Wikipedia

List of LGBT state supreme court justices in the United States

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

The first state with an openly LGBT justice was Oregon, where Rives Kistler was named to the bench in 2003.[1] The first U.S. territory with an openly LGBT justice was Guam, where Benjamin Cruz was appointed in 1997.[2] As of January 12, 2024, there are 11 openly LGBT state supreme court justices, serving in 10 states.

In U.S. states edit

Current edit

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   Minnesota Minnesota Supreme Court Margaret Chutich [7] 2016–present –
6   Nevada Supreme Court of Nevada Lidia S. Stiglich [8] 2016–present –
7   New Mexico New Mexico Supreme Court C. Shannon Bacon [9] 2019–present 2022–present
8   Washington Washington Supreme Court Helen Whitener [10] 2020–present –
9   California Supreme Court of California Martin Jenkins [11] 2020–present –
10   New York New York State Court of Appeals Anthony Cannataro [12] 2021–present –
11   California Supreme Court of California Kelli Evans [13] 2023–present –

Former edit

Order State Court Justice Ref Service as 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
6   Oregon Oregon Supreme Court Lynn Nakamoto [18] 2016–2021
7   Massachusetts Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Elspeth B. Cypher [19] 2017–2024

In U.S. territories edit

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 [20] 2014–2016 2016–present

See also edit

Other topics of interest edit

References edit

  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. February 28, 2008. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  6. ^ Provenza, Nick (May 2, 2014). "Assistant Metro Editor". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Bolcer, Julie. "Lesbian Judge Wins Statewide Race". Advocate. Pride Media. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  10. ^ La Corte, Rachel (April 13, 2020). "Judge G. Helen Whitener appointed to state Supreme Court". Seattle Times. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  11. ^ Dolan, Maura (November 10, 2020). "First openly gay justice confirmed to serve on the California Supreme Court". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Clark, Dan (May 26, 2021). "Cuomo Announces Picks To Fill Two Seats on New York's Highest State Court". WSKG-TV. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  13. ^ Bajko, Matthew (January 2, 2023). "California Supreme Court welcomes 1st queer woman". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  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 April 11, 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. ^ Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN). "Openly LGBT elected in Oregon".
  19. ^ "Newly Confirmed SJC Justice Cypher '80 to Speak at Emerson". Emerson News & Events. Emerson College. March 15, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  20. ^ "Puerto Rico appoints first openly gay chief justice". Sun-Times National. February 23, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
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