Action Wisconsin Wins $87,000 In Storms’
Lawsuit
Louisiana Preacher Will Appeal
Decision In Ovadal-Inspired Suit - Lawyers To Get Winnings
Madison - Wisconsin’s
largest gay rights group has been awarded $87,000 in attorneys’ fees by
a judge who verbally spanked a Louisiana “pastor” and his lawyer for
bringing a frivolous lawsuit claiming the group defamed him.
Grant Storms had claimed in the lawsuit that Action Wisconsin
defamed him by saying remarks he made at the “First International



Conference on Homo-Fascism,” advocated the
murder of gays. The day-long conference was held in Milwaukee in
October, 2003 and sponsored by the now-defunct Wisconsin Christians
United.
But in a ruling last week, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge
Patricia McMahon said the AW’s interpretation of the remarks was
reasonable and the lawsuit lacked merit from the day it was filed in
February 2004. The judge also blasted Storms’ lawyer, James Donohoo of
Milwaukee, saying he should have known the complaint was a waste of
time.
However, the judge likely was unaware - on the record at least -
of Donohoo’s previous association with the primogenitor of the AW
lawsuit: self-ordained “pastor” Ralph Ovadal. Ovadal, who now operates
the self-identified “independent, unlicensed” Pilgrim’s Covenant Church
(PCC) in Monroe, sponsored the anti-gay event.
As
Quest reported
last July, the genesis of the Storms lawsuit followed an ironic and,
some might say, almost comic path. Following the lightly attended 2003
Homo Fascism conference, WCU reported on its website on October 14 that
turnout at the event “included nine pastors, a state senator, a police
officer, and a number of ministry leaders” and offered for sale an
audio disc of the conference speeches. Two weeks later on October 22,
the “Reality Check” column in the gay publication
Wisconsin INStep reported that the
state senator in question was “freshman Republican Tom Reynolds, not
exactly a new convert to the extremist right.”
The dual information led then AW board President Tim O’Brien to
order a copy of the conference speeches, which O’Brien listened to in
full, and AW Executive Director Christopher Ott listened to in part.
Both men were named as co-defendants in the Storm suit.
Ott later wrote a letter to then Senate Majority leader Mary
Panzer requesting her to “to investigate, identify, and discipline the
state senator “ who attended the conference. Ott included excerpts of
the Storms speech and wrote “the attendance of a state senator at this
conference is similar to a senator attending a Ku Klux Klan rally or
neo-Nazi conference, and should receive tremendous scrutiny -
especially at a time when legislators are advocating a constitutional
amendment targeted at gay people.”
The December 8 AW press release about the Panzer letter
contained similar excerpts from Storms’ speech such as “They [gays]
want to kill you;” “There is a philistine army out there. It’s called
the homosexual movement, whether you can see it or not, understand it
or not, they want to eliminate us;” and “God has delivered them into
our hands, Hallelujah – Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom [like gun fire] –
There’s twenty! Grant also made comments that suggested his supporters
go to a fast-food restaurant for a quick meal before continuing the
allegedly metaphorical massacre.
On December 8 & 9, WCU responded to the AW press release
claiming that “we had expectations that the homosexual propagandists
would prove our point about homo-fascism by screaming bloody murder and
making all sorts of wild accusations.” A third WCU press release on
December 10 promised “Action Wisconsin Will Be Held Legally Accountable
for Vicious Attack upon Christian Pastor.” A later WCU newsletter
advised Ovadal was assisting Storms in arranging for a Wisconsin
attorney. Donohoo had represented WCU in earlier cases.
Storms responded to McMahon’s award decision on January 11 by
claiming that any contention that he was advocating the murder of gays
is “ludicrous and ridiculous.” He also labeled the judge “liberal” and
“insane.”
“I was saying, the Christian community needs to go forward and
stand against the homosexual agenda,” he said, vowing to appeal the
decision. “We’ll win this case and we’ll win the cultural war. We have
God on our side.”
Donohoo also said he would appeal the awarding of attorneys’
fees, claiming the lawsuit was not frivolous. Ovadal also reinserted
himself into the fray January 12 with a press release on the PCC
website.
Action Wisconsin’s lead attorney Lester Pines said the dismissal
of Storms’ lawsuit and the declaration that it was frivolous is a
victory both for free speech and for Action Wisconsin, which is gearing
up for a major campaign against the likely November referendum on a
constitutional ban on marriage and civil unions for same sex
couples.
“This is going to be a very vicious campaign and I want
everybody to know that if they think they are going to use phony
defamation claims against Action Wisconsin to try to divert it, we will
vigorously defend them,” Pines said.
Action Wisconsin had also criticized state Senator Tom Reynolds
(R-West Allis) for attending the Milwaukee conference. Reynolds said
January 11 he stopped by for 20 minutes as a courtesy.
But as
Quest also
reported last July, Reynolds has a far more involved interest with
Ovadal’s anti-gay agenda. The 2003
InStep story along with subsequent
dueling AW and WCU press releases drew the attention of
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
political columnists Cary Spivak & Dan Bice, who followed up with
Reynolds and confirmed his presence at the Homo Fascism conference. In
their January 13, 2004 piece the columnists wrote: “ ‘It sounded
interesting,’ said the West Allis senator who owns a small print shop.
‘I don’t know much about them. I do a little printing for them.’” The
“little printing” included a number of WCU brochures. Some of WCU
titles are “A Little Discrimination Can Be a Good Thing,”
“Homosexuality: The Truth” and “Is Someone You Know A Bugger?”
Action Wisconsin executive director Chris Ott, who - along with
- was named in the lawsuit, hailed McMahon’s decision. “Action
Wisconsin will not be intimidated into abandoning our mission to
achieve full equality for LBGT citizens,” Ott said. “We did
not back down from this frivolous suit, and fought back with full
strength in order to preserve our mission. In the months and years
ahead, those who would consider suing us to silence our voice should
take fair warning from this decision: your frivolous claims will not go
unpunished.”
Pursuant to the judge’s ruling, the award will go to cover court
costs and attorney fees incurred in Action Wisconsin’s defense. The
organization is hoping to raise $5 million in its defense of marriage
equality in the coming contstitutional referendum fight.