Obama Nominates Lesbian for U.S. Attorney Position in Seattle

Published May 17, 2009 @ 06:31PM PT

President Obama released the names of his first six nominees for U.S. Attorneys across the country, and one of them happens to be openly lesbian Seattle attorney Jenny Durkan. Durkan, who was formerly legal counsel to Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire, will now see her nomination get put before the U.S. Senate, which must confirm her position.

Obama himself said that all six of his nominees for U.S. Attorney "have distinguished themselves as fair, tenacious and respected attorneys throughout their careers in both public and private service." And Gov. Gregoire had this to say: "I am so pleased the Obama administration also recognizes Jenny's leadership and experience, and nominated her for this important position. I hope the Senate will act quickly on the nomination to confirm her."

Congratulations to Durkan. As this AP article mentions, it's not clear whether Durkan will be the first openly LGBT person named U.S. Attorney.

For LGBT folks, this is another high-level position within the Obama administration for an openly LGBT person. Perhaps Obama will top this announcement by naming an openly LGBT person to the U.S. Supreme Court? A boy can dream...

Spread the Word

More You Can Do

Get action and news alerts about Gay Rights »
Browse top Gay Rights organizations to support »
Find out more about Gay Rights and what you can do to help »

Comments (3)

It's great that President Obama has nominated a Lesbian for U.S. Attorney in Seattle. Since he chose the nominees on the criterias of fairness, the U.S. Senate won't have an excuse for obstructing such a good nominee for her position in Washington. The intolerant conservatives will use meritless reasonings against her, but it shows that LGBT people are highly respected and can surely be a U.S. Attorney or other good positions.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 05/17/2009 @ 08:25PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
Yoy're right, Edwin! Remember the S.C. senator who held up the nomination of Tammy Baldwin for head of the V.A., and she's a decorated war vet! One can only conclude-because he never really admitted why-because she's an out lesbian! Ridiculous!

Posted by gilbert barrett on 05/18/2009 @ 03:22PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Like
Reply to thread
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Edwin
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Yup!! this is a very helpful site.This is a wonderful sight to get knowledge about any legal matter.This helped me a lot and also will be useful for you.
======================================
alex
find attorney

Posted by alex iglesia on 11/18/2009 @ 12:49PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by alex
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He is the former Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, as well as the former Director of Communications for Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace and justice organization. Mike is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and he is also a proud sketch comedy writer.