Latest news with #Etherton
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
LGBT ban victims take part in official VE Day celebrations for the first time
They'll take part in a service at Westminster Abbey, and in a concert in the evening on nearby Horse Guards Parade Veterans affected by the ban on LGBT people in the military will take part in official VE Day Commemorations today for the first time. They'll take part in a service at Westminster Abbey, and in a concert in the evening on nearby Horse Guards Parade. They include Vito Ward, who was discharged in 1970 from the Women's Royal Naval Service for being gay. She said: "This is a very special occasion for me as a newly reinstated veteran. If anyone had said to me I'd be included in official VE Day events - even ten years ago- I'd never have believed them." It comes the day after Lord Etherton, the first openly gay High Court judge, who led the government's damning review into the ban, died aged 73. As many as 20,000 armed forces personnel were jailed, dismissed for their sexuality or outed against their will before the rule on service was lifted in 2000. Then-PM Rishi Sunak finally said sorry last July, in a victory for campaigners and the charity Fighting With Pride - with victims promised compensation. Veterans affected by the ban are being urged to come forward to claim payouts of up to £70,000. Ms Ward, now in her eighties, added: "I was devastated after being so unfairly kicked out of the career and military family I suited so well. "So being part of today, recognised for what I did and could have continued to give to my country, is massive. "I hope it will help others who suffered under the gay ban to come forward so they get the justice and money they're owed under the government's redress scheme."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lord Etherton, Master of the Rolls and former Olympic fencer who clashed with the government over Brexit
Lord Etherton, who has died aged 73, was Master of the Rolls, the second most senior judge in England and Wales, from 2016 to 2021, and the first openly gay man to hold such a senior judicial post. Previously one of the most sought-after Silks at the Chancery Bar, Terence Etherton had long been drawn to the idea of serving on the bench, but always assumed that he would be barred on account of his sexuality. Lord Hailsham, who was Lord Chancellor for much of the 1970s and 1980s, had a supposedly secret (but widely known) policy of not appointing gay men to the bench on the outdated grounds that they were at risk of blackmail – even though the Sexual Offences Act had legalised homosexual acts in 1967. This policy was eventually revoked in the late 1980s by Hailsham's successor Lord Mackay, although the change was never publicised and Etherton did not know when he applied to become a High Court judge – such applications having been encouraged after the election of the Blair government in 1997 and the arrival of Lord Irvine as Lord Chancellor. Thinking, 'I'll jolly well show them up,' Etherton was very surprised to be accepted, and he subsequently took his long-term partner (later husband) Andrew Stone along with him to the official reception to meet the Lord Chancellor. As Etherton recalled, Irvine shook both their hands warmly 'and afterwards would always ask how Andrew was'. By nature a private person, Etherton did not regard himself as a trailblazer or campaigner, but he felt a responsibility to act as a role model and help to normalise the idea of gay senior judges and same-sex couples within the legal profession. He therefore resolved that in future he 'would not budge a centimetre from being open about myself'. Terence Michael Elkan Barnet Etherton was born in Essex on June 21 1951 into a Jewish family whose ancestors had emigrated from Russia in the late 19th century and settled in the East End of London, where his paternal grandfather, Solle Borrenstein, was born in 1891. To counter the prevailing anti-Semitism, the family changed their name to Etherton in 1910, and Solle became Stanley. His brother Schliama had a more striking make-over, becoming Seddon Llewellyn Delroy Etherton. Etherton, right, as Master of the Rolls with David Gauke (Lord Chancellor), left, and Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd (Lord Chief Justice) - Eddie Mulholland Terence's family were less assiduous than their cousins in shedding their Jewish trappings, and although no Yiddish was spoken at home, Terence grew up with a deep-seated Jewish faith and powerful sense of Jewish history – albeit later acknowledging that his sexuality and not always strictly kosher lifestyle made him an 'enforced outsider to orthodoxy even though my spiritual inclination is traditional'. Aged eight he was sent to Holmewood House, a prep school near Tunbridge Wells, his arrival coinciding with that of a 24-year-old new headmaster called Robert Bairamian, a flamboyant character whose later charges included the BBC's Jeremy Vine, the former president of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, and the lead singer of the Pogues, Shane MacGowan. Terence continued his education as a scholar at St Paul's, where he won the public schoolboys' foil championship (previously won by Winston Churchill when at Harrow) and then as an exhibitioner at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, where he read history and law and captained the university fencing team. He later competed for Great Britain at three world championships, and won a gold medal as part of the Sabre team at the Commonwealth fencing championships in 1978. He was selected for the Moscow Olympics in 1980 but missed the games as part of the international boycott following the invasion of Afghanistan. Called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1974, Etherton joined what eventually became Wilberforce Chambers and began specialising in landlord and tenant and property law, quickly establishing an outstanding reputation. He took Silk in 1990, and by 1998 he was numbered by Chambers' Guide to the Legal Profession among the 15 QCs said to be earning more than £1 million a year at the Bar. At the same time he threw himself into a variety of voluntary positions, many of them in the field of mental health, serving as a director of the Riverside Mental Health NHS Trust and chairman of Broadmoor Hospital Authority and of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust. After his appointment as a Judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court in 2001, he helped bring clarity to the case law across a range of subjects from proprietary estoppel to pensions; his written judgments invariably repaid rereading. He was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2008, and succeeded Lord Dyson as Master of the Rolls in 2016, at what proved to be a tumultuous time. Etherton: keen to ensure that the law was as fair, modern, accessible and cost-effective as possible - Gary Lee/Photoshot That autumn Etherton presided at the first of the high-profile Gina Miller cases concerning Brexit, ruling with his two fellow divisional court judges that the British government could not use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 to leave the European Union but instead needed the consent of Parliament. The government's more vehement supporters included the Daily Mail, which ran front-page mugshots of the three judges beneath the headline: 'Enemies of the People'. Etherton was described as an 'openly gay ex-Olympic fencer', to which J K Rowling tweeted: 'If the worst they can say about you is you're an OPENLY GAY EX-OLYMPIC FENCER TOP JUDGE, you've basically won life'. Etherton reflected that this 'baptism of fire' highlighted the need for greater transparency in the judicial system, for the public to see that 'we haven't got an independent private or political agenda'. With this in mind, as head of the civil justice system he set about introducing the live-streaming of Court of Appeal cases on YouTube, so that anyone who wanted to could watch online. In the second Miller case in 2019, Etherton and two other judges decided in favour of the government that the prorogation of Parliament was not justiciable in English courts, although this judgment was soon overturned by the Supreme Court. In January 2021 he was succeeded as Master of the Rolls by Sir Geoffrey Vos. Etherton's other posts included a stint (2006-09) as chairman of the Law Commission, the independent law reform watchdog charged with keeping the laws of England and Wales under review, where he set up a web forum allowing the public to put their views on laws on the website and respond to the views of others. In seeking to ensure that the law was as fair, modern, accessible and cost-effective as possible, he criticised civil servants for 'regularly disregarding' the need to respond quickly to proposals for law reform. Always interested in education, he was a visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and an honorary professor at Kent University. He was knighted in 2001, created a life peer in 2020 and appointed GBE in 2024 for services to LGBT veterans. Terence Etherton entered a civil partnership with Andrew Stone in 2006, and in 2014, as soon as it became legal to do so, they were married in a Jewish wedding ceremony at West London Synagogue, with many senior judges and lawyers in attendance. Lord Etherton, born June 21 1951, died May 6 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Chicago Tribune
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Lake Forest Caucus new leadership team set after membership vote
The leadership team for the Lake Forest Caucus is set for 2025-26 as members overwhelmingly approved the proposed executive officer slate last week. With residents asked to cast one yes or no vote for the entire slate, the seven candidates endorsed by the 43-member Caucus Committee received 451 yes votes with 105 voting against at a March 18 meeting held at the Gorton Center. With the general membership approval, Regina Etherton is set to become Caucus president starting in April. The other officers will be Mark Pickett as vice president, Armando Guzman as treasurer, Dale Tauke to be secretary, Peggy Siebert for fundraising with Viktor Brisku, and Tyler Lisenby serving in communication roles. The terms last for one year. 'I felt grateful for the slate who have worked very hard,' Etherton said afterward. 'I am appreciative to the community.' Etherton will succeed Joe Oriti as president. The massive affirmative vote this time stood in stark contrast to last year's election when the general membership narrowly rejected the executive officer slate. The Caucus then had to have a second election on a group of candidates that did receive approval. Etherton, who has been a Caucus vice president this year, pointed to better organization and get-out-the-vote efforts on why the slate passed. 'We have been paying to ensuring that people get out to vote and they know about the election,' she said. 'Historically it wasn't well publicized and there were other factors like spring break occurring at the same time and there was some confusion.' Last year's initial rejection of the officer slate was the latest in a string of defeats for the Caucus hierarchy. In existence since 1935, the Caucus recruits, vets and recommends Lake Forest residents to serve on elected boards as well as city boards and commissions. The process rarely generates much controversy and the Caucus-backed candidates for elected office often run unopposed in the municipal elections. However, in 2022, the general membership did not approve the Caucus Committee endorsement of Stanford 'Randy' Tack for mayor. With the organization's bylaws unclear on how to move forward, the 43-member Caucus Committee moved ahead with the Tack endorsement leading to a rare contested general election that Tack easily won. In November 2023, the Caucus leadership proposed the 'Caucus Protection Act' that would have removed the general membership vote from the approval process, but that was voted down as well. After the approval of the officer slate on the second vote last year, the Caucus formed an ad hoc committee tasked with examining the organization's bylaws and set to make some changes. The ad hoc committee's recommendations were originally set to be part of the spring meeting vote, but Caucus officials have delayed a vote on the amendment stating more examination of the respective suggestions are necessary. The fate of the bylaw revisions appeared to entice voters to the Gorton Center. 'I voted yes because I am giving them a chance to make sure they change the bylaws,' said Anne Taylor. 'This will give them another session to do it and they need it.' Another resident, Scott Wolff, said he voted against the slate. 'They haven't done what they said they were going to do by this time regarding the bylaws so everyone can be heard and they need to be updated for a modern society,' Wolff said. After last week's vote, John Trkla, a founder of Lake Forest For Transparency, an 'educational advocacy group', released a statement regarding the results. 'Lake Forest residents are giving a vote of confidence to the Caucus about reforming its bylaws to make votes binding. But they are still on the knife's edge. This reform needs to be completed very soon if it wants to continue moving forward building trust with Lake Forest residents.' Following last week's vote, the Caucus released a statement noting the Caucus Committee has been reviewing the recommendations and evaluating potential revisions to the bylaws. Moreover, the Caucus Committee is planning on meeting with the ad hoc committee members soon with the completion of the review is a priority for the organization. However, a legal review would be necessary before a public vote. The new slate is scheduled to officially start their new roles at an April 8 meeting. Despite the recent internal issues, Caucus-endorsed candidates for elected office are running unopposed in the April 1 general election.
