Word - Lead by example?

The Atlanta Bar Association will honor former state Attorney General Michael Bowers at its Leadership Awards Luncheon on Oct. 3. Bowers aborted a run for governor in 1998 when it was disclosed that he carried on a decade-long affair with a married woman, which is illegal in Georgia. A decade earlier, in the landmark Bowers v. Hardwick, he successfully defended the state’s sodomy laws before the U.S. Supreme Court. He also fired a lesbian on his staff for presumably violating the state’s sodomy law.</
“The [Leadership Award] is presented to members who inspire by their example, challenge by their deeds, and remind us all of our debt to our profession and community.”</
-- Atlanta Bar Association newsletter</
“Surely the Atlanta Bar must be aware that, to this community, and to many legal scholars, the Bowers v. Hardwick decision is one of the most shameful of our era. ... After the 11th Circuit ruled in Mr. Hardwick’s favor, Mr. Bowers exercised his discretion to make every effort to enshrine discrimination into our state law by petitioning for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thanks to his efforts, our community suffered through an additional two decades of discrimination.”</
-- Lori Surmay, president of the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, a professional group that supports gay rights</
“After Georgia’s gay-marriage amendment, this feels like a move to kick a group of people while they’re down by celebrating one of their chief oppressors.”</
-- Jeff Swart, partner with Alston & Bird and president-elect of the Stonewall Bar Association</
“I have not lived what I believed, and I’m sorry.”</
-- Michael Bowers, in 1997, in admitting his affair with a woman who was a subordinate in the Attorney General’s office