Senate OKs out gay man for federal district judge
The U.S. Senate approved the nomination of openly gay J. Paul Oetken as a federal District Court judge in the Southern District of New York on July 18. The vote was 80-13.
He will be first openly gay male federal district judge. There is one out lesbian federal judge, Deborah Batts in Manhattan.
"We commend the Senate for their historic vote today," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Confirmation of Paul Oetken serves as a role model for all LGBT people interested in serving on the judiciary and shows LGBT youth that hard work pays off.
"The federal bench is greatly lacking LGBT diversity and with thousands of qualified LGBT attorneys in the U.S., there is no reason why the federal bench should not better reflect the composition of our country."
