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.