http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/726639/posts
GAY MARRIAGE ADVOCATE IN SETTLEMENT BATTLE WITH FORMER PARTNER
MILTON - A champion of marriage rights for same-sex couples is fighting to deny those rights to his ex-partner in a longtime relationship in a bitter court battle with all the hallmarks of a nasty divorce.
In a case that tests the legal bounds of gay unions, Joseph Barri, a senior partner at the law firm of Hale and Dorr, who just this week publicly urged newspapers to print announcements of gay unions, says his former companion should not be treated as a spouse because Massachusetts law doesn't recognize gay marriages.
He says his former partner, Jack Venzer, shouldn't be entitled to stay in the Milton estate he and Venzer bought and renovated together over a 20-year relationship. And while Venzer says he gave up a business career to care for the house and his and Barri's children from previous marriages, Barri argues that Venzer shouldn't receive the financial benefits of a stay-at-home spouse.