Donna Hitchens

Last updated
Donna Hitchens
Born (1947-11-10) November 10, 1947 (age 75)
NationalityAmerican
Education University of California, Berkeley Law
Occupation(s)Superior Court Judge, San Francisco County
SpouseHon. Nancy Davis
InstitutionsNational Center for Lesbian Rights
San Francisco Superior Court, where Hitchens served for 20 years. San Francisco Superior Court of California IMG 20180409 120732.jpg
San Francisco Superior Court, where Hitchens served for 20 years.

Donna Hitchens (born November 10, 1947 [1] ) is the first openly-gay elected female judge in the United States, and the founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. [2] Through her work, she has campaigned openly for LGBT+ rights with a particular focus on lesbian rights, LGBT+ legal aid, and homosexual custody cases. [3] [4]

Contents

Hitchens was elected as a judge for the Superior Court in 1991, [5] and has since worked in civil, criminal, juvenile and family courtrooms. [1] During the 1991 San Francisco election campaigns, Hitchens worked alongside three other public defenders to unseat four superior court judges, receiving praise for being an openly gay woman during the campaign. [5] Hitchens retired as a judge in 2010 after serving for 20 years, although continued to preside part-time over the children's courts in San Francisco. [6] Hitchens has been nominated for a number of awards, including the 2001 Benjamin Aranda Access to Justice Award for improving legal access for low-income individuals and the 2002 Judicial Officer of the Year Award from the State Bar of California. [7]

Formation of the National Center for Lesbian Rights

In 1977, after graduating from Berkley School of Law, Hitchens, alongside other members of Equal Rights Advocates, received a grant from the Berkley Law Foundation to begin the Lesbian Rights Project. [8] Hitchens aimed to use her legal expertise and personal experiences to support the legal rights of lesbians. Later, in 1988, the project became independent and was renamed the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which works today as a non-profit law firm aiming to provide free legal assistance to LGBT+ clients in the United States. [4]

Personal life

Hitchens was the first in her family to complete high school, before moving on to her legal career. [7] Hitchens met her wife, Nancy Davis, whilst working with the Equal Rights Advocates. Hitchens and Davis married in 2008. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1985.

The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of lesbianism in the United States</span> Aspect of history

This article addresses the history of lesbianism in the United States. Unless otherwise noted, the members of same-sex female couples discussed here are not known to be lesbian, but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of lesbianism—that is, same-sex female sexual and romantic behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Center for Lesbian Rights</span> American non-profit law firm

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a non-profit, public interest law firm in the United States that advocates for equitable public policies affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, provides free legal assistance to LGBT clients and their legal advocates, and conducts community education on LGBT legal issues. It is headquartered in San Francisco with a policy team in Washington, DC. It is the only organization in the United States dedicated to lesbian legal issues, and the largest national lesbian organization in terms of members.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1960s.

LGBT movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century and influential in achieving social progress for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and transsexual people.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1970s.

The history of LGBT residents in California, which includes centuries prior to the 20th, has become increasingly visible recently with the successes of the LGBT rights movement. In spite of the strong development of early LGBT villages in the state, pro-LGBT activists in California have campaigned against nearly 170 years of especially harsh prosecutions and punishments toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people.

Stephen Michael Lachs is an American lawyer and retired judge. Lachs served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1979 to 1999. He was the first openly gay judge appointed in the United States and is thought to be the first openly gay judge appointed anywhere in the world.

Victoria Kolakowski is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court since January 2011. Kolakowski is the first openly transgender person to serve as a trial court judge of general jurisdiction in the United States, the first elected to a judgeship, and the first to serve as any type of judge in California..

This article concerns LGBT history in Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisexuality in the United States</span> Overview about bisexuality in the United States of America

The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of gay men in the United States</span>

This article addresses the history of gay men in the United States. Unless otherwise noted, the members of same-sex male couples discussed here are not known to be gay, but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of male homosexuality—that is, same-sex male sexual and romantic behavior.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture in San Francisco</span> Culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in San Francisco, United States

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of African ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally specific identities. This timeline includes events both in Africa, the Americas and Europe and in the global African diaspora, as the histories are very deeply linked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of LGBT history in the United States</span>

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the United States.

The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history in the 20th century.

References

  1. 1 2 December 30, Pam Smith |; AM, 2003 at 12:00. "Judicial Profile: Donna Hitchens". Law.com. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  2. ↑ "Donna Hitchens papers". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  3. ↑ JD, Donna Hitchens (1980-04-07). "Social Attitudes, Legal Standards, and Personal Trauma in Child Custody Cases". Journal of Homosexuality. 5 (1–2): 89–96. doi:10.1300/J082v05n01_08. ISSN   0091-8369. PMID   553949.
  4. 1 2 "Donna Hitchens M.A., J.D. '77 Never Dreamed of Law, Yet Changed the System". Cal Alumni Association. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  5. 1 2 Corcoran, Katherine (1991-03-12). "OPENLY GAY CANDIDATES WINNING MORE ELECTIONS". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  6. 1 2 Egelko, Bob (2011-01-15). "Donna Hitchens ready to cut back on workload". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  7. 1 2 "Judge Donna J. Hitchens for San Francisco Superior Court in California". Trellis. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  8. ↑ World, Special to People’s (2017-05-15). "This week in history: The National Center for Lesbian Rights is born". People's World. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.