Member Spotlight

Judge Helen Whitener Named Co-chair of Minority & Justice Commission

POSTED ON November 21, 2018 In LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

September 21, 2018 (Pierce County, WA)—Pierce County Superior Court Judge G. Helen Whitener has been elected co-chair of the Washington Supreme Court Minority and Justice Commission, taking up the position after longtime co-chair, Supreme Court Justice Charles Johnson, chose to step down. Justice Johnson served on...

Philadelphia Celebrates National Coming Out Day with LGBTQ Wedding Event

POSTED ON November 21, 2018 In Member Spotlight

October 11, 2018 (Philadelphia City Hall)—Mayor Jim Kenney, Director for the Office of LGBT Affairs Amber Hikes, City Representative Sheila Hess, and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell were joined by esteemed LGBTQ+ judges Daniel Anders, Ann Butchart and Barbara McDermott, and LGBTQ+...

Joyita Mondal Appointed India’s First Transgender Judge

POSTED ON October 22, 2018 In Appointments/Elections, LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight, Transgender Judges

October 13, 2018 (Think Change India)—Born in a traditional Hindu household in West Bengal, Joyita Mondal suffered a lot of discrimination as a transgender person. She had to drop out of school, sleep at a bus stand, and beg on the streets. It no longer...

Lesbian Sworn In as Alameda County Court Commissioner

POSTED ON October 22, 2018 In Appointments/Elections, LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight

August 29, 2018 (Bay Area Reporter)—In a packed courtroom at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland Friday, August 24, lesbian former research attorney Bentrish Satarzadeh was publicly sworn in as an Alameda County court commissioner. Numerous judges, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, California Court...

Transgender Judge Named for Assam, India Civil Court

POSTED ON October 22, 2018 In Appointments/Elections, LGBTQ Judges, Member Spotlight, Transgender Judges

August 16, 2018 (G Plus, Guwahati)—Appointed the first transgender judge of Assam and northeast India, and the third in India, Swati Bidhan Baruah hails from the state’s strong LGBTQ+ community. Born and brought up in Guwahati, Swati will work in a national Lok Adalat (civil court)...

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...

Member Spotlight

Judge Helen Whitener Named Co-chair of Minority & Justice Commission

Philadelphia Celebrates National Coming Out Day with LGBTQ Wedding Event

Joyita Mondal Appointed India’s First Transgender Judge

Lesbian Sworn In as Alameda County Court Commissioner

Transgender Judge Named for Assam, India Civil Court

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

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