Abusing organizational procedures and employing debate-suppressing maneuvers, the leadership of the Connecticut Bar Association succeeded in getting the CBA to abandon its non-partisan tradition. By a split vote (12-4, with one abstention), the Board of Governors approved a request by a Boston-based gay advocacy group that the CBA officially support plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
CBA president Barry Hawkins defended the procedure that led to this vote, and engaged in a self-aggrandizing miscast of himself as some kind of avant-garde bar leader who succeeded in overcoming those who resist “equality.” Spare us your sanctimony, Mr. Hawkins.
