<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>