Member Spotlight

First Openly Gay State Supreme Court Justice to Retire

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

September 13, 2018 (Portland Tribune)—Justice Rives Kistler, who became the first openly LGBT state supreme court justice in the nation when he was appointed in 2003, will retire from the Oregon Supreme Court on December 31. Kistler announced his retirement Monday, September 10, in a letter...

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+...

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...