Dualing Banjos

A few weeks back, I made a post about the word of the day – pettifogger. I had a couple of people ask what this actually referred to, so I figured it was time for a post on why pettifogger meant so much to me that I would post it. For some this is now old news, but for others, well this may just be something new and equally boring.

It’s no secret that there has been some tension between myself and some of the board members of CCGLA (Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance). For those of you who are recent viewers of this blog, Chris and I were founding members of CCGLA, and I was responsible for the establishment of the organization as an incorporated body (hence the Inc. bit after their name). Well like most things in life, people don’t always agree, and CCGLA board meetings were no different (diversity of opinion is something I actually value more than sameness). After one such disagreement, some members of the board moved to remove me as a board member (director) and then as a member of CCGLA. This happened in November 2005. I filed a lawsuit, I waited and I withdrew the suit in June this year (you can read more about that over here).

Anyway, this disagreement was all over some business that the Collin Equality Foundation board did at it’s November meeting, which two trustees (who were also board members of CCGLA) disagreed with. Long story short, a majority of the CEF board agreed to alter it’s rules to remove references to CCGLA as a controlling organization. Long story, short, after the two trustees resigned (their own decisions), the board of CCGLA filed a lawsuit against the Collin Equality Foundation and its trustees to seek to overturn the decision made in November. The lawsuit is frivolous, and is based more on personalities rather than actions taken, however the CEF Board have been forced to deal with this over the last few months.

Anyway, getting to why “pettifogger” was relevant. On the day that this was sent out, Chris and I (both trustees of CEF) were attending a settlement conference at the offices of CCGLA’s attorney. It was just an appropriate WOTD for this day. (As an aside, what made this word even more appropriate was that the entire settlement conference was a waste of time.)