Archive for January, 2010

Mistress Publicly Embrasses Oracle President

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

YaVaughnie Wilkins had an eight year long affair with Oracle President Charles Phillips. The couple even shared a home and many sources claim YaVaughnie was unaware Charles was married.

In 2008, Phillip’s wife Karen had filed for divorce and friends of the couple claim Charles had been claiming to be single since 2003. In the last year though, the couple has since reconciled. In recent months, Charles has even been publicly sucking up to her, going so far to say he “owes everything to his wife” in a speech he gave during an award acceptance.

Not surprisingly, YaVaughnie felt spurned, but her next move was much more shocking than anyone would expect. The estranged girlfriend spent $250,000 to post billboards in San Francisco, New York, and Atlanta depicting herself and Charles together, a quote from Charles claiming YaVaughnie was his solemate, and a web address for her website, charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com. The website has since been taken down, but a copy can be seen on the designer’s website.

Since the billboards went up, the story became public and was posted across the web. Now Charles has come forward and confessed his affair with YaVaughnie. Unfortunately, this public embarrassment may not be the only way Charles will suffer. It seems YaVaughnie decided to put the billboards up right as Oracle was announcing a major merger with Sun Microsystems. Some believe the billboards may drastically affect the cost of the company’s stocks right during this crucial time.

Details are still unknown as to how this will affect Charles and Karen’s marriage, but it would not be surprising if Karen contacts her San Francisco family lawyer and refiles for divorce.

To read more about the story, see the articles in Cnet or Gawker.

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Arguments Used In Fed Marriage Case

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

As the federal court battle against prop 8 heats up, the same-sex marriage advocates have been presenting a wealth of evidence in their favor. To show that those against gay marriage are in fact displaying animosity against homosexuals, footage of a has been presented where a leader in the Prop 8 movement, William Tam, tries to say that allowing gay marriage would lead to the legalization of fornication with children. Tam has also been recorded as having told his followers that if California legalizes same sex marriage, “one by one, other states would fall into Satan’s hands. Every child, when growing up, would fantasize marrying someone of the same sex. More children would become homosexuals.”

Yale law professor George Chauncey has testified that Tam’s statements are “consistent in tone with a much larger history of anti-gay rhetoric.”

San Francisco family attorneys say another strategy of those fighting for legalization of same-sex marriage has been to show that it does not actually present any threat to the institution of marriage. To help make this point, Harvard history professor Nancy Cott has testified that the U.S. has historically restricted marriage to other parties, such as inter-racial couples, and when these bans were lifted, the institution of marriage has become stronger, not weaker as proponents of the ban claim. Cott also argued that traditional gender roles involved with marriage are no longer applicable in our society and, thus, cannot be counted as an argument against gay marriage. She also argued that the divorce rate in Massachusetts has not risen in the five years since gay marriage has been legalized in the state.

Lastly, those arguing for same sex marriage legalization have provided evidence to show that a person’s sexuality is not a choice, but a genetic programing. To make this point, Ryan Kendall testified that his attempts to reform his sexuality through “reversal therapy” proved fruitless and almost drove him to commit suicide. He said at the end of his therapy, “I was just as gay as when I started.”

To read more on the matter, see the article on The Raw Story, The L.A. Times, and CBS News. Image via andy.birky [Flickr].

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Divorce Rates Highest in “Traditional Marriage” States

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

States that have banned gay marriage generally do so under the guise of protecting traditional marriage. Unfortunately for them, it seems that traditional marriage in these areas is actually the most at risk. A new study has revealed that while divorce rates are largely going down, they are dropping the most in states that have been more open towards gay marriage. The highest divorce rates are in the states that have outrightly banned gay marriage.

The lowest divorce rate in the nation is in Massachussetts, which was also one of the first states to legalize same sex unions. The seven states with the highest divorce rates have constitutional bans on gay marriage. San Francisco family attorneys are hoping this may affect the major federal court case on the matter this month.

While the person who conducted the research has said the results are statistically significant, he is also quick to point out that the results do not necessarily imply causation.

To read more about the findings, see the article on Newser. Image Via laverrue [Flickr]

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Living Together Before Marriage Can Increase Likelihood of Divorce

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Conventional wisdom tells many people that they should live together before tying the knot so they can test the waters before making a full commitment. Unfortunately, a recent study has shown this method of thinking is flawed and that waiting just might help your marriage in the long run.

While living together before marriage was once considered scandalous, it is now a widely accepted practice –in fact, over 70% of couples do co-habitate before getting hitched.

Researchers believe the increased divorce rate could be a result of couples getting married for the wrong reasons. “We think that some couples who move in together without a clear commitment to marriage may wind up sliding into marriage partly because they are already cohabiting,” said University of Denver researcher Galena Rhoades. San Francisco family attorneys say other reasons couples may opt to get married include a joint lease, mutual ownership of a pet, or an unexpected pregnancy.

Of subsets of the couples who moved in before marriage, the study found that the reason the couple moved in also affected the happiness of the couple. Those who claimed financial reasons and a desire to spend more time together had overall happier marriages and fewer divorces than those who wanted to test out living together before marriage. “Cohabiting to test a relationship turns out to be associated with the most problems in relationships,” Rhoades said. “Perhaps if a person is feeling a need to test the relationship, he or she already knows some important information about how a relationship may go over time.”

To read more about these findings, see the article on Livescience.com. Image Via dsearls [Flickr].

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