Big trouble over at the Driving Club.....

The Atlanta Debutante Club Harvest Ball celebrated its centennial year with the formal presentation of 35 Atlanta Debutantes at the Piedmont Driving Club on Nov. 26. The festivities began with the march of escorts. Piedmont Driving Club President John Robert Holder presided over the formal presentation of the 2010 debutantes. Each debutante wore a full-length white formal gown and was presented along with her father or a family member. After the final presentation of each debutante, there was a grand promenade of debs and fathers.

A little bit of an old fashion shit storm coming down on the stately ( and fusty! ) Atlanta ( OLD Atlanta ) law firm of King and Spalding. ( turns out that most people in the world have never even heard of K&S, world wide huge law firm , but started in Atlanta and all. )

A while back President Obama and Attorney General Holder decided , with mucho precedence, to STOP fighting for parts of DOMA in the courts. Waste of time and money for the Federal Government to try to enforce something so blatantly UN-Constitutional. Done and Done. Cue right wing head explosions.

 So, Speaker Boner ( and yes, from now on, Kyle is in 5th grade ) trying to ride the tiger of religious hate in this country, goes looking for his own lawyer to keep the dirty queers in their place and comes up with Bush II's former U.S. Solicitor General ( you know the same position that told Constitutional Law professor President Obama it was ok to do what he did ) Paul Clement ,who now works for King and Spalding. This always happens, I do believe the entirety of the Carter Judicial team came back to Atlanta and went to work for K&S .

SO, venerable old King and Spalding , who touts their love of diversity all over their web site and goes out looking for gay friendly awards is the firm that is going to ROLL in tax payer money to keep the law in place. Odd for such a fly beneath the radar group, and AND , they are cutting the Speaker a deal and only going to charge 520$ an hour! A bargin at half the price!

read this : ABOVE THE LAW ,K&S to defend DOMA, at a discount.

BUT WAIT,

There's more!

This contract with the Speaker of the House bars ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM FROM ADVOCATING FOR THE REPEAL OF DOMA. Yes, dancing all over the Constitution while working on something Unconstitutional! I am sensing a theme from these folks. From the Metro Weekly " All of King & Spalding's employees – lawyers and non-lawyers – are barred from advocating for the Respect for Marriage Act – the bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act – in the 112th Congress, according to the terms of the contract to defend DOMA that King & Spalding partner Paul Clement signed on the firm's behalf on April 14.The contract, which was entered into with U.S. House of Representatives General Counsel Kerry Kircher on behalf of the House's Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to defend DOMA in court, contains a provision that prohibits all King &Spalding attorneys and non-attorney employees from any advocacy to "alter or amend" DOMA. ( THE REST )


You need to know that King and Spaulding wears their pro gay-ness right on their sleeve, MOST proud of the work they do with the LGBT community, THIS is a part of their website. RIght there on the front porch for all to see:

King & Spalding is committed to having the brightest and most diverse lawyers it can find, including members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. We work hard to foster and maintain an environment where our lawyers can provide the highest level of legal service while being true to themselves in the process. The firm's non-discrimination policy prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Further, domestic partner benefits are offered for same-sex couples.


Recognitions


Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index Rating of 95 out of 100 (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011).
Facts and Figures


King & Spalding encourages and supports its partners, counsel, and associates taking leadership roles in organizations serving the LGBT community:


Partner Sam Griffin has served as co-chair of Georgia’s Multi-Bar Leadership Council, and is a member of the board of directors for the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, the statewide group for LGBT legal professionals.


Associate Brian Basinger is President of the Stonewall Bar Association of GeoThe Atlanta Debutante Club Harvest Ball celebrated its centennial year with the formal presentation of 35 Atlanta Debutantes at the Piedmont Driving Club on Nov. 26. The festivities began with the march of escorts. Piedmont Driving Club President John Robert Holder presided over the formal presentation of the 2010 debutantes. Each debutante wore a full-length white formal gown and was presented along with her father or a family member. After the final presentation of each debutante, there was a grand promenade of debs and fathers.rgia. Mr. Basinger also has served on the board of directors for Georgia Equality, the statewide non-partisan LGBT advocacy organization.


The firm’s LGBT Affinity Group provides opportunities for partners, attorneys, and counsel throughout the firm to interact and collaborate on diversity efforts.
Recruiting


King & Spalding actively recruits LGBT law students and seeks opportunities to partner with LGBT student organizations to help their members successfully navigate the process of moving from law student to lawyer. The firm annually attends Lavender Law, the National LGBT Bar Association’s conference and career fair. Recently, an LGBT Summer Associate received the King & Spalding


Community


King & Spalding also provides ongoing support for various LGBT-related community organizations. Among others, the firm has engaged with:


ACLU's LGBT and AIDS Project


AIDS Walk Atlanta


Georgia Equality’s Annual “Evening for Equality” Awards


Lambda Legal’s annual civil rights celebration in Atlanta


Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia’s annual awards dinner


“Out on Film” Festival in Atlanta



That is a whole lot of WE WANT GAY HARVARD GRADS!!

There is starting to be some real kick back from all of this, and to me at least, King and Spalding is CLOSELY tied with COCA COLA.. which never ever EVER wants anything to do with ANY controversy, so it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.
I wrote this on the fly, and will be coming back to it.