Biden makes history with 12th Senate-confirmed LGBTQ judge
Link to Full Article (https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/biden-makes-history-with-12th-senate-confirmed-lgbtq-judge-2024-09-17/)
Reuters - Nate Raymond
September 17, 20246:15 PM MDT
President Joe Biden secured the record for the highest number of openly LGBTQ judges appointed to the bench by any president when the U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted in favor of a military vet who spent years working as a prosecutor becoming a life-tenured judge in Philadelphia.
The Democratic-led Senate voted 52-41 to confirm Mary Kay Costello to serve as a district court judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, becoming the 12th openly LGBTQ judicial nominee under Biden to win confirmation.
That surpassed Democratic former President Barack Obama's record, who had secured the confirmation of 11 openly LGBTQ judges during his eight years in office.
Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at the progressive Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in a statement applauded Biden for his push to diversify the bench.
"As LGBTQ rights are being subject to litigation across the country, it is increasingly clear that we need judges at all levels of the judiciary who understand what's at stake," Zwarensteyn said.
The bulk of openly LGBTQ nominees have come from Democratic presidents, though Republican former President Donald Trump appointed two openly gay judges.
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