Member Spotlight

Justice Rosalyn Richter Receives the LGBT Bar’s Dan Bradley Award

POSTED ON September 3, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

August 8, 2018 (The LGBT Bar)—Justice Rosalyn H. Richter was honored with the Dan Bradley Award at the 30th Annual Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair. The Dan Bradley Award is the National LGBT Bar Association’s highest honor. Given at the Lavender Law Awards Lunch, the...

First LGBT Judge Named to Sonoma County Court

POSTED ON September 3, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

July 11, 2018 (Bay Area Reporter)—California Governor Jerry Brown has named the first known LGBT judge to the Sonoma County Superior Court. Barbara Phelan, 57, a lesbian attorney who lives in Glen Ellen, was appointed by Brown in late June to fill a vacancy on the...

Tennessee Judge Rachel Bell Got Married and Came Out

POSTED ON September 3, 2018 In Member Spotlight

June 3, 2018 (Out & About Nashville)—Davidson County General Sessions Court Judge Rachel L. Bell married Dorsha James, an emergency room doctor, this past February in a small, intimate ceremony. The two knew they would host a larger, more public event in June because, in...

New York’s Failla Commission Salutes Judge William Thom

POSTED ON August 3, 2018 In Member Spotlight

June 19, 2018 (New York)—New York's first openly gay judge, William Thom, was honored at a forum entitled July 3, 1973: The Day the Court of Appeals Made Pride Possible in New York. The Pride Month event, hosted by the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission...

Texas LGBT Judges Bring Empathy, Wisdom and Life Lessons

POSTED ON August 3, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight, Transgender Judges

June 26, 2018 (Texas Lawyer)—At a panel discussion at the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in Houston, four LGBT judges—from municipal court to district court benches—talked about their pathways to the bench, how they can be role models and help other LGBT lawyers and...

California Judge Tara Flanagan Wins Re-election

POSTED ON June 19, 2018 In Appointments/Elections, LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

June 6, 2018 (Bay Area Reporter) -- In Alameda County, California, lesbian Superior Court Judge Tara Flanagan has bested bisexual former public defender Karen Katz. According to unofficial returns, Flanagan received 64.37 percent of the vote to Katz's 34.77 percent. In a phone call with...

Times of London Profiles Sir Terence Etherton

POSTED ON June 19, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

"I’m not an activist, but I think it is my duty to be open." May 31, 2018 (Times of London) -- When Sir Terence Etherton was practicing at the Chancery Bar, there was an unspoken policy that gay men would not be appointed to the bench because,...

Judge Mary Rowland Nominated for Federal Court

POSTED ON June 19, 2018 In Appointments/Elections, LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

June 7, 2018 (Huffington Post) -- President Donald Trump has announced his nomination of Mary Rowland to be a federal judge, making his first LGBTQ court pick since taking office. Rowland, an out lesbian, is his choice for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for...

Q&A: California Court of Appeals Justice Therese Stewart

POSTED ON May 23, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

In late 2014, The Recorder profiled Justice Therese Stewart, the first lesbian to serve openly as an appellate justice in California. Justice Therese Stewart took her seat on the First District Court of Appeals in August, becoming the first openly gay woman to serve as an...

Mike Jacobs Comes Out as First Openly Bisexual U.S. Judge

POSTED ON May 23, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

Georgia Judge Mike Jacobs has come out as the first openly bisexual judge in the United States. Jacobs made the announcement at the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia event on April 19, according to Project Q Atlanta. He also confirmed the announcement in a posting about...

Member Spotlight

Justice Rosalyn Richter Receives the LGBT Bar’s Dan Bradley Award

First LGBT Judge Named to Sonoma County Court

Tennessee Judge Rachel Bell Got Married and Came Out

New York’s Failla Commission Salutes Judge William Thom

Texas LGBT Judges Bring Empathy, Wisdom and Life Lessons

California Judge Tara Flanagan Wins Re-election

Times of London Profiles Sir Terence Etherton

Judge Mary Rowland Nominated for Federal Court

Q&A: California Court of Appeals Justice Therese Stewart

Mike Jacobs Comes Out as First Openly Bisexual U.S. Judge

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