From The New York Times, 3/11/92, reprinted without permission:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      JUDGE AFFIRMS SUIT BY LESBIAN IN RIGHTS CASE

      A Federal district judge in Atlanta yesterday [3/10/92]
      rejected the Georgia Attorney General's request to dismiss
      a lawsuit brought against him by a lesbian lawyer whose
      job offer was rescinded after she disclosed that she was
      planning to marry another woman.

      In her lawsuit the lawyer, Robin Joy Shahar, is seeking
      monetary damages and a reinstatement of the job offer.

      Ms. Shahar, a 1991 graduate of Emory University Law School,
      had worked for the Georgia Department of Law the summer
      before her graduation and was offered a permanent job in
      the department after her graduation.  She accepted the job
      and was told to report for work last September 23.

      But after telling the Deputy Attorney General that she
      planned to marry another woman and to take the last name of
      her partner, Ms. Shahar received a letter withdrawing the
      offer because of the "purported marriage between you and
      another woman."

      Georgia is one of 24 states that outlaw sodomy.

      Ms. Shahar and her partner participated in a Jewish wedding
      ceremony on July 28, a few weeks after the letter was
      delivered.  She then filed suit against the State Attorney
      General, Michael J. Bowers, in October, asserting that he
      had violated her constitutional right to freedom of
      association, equal protection, due process and freedom of
      religion.

      Responding to Ms. Shahar's lawsuit, Mr. Bowers asserted
      that regardless of whether she had actually committed
      sodomy, the fact of her participation in a wedding ceremony
      to another woman gave him ground to withdraw the offer of
      employment "to insure public perception" that his
      department was enforcing the state's laws.

      Mr. Bowers successfully defended Georgia's anti-sodomy law
      in a 1986 Supreme Court challenge, Bowers v. Hardwick.

      Mr. Bowers also sought to have her claims of religious
      freedom dismissed on the ground that the ceremony is not
      fundamental to her faith.

      The judge, Richard C. Freeman, rejected those arguments.
      Judge Freeman, who was named to the Federal bench by
      President Richard M. Nixon in 1971, ruled that Ms. Shahar
      could go ahead with her lawsuit.  She is now working in a
      law firm in Atlanta.

      William B. Rubenstein, director of the American Civil
      Liberties Union's lesbian and gay rights project, who is
      among those representing Ms. Shahar, said: "What this means
      is that lesbians and gay men who are open about their
      sexuality do not lose their constitutional rights, or their
      right to public employment.  It's a major victory for
      lesbians and gay men, and it's part of a recent trend
      toward respecting our rights."

      Mr. Rubenstein said that in a similar case last month in
      San Francisco, a Federal judge refused to dismiss the
      lawsuit of Frank Buttino, a special agent with the Federal
      Bureau of Investigation who said his constitutional rights
      had been violated when he lost his job after the bureau
      learned of his homosexuality.  He had worked for the F.B.I.
      for 20 years.

      "Sonce there is so little law establishing gay men and
      lesbian's rights, and almost half the states still have
      anti-sodomy laws, these are very important decisions," Mr.
      Rubenstein said.

----------------------------end of article------------------------------
-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
rod williams -=- pacific bell -=- san francisco -=- rjwill6@pacbell.com