List of LGBT state supreme court justices in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Below is a list of the names of the LGBT persons who have served on the highest court of a state or territory in the United States.

The first state with a LGBT justice was Oregon, where Rives Kistler was named to the bench in 2003.[1] The first U.S. territory with a LGBT justice was Guam, where Benjamin Cruz was appointed in 1997.[2] There are currently 11 LGBT state supreme court justices, serving in 10 states.

In U.S. states[]

Current[]

Order State Court Justice Ref Service as justice As chief justice
1  Colorado Colorado Supreme Court Monica Márquez [3] 2010–present
2  Hawaii Supreme Court of Hawaii Sabrina McKenna [4] 2011–present
3  Connecticut Connecticut Supreme Court Andrew J. McDonald [5] 2013–present
4  Washington Washington Supreme Court Mary Yu [6] 2014–present
5  Oregon Oregon Supreme Court Lynn Nakamoto [7] 2016–present
6  Minnesota Minnesota Supreme Court Margaret Chutich [8] 2016–present
7  Nevada Supreme Court of Nevada Lidia S. Stiglich [9] 2016–present
8  Massachusetts Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Elspeth B. Cypher [10] 2017–present
9  Washington Washington Supreme Court Helen Whitener [11] 2020–present
10  California Supreme Court of California Martin Jenkins [12] 2020–present
11  New York New York State Court of Appeals Anthony Cannataro [13] 2021–present

Former[]

Order State Court Justice Ref Service as justice As chief justice
1  Oregon Oregon Supreme Court Rives Kistler [1] 2003–2018
2  Oregon Oregon Supreme Court Virginia Linder [14] 2007–2016
3  Massachusetts Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Barbara Lenk [15] 2011–2020
4  New York New York State Court of Appeals Paul Feinman [16] 2017–2021
5  Vermont Vermont Supreme Court Beth Robinson [17] 2011–2021

In U.S. territories[]

Order Territory Court Justice Ref Service as justice As chief justice
1  Guam Supreme Court of Guam Benjamin Cruz [2] 1997–2001 1999–2001
2  Puerto Rico Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Maite Oronoz Rodríguez [18] Since 2014 Since 2016

See also[]

  • State supreme courts
  • List of the first LGBT holders of political offices in the United States

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Amid debate over rights, number of gay judges rising". USA Today. October 17, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Silva, David (November 25, 1997). "Cruz Control: Newly Appointed Guam Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cruz May Be the Nation's Highest-Ranking Gay Judge". The Advocate. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  3. ^ "Ritter appoints Marquez to Colo. Supreme Court". KDVR. September 8, 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  4. ^ Kobayashi, Ken (January 26, 2011). "McKenna is named to state's high court". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  5. ^ "County Fair: The Queering of Connecticut". Fairfield County Weekly. 28 February 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  6. ^ Provenza, Nick (2 May 2014). "Assistant Metro Editor". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  7. ^ Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN). "Openly LGBT elected in Oregon".
  8. ^ Bakst, Brian (January 22, 2016). "Dayton MN Supreme Court pick is court's first openly gay justice". MPR News. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  9. ^ Chereb, Sandra (March 9, 2017). "New Nevada Supreme Court justice has 'pursuit of justice' in her heart". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  10. ^ "Newly Confirmed SJC Justice Cypher '80 to Speak at Emerson". Emerson News & Events. Emerson College. March 15, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  11. ^ La Corte, Rachel (13 April 2020). "Judge G. Helen Whitener appointed to state Supreme Court". Seattle Times. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  12. ^ Dolan, Maura (10 November 2020). "First openly gay justice confirmed to serve on the California Supreme Court". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  13. ^ Clark, Dan (26 May 2021). "Cuomo Announces Picks To Fill Two Seats on New York's Highest State Court". WSKG-TV. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Political Notebook: Bisexual, lesbian politicians stump in SF". Bay Area Reporter. November 22, 2007. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  15. ^ Goodnough, Abby (April 4, 2011). "Lesbian Judge Chosen for Top Massachusetts Court". New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  16. ^ McKinley, James (June 21, 2017). "First Openly Gay Judge Confirmed for New York's Highest Court". The New York Times. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  17. ^ "Vt. gov.'s high court nominee pushed civil unions, marriage law". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. October 21, 2011.
  18. ^ "Puerto Rico appoints first openly gay chief justice". Sun-Times National. 23 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
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