Michael Fitzgerald, an out gay California lawyer, received overwhelming approval today from the U.S. Senate, with a 91-6 vote, for his nomination to serve as a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California — making him the fourth out LGBT federal, lifetime-tenured judge in the nation.
Fitzgerald’s confirmation will make him the first out LGBT Article III judge serving outside of New York City. Article III judges — referencing the judicial powers detailed in the Constitution — are nominated by the president, given consent by the Senate to serve and have lifetime tenure.
The arc of history…
Matthew Reid Krell
An (admittedly small) advantage to filling judicial vacancies: those judges hire clerks, and they move dockets. This means that more lawyers like me can have gainful employment!
Is it wrong that that was my first thought when I heard about the deal for nominees?
David Koch
tHIS pROVES bARRY iS a hOMOPHOBE
rON pAUL 2012
taylormattd
Off topic, some DougJ bait from Thomas of Friedman: seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2017751008_friedman15.html
Ash Can
I wonder if this had anything to do with this. (OK, no, I don’t really.)
And yes, it’s great news.
cmorenc
When the first LGBT federal judge in South Carolina is appointed and confirmed, now THAT will be progress. I can think of one prominent potential candidate who the citizens of SC already seem to have approved of…
dmsilev
Don’t forget to mention that his nomination was filibustered for months by the assholes in the GOP Senate caucus. Not because he was gay, but because Obama had the nerve to nominate someone, anyone, for a judgeship.
Poopyman
(Commented into the wrong thread, dammit!)
David Koch
Sully says last night’s State Dinner was just crawing with teh ghay.
redshirt
I’m more amazed they approved a judge, let alone a gay one.
TaMara (BHF)
That made my day a little better.
The Sailor
What dmsilev said.
Schlemizel
I’m old enough to remember stories of the fist ‘negro’ X or the first since reconstruction. It made me feel like as a nation we could move from the dark into the bright sunshine of human rights. There have been many dark passages since then but stuff like this makes me think Dr. King may have been right about the arc of history.
shortstop
@Matthew Reid Krell: No, but you probably shouldn’t put it on the intertubes under your real name.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Just words!
Matthew Reid Krell
@shortstop: A fair point. But I struggle to keep myself from being an internet asshole. Using my real name helps keep me accountable.
RossinDetroit
Anyone make the Gerald Fitzmichael joke yet? No? Then it’s me.
Progress happens in small steps with a slip and a fall here and there. Women are fighting again for what they won 40 years ago. But the culture seems to be loosening up just a little on homosexuality. One thing to be glad about today.
daveX99
redshirt beat me to it: I was less surprised by the fact that this judge is out (but pleased), than by the fact that the senate actually held a vote!
Ozymandias, King of Ants
@taylormattd:
I agree wholeheartedly. It is overwhelming for the government to tell me who or what I can or cannot choke
Also too: “I object to all this sex on television. I mean–I keep falling off.”
SFAW
Congrats to Judge Fitzgerald, but I’m waiting to see what happens to the first openly atheist nominee.
Normally, I’d look it up to see if there already is one, but I’m Goldberging it tonight. (I was going to write “Pantloading it”, but for some reason, that wording looked as foul as Jonah hisself.)
SFAW
Not quite as word-salad-y as your standard Palinism, but certainly makes as little sense as she does.
Quincy
Obama deserves credit for making a concerted effort to appoint judges from minority groups, especially female judges (not technically a demographic minority, but severely underrepresented on the bench). The power to appoint judges might be the most important reason to re-elect Obama. All of this talk about the Democrats benefiting from the much-discussed impending demographic shift is meaningless if progressive legislation will be struck down in court for the next 30 years. I’ve heard liberals in the legal community complain about Obama not using his two SCOTUS appointments to install outspoken liberals who would articulate a liberal legal philosophy to compete with strict constructionism on the right. We don’t need that. We just need the judiciary to be stocked with something other than the authoritarian assholes the conservatives appoint. The demographic shift isn’t coming to Alabama or Mississippi any time soon. The only way to protect women, racial minorities and LGBT individuals in those states is through a judiciary that doesn’t view the 10th amendment as an opportunity to protect neo-feudalism.
Lihtox
I’m just impressed that they actually confirmed somebody. :O