Governor of Michigan calls for anti-gay assistant AG to be fired
Thu. September 30, 2010 8:02 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Ann Arbor, Mich. -
On Thursday, the Governor of Michigan called for the state's Attorney General to fire Andrew Shirvell, an assistant who has been on an internet vendetta against gay University of Michigan student body President Chris Armstrong.
"If I was still Attorney General and Andrew Shirvell worked for me, he would have already been fired," tweeted Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The Michigan Daily reports that Shirvell's blog posts have had titles like "Chris Armstrong: The PRIVILEGED Pervert" and "Chris Armstrong & His Bullhorn: Portrait of a Radical Homosexual Activist at Work."
Armstrong has applied for an order of protection, and Shirvell is already barred from setting foot on the Michigan campus.
Shirvell's boss, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, said on CNN on Thursday that Shirvell has a right to his opinions.
"Here in America, we have this thing called the First Amendment, which allows people to express what they think and engage in political and social speech," Cox said. "He does satisfactory work, and off-hours, he's free to engage under both our civil service rules, Michigan Supreme Court rulings and the United States Supreme Court rule.
"He's clearly a bully, absolutely," Cox continued. "Is he using the Internet to be a bully? Yes. But is that protected under the 1st amendment? Yes."
"If I was still Attorney General and Andrew Shirvell worked for me, he would have already been fired," tweeted Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The Michigan Daily reports that Shirvell's blog posts have had titles like "Chris Armstrong: The PRIVILEGED Pervert" and "Chris Armstrong & His Bullhorn: Portrait of a Radical Homosexual Activist at Work."
Armstrong has applied for an order of protection, and Shirvell is already barred from setting foot on the Michigan campus.
Shirvell's boss, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, said on CNN on Thursday that Shirvell has a right to his opinions.
"Here in America, we have this thing called the First Amendment, which allows people to express what they think and engage in political and social speech," Cox said. "He does satisfactory work, and off-hours, he's free to engage under both our civil service rules, Michigan Supreme Court rulings and the United States Supreme Court rule.
"He's clearly a bully, absolutely," Cox continued. "Is he using the Internet to be a bully? Yes. But is that protected under the 1st amendment? Yes."