Gay Student Leader Takes Harassing State Attorney to Court

Jury selection is beginning in a defamation lawsuit against the former Michigan assistant attorney general who is accused of harassing gay University of Michigan student Chris Armstrong.

Andrew Shirvell was fired from his job after starting an antigay blog where he regularly wrote disparaging remarks about Armstrong. He described the student leader as heading up a "radical homosexual agenda" as well as calling him a Nazi and a representative of Satan. He has also been accused of stalking Armstrong on campus, causing Shirvell to be temporarily banned.

According to the Associated Press, Armstrong's attorney said the charges would be dropped if Shirvell apologized. He refused, and the case is scheduled to go to trial Tuesday in Detroit federal court.

Armstrong graduated in 2011.