List of LGBT state supreme court justices in the United States

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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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