Gay Group GLAAD Chief Jarrett Barrios Headed To Divorce Court

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 03, 2010

Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against 

Defamation (GLAAD), announced Thursday that he's divorcing 

from Douglas Hattaway.

The two men were among the first gay couples to marry in

 Massachusetts when its state Supreme Court legalized the institution.

Barrios talked about his separation and impending divorce in an

 op-ed published in The Boston Globe.

“Nearly a year ago, I separated from my partner,” Barrios wrote.

 “At the time, we had been together for 16 years and married for 

over five. I felt I couldn't discuss it beyond my close circle of friends.

 Especially if you're gay and arguing that marriage should be open to you, 

divorce seems to be the ultimate failure.”

As a Massachusetts state senator, Barrios helped defeat a push by social conservatives to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts after the high court's

 2003 ruling.

Hattaway is president and CEO of communications firm Hattaway Communications. He has served as spokesman for two Democratic

 presidential hopefuls, Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2008.

The men are raising two teenage sons.