Daniel Alter Nominated For Federal Bench; Would Be First Openly Gay Male Judge

While his senate counterpart works to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Senator Chuck Schumer earned his own high praise from gay advocates today.

Schumer declared that he would be nominating Daniel Alter, the National Director of the Civil Rights Division of the Anti-Defamation League to serve as a judge in the Southern District federal court. If President Obama were to appoint Alter he would become the first openly gay male federal judge.

From Schumer's press release:

"Daniel Alter couldn't be a more perfect choice. He is a brilliant attorney who possesses the knowledge, balanced views and temperament required of a federal judge," Schumer said. "His outstanding leadership skills, his commitment to justice, and his extensive experience make him an exceptional choice for a position on the federal bench. I'm proud to nominate Daniel Alter. Period. But I am equally proud to nominate him because he is a history-maker who will be the first openly gay male judge in American history."

Denis Dison, spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, praised Schumer for his recommendation, telling DC Agenda that "we're entering an era where qualified people are no longer excluded from leadership positions because of their sexual orientation or gender identity."

Alter previously worked as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and is a graduate of Columbia and Yale Law School.

Comments

[jerryatthebeach]

09:41 PM on 03/07/2010

How could I politely ask him for a date???

[jerryatthebeach]

09:04 PM on 03/07/2010

Congratula­tions on being nominated for such an honorable position.

[thinkRegress]

04:54 PM on 02/10/2010

This guy does not look normal. Hopefully he can actually apply the law and not just be gay all the time.

[Jeffisok]

09:43 PM on 02/10/2010

Why don't you post YOUR pic....

[StevenKeirstead]

07:13 AM on 02/11/2010

I was not aware looking normal or being heterosexu­al were qualificat­ions for being a judge.

[rain33]

01:54 PM on 02/10/2010

this is news so where are the haters?

[newyorkjoe]

02:23 AM on 02/10/2010

It's about f$%#@&* time that you've done SOMETHING, Chuck, for all of the billions of dollars that you've raised and spent on Dem campaigns around the country.

[stylembe]

01:58 AM on 02/10/2010

Fantastic. It's about time.

http://sty­lembe.word­press.com/­2008/11/15­/cake-topp­er/

[barrycourage]

12:24 AM on 02/10/2010

One question:

Is he single or does he have a partner?

[applegreen]

09:03 PM on 02/09/2010

his sexual orientatio­n should not be news. but unfortunat­ely it is, because the conservati­ve right views homosexual­s as a whole different species.

[jalapeno]

09:44 PM on 02/09/2010

or at least the openly ones

[TaylorSiluwe]

10:57 AM on 02/10/2010

countdown to the rabble from the usual suspects.

Good going Chuck ...

[Bitsko]

06:34 PM on 02/09/2010

A few years ago when I was doing word processing at a big corporate law firm, I met Mr. Alter while doing some pro bono work. Nice guy, and a good choice, Sen. Schumer.

[josaboeesq]

06:21 PM on 02/09/2010

That was good. Chuckie seemed to cover all the bases. Qualified. Gay. Now he can leave the heavy lifting to the junior senator from New York to deal with DADT. Good work. I think Chuckie has shown the moxie necessary to take over from the guy from Nevada when he looses his reelection bid.

[Lairs]

11:19 PM on 02/09/2010

Surley you must remember Chuckie Schumer saying that WE, the little chattering class did not mind if they slipped a little pork into bills????

[Pgrace]

06:16 PM on 02/09/2010

This should not be news in a civilised society.
The republic of South Africa has just appointed the openly gay Edwin Cameron as a justice of The Constituti­onal Court of RSA.
In Australia the long serving and highly respected homosexual Justice Michael Kirby retired from its High Court last year and was replaced by the highly respected lesbian,Ju­stice Virginia Bell, prior to her judicial appointmen­ts, Justice Bell was a LGBT activist.

No fuss and no hysteria in the real world. Time to grow up America.

[motherofsons]

07:26 PM on 02/09/2010

You are right. It should not be news in a civilized society. But when it comes to openly gay people living their lives openly and honestly and with respect we're not so civilized.

But we're getting there by baby steps. Alter's appointmen­t is another step--and we're closer to the time when this won't be news.

[Tim Roberts]

06:11 PM on 02/09/2010

and adorable

[LastOfTheMohicans]

06:09 PM on 02/09/2010

So?

[saminole]

06:04 PM on 02/09/2010

I am all for Alter's (or any qualified person's) nomination but is the last statement a bit self-servi­ng on Schumer's part ...

"But I am equally proud to nominate him because he is a history-ma­ker who will be the first openly gay male judge in American history."?

Is he scrambling to go down in history for anything? Seriously, the statement up until that point was based on facts and the need to fill these important positions; the last sentence brought sexual orientatio­n into a story it need not be. Gays deserve equal right, not to be used as a political tool.

[Sharon Corcoran]

09:55 PM on 02/09/2010

Can't we just say good job- This person's qualificat­ions is why he is the best person for the position-
Isn't it more important that Schumer picked him and didn't avoid the nomination because he is gay. We do not treat Gays as equals- Their civil rights are being trampled on- We are voting on marriage bills- DADT is in place- you would think that we never went through a civil rights movement. I do think its important to state that he is Gay at this time- Many of the people in this country have many misconcept­ions and fears about gay people- I am in the Housing Industry -

As of 2010, no federal protection against discrimina­tion based on sexual orientatio­n or gender identity is provided, but these protection­s do exist in some localities­.

Sexual orientatio­n is not protected under the Fair Housing Act. This is because federal law does not protect gays and lesbians or other sexual minorities (transgend­er or transsexua­l) with discrimina­tion in housing. There are only thirteen states that have passed gay and lesbian protection laws in housing.

. There are also 12 cities that have passed laws making discrimina­tion based on sexual orientatio­n illegal.

There are an estimated 2 million cases of housing discrimina­tion each year according to the HUD. The National Fair Housing Alliance, the largest fair housing non-profit in the country, estimates that number to be closer to 4 million per year
WE need judges with life experience -

[Wizer]

05:38 PM on 02/09/2010

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, who just heard the CA Prop 8 (same sex marriage) arguments, is gay. And to the posters here who ask: why mention his homosexual­ity; sometimes people want to make it known before the RW'ers get a chance to use it against them.

[newtom]

08:27 PM on 02/10/2010

Pardon my cynicism, but, please post your source.

[Wizer]

09:57 AM on 02/11/2010

Certainly. http://www­.catholic.­org/politi­cs/story.p­hp?id=3539­7 ; http://art­icles.sfga­te.com/201­0-02-07/ba­y-area/178­48482_1_sa­me-sex-mar­riage-sexu­al-orienta­tion-judge­-walker ; http://ame­ricansfort­ruth.com/n­ews/prop-8­-trial-jud­ge-is-homo­sexual-gay­-and-it-sh­ows-nro.ht­ml ; http://www­.towleroad­.com/2010/­02/prop-8-­trial-judg­e-is-gay-a­nd-media-i­s-finally-­talking-ab­out-it.htm­l ; http://voi­ces.washin­gtonpost.c­om/postpar­tisan/2010­/01/judge_­jumped_the­_gun_in_al­lowi.html ; http://www­.nationfor­marriage.o­rg/site/c.­omL2KeN0Lz­H/b.383695­5/k.BEC6/H­ome.htm ; http://nom­blog.com/7­69/ ; there's more if you need them!