess of $25,000.

Russell Dickerson

ABERDEEN, Wash. -- A 19-year-old graduate of Aberdeen High School has filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging he endured "severe and persistent harassment" throughout junior high and high school and that school officials were aware of the harassment but failed to take steps end it.

For six years, from 2003 when he entered junior high until 2009 when he graduated high school, Russell Dickerson III alleges he was harassed by other students on the basis of his race, sex, and perceived sexual orientation.

According to the ACLU of Washington, who is representing Dickerson in the suit, "the school district’s failure to act created a hostile educational environment for the student."

The suit alleges:

As a student at Miller Junior High, Dickerson was called names by other students and found notes in his backpack and taped to his back calling him “stupid nigger” and “dog.” He found notes in his locker and in his school binder with viciously derogatory insults. Students tripped him in the hallways and threw food at him in the cafeteria. ...

At Aberdeen High School, the harassment escalated, with Dickerson subjected to derogatory names including “nigger,” “nappy ho,” and “faggot.”

Because he did not fit gender stereotypes for a young man and was perceived by other students to be gay, he endured derisive comments about his physical appearance and suspected sexual orientation. Dickerson suffered physical harassment, with other students pinching and fondling his chest, spitting on his head, and throwing objects at him

The suit also claims that Dickerson and his parents reported the harassment to school administrators, but they "took no steps reasonably aimed at ending it." Dickerson claims an assistant principal once recommended that he change his style of dress to avoid further harassment.

"I found myself dreading school because I did not know how I was going to be physically harassed, racially harassed, or sexually harassed that day, or by whom," said Dickerson, in a statement released by the ACLU.

The suit also mentions that in 2007, students created a website mocking Dickerson and his perceived sexual orientation, and posted threatening racist comments on it.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, said the district violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state anti-discrimination law.

"The district adamantly denies that the district has allowed any student, including Russell, to be harassed without prompt corrective action being taken," said Aberdeen Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Opstad.