Victoria Kolakowski

Last updated
Victoria Kolakowski
Judge Candidate Victoria Kolakowski (4936496084) (cropped).jpg
Judge of the Alameda County Superior Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 4, 2011
Personal details
Born (1961-08-29) August 29, 1961 (age 63)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse
Cynthia Laird
​
(m. 2008)​
Education New College of Florida (BA)
Louisiana State University (JD) (MPA)
Tulane University (MS)
University of New Orleans (MS)
Pacific School of Religion (MDiv)

Victoria Kolakowski (born August 29, 1961) [1] is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court since January 2011. [2] 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. (Houston Municipal Court Judge Phyllis Frye was the first openly transgender judge of any type in the United States).

Contents

Early life and education

Kolakowski is the child of Martin and June Kolakowski of Staten Island, New York. [3] She is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City and the first person in her family to attend college. [4] Kolakowski graduated from New College of Florida in Sarasota, Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Sciences in 1982. [5] [6]

She earned a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University in 1987 and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from University of New Orleans in 1990. [7]

Kolakowski graduated from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a juris doctor in 1989. [8] She began her transition during her last semester of law school. [8] Kolakowski underwent gender affirmation surgery in 1992 (this has previously been misreported as 1991). [9] Kolakowski had to sue to take the bar exam in Louisiana after coming out as transgender. [10] [11]

In 1997, Kolakowski received a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. [12]

Career

Before she was elected with 51% of the vote to her opponent's 48% on November 2, 2010, Kolakowski served as an administrative law judge with the California Public Utilities Commission for four years. [2] [13]

She was co-chair of the Bay Area Transgender Law Association from 1996 to 2000. She has been a member of the National Association of Women Judges since 2006. [7]

Kolakowski was president of the International Association of LGBT Judges from 2015-2017, [14] and the first transgender person to serve as president of the organization. [15]

Kolakowski is a Christian and a retired ordained minister [16] in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Protestant Christian denomination. [17] [18] [19]

Honors and awards

Personal life

Kolakowski married Cynthia Laird, news editor of the Bay Area Reporter, on June 16, 2008. Ron Dellums performed the ceremony. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which works to educate the LGBT+ community and Republicans about each other.

The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the school provides the necessary requirements for candidates to seek ordination within these denominations. These three denominations account for approximately half of the student population of PSR. The school has also maintained close relationships with the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as other denominations. Over the years PSR has provided training for clergy and leaders from a wide range of religious traditions including Buddhists, Jews, Pagans, Pentecostals, and Roman Catholics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Pride</span> Annual LGBTQ+ event in San Francisco, California

The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a pride parade and festival held at the end of June most years in San Francisco, California, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus is an American political organization formed in June 2002 and composed of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the California State Legislature. The caucus currently has 14 members, a record high.

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.

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miriam Ben-Shalom</span> American educator, activist and former Staff Sergeant

Miriam Ben-Shalom is an American educator, activist and former Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. After being discharged from the military for homosexuality in 1976, she successfully challenged her discharge in court and returned to military service in 1987—the first openly gay person to be reinstated after being discharged under the military's policy excluding homosexuals from military service. She served until 1990 when the Army succeeded in terminating her service after prolonged judicial proceedings.

This article concerns LGBT history in Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisexuality in the United States</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The OUTWORDS Archive</span> American LGBTQ+ digital archive organization

The Outwords Archive (OUTWORDS) records and archives on-camera interviews with elders from the LGBTQ+ community throughout the United States. The archive headquarters are based in Los Angeles, with the entirety of their digital collection provided to the public for free through their official website. The nonprofit's stated mission is to "capture, preserve, and share the stories of LGBTQIA2S+ elders, to build community and catalyze social change."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecilia Chung</span> Civil rights leader

Cecilia Chung is a civil rights leader and activist for LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS awareness, health advocacy, and social justice. She is a trans woman, and her life story was one of four main storylines in the 2017 ABC miniseries When We Rise about LGBT rights in the 1970s and 1980s.

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 LGBTQ history in the United States</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of LGBT history, 20th century</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of LGBTQ history, 21st century</span>

The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) history in the 21st century.

References

  1. ↑ "Biography". Kolakowski for Judge campaign. Archived from the original on 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  2. 1 2 Knowles, David (January 5, 2011). "Victoria Kolakowski: 5 Facts About America's First Transgender Superior Court Judge". AOL News. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Wedding Announcement: Vicky Kolakowski and Cynthia Laird". The Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on 2011-04-25.
  4. ↑ "Victoria Kolakowski | LGBTHistoryMonth.com". www.lgbthistorymonth.com.
  5. ↑ "The State Bar of California". Archived from the original on 2015-05-17.
  6. ↑ Kolakowski, Michael M. (1982). The N.W.C-1 Microcomputer (Thesis). New College of Florida.
  7. 1 2 3 "Victoria Kolakowski - Lawyer in Oakland, CA - Avvo".
  8. 1 2 "LSU Law grad becomes first openly transgender elected as judge". 18 November 2010.
  9. ↑ Sheridan, Michael (November 17, 2010). "California elects nation's first openly transgender judge, Victoria Kolakowski". Daily News. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  10. ↑ Auzenne, Josh (17 November 2010). "First ever transgender judge has ties to Louisiana". WAFB. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "IN RE KOLAKOWSKI, 546 So. 2d 184 - La: Supreme Court 1989". 1989. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "2013 Distinguished Alum Banquet - Victoria Kolakowski (MDiv 1997)". Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  13. ↑ Rosynsky, Paul T. (November 16, 2010). "Alameda County home to first transgender judge in nation". Silicon Valley Mercury News . Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Anders Takes On Mantle of New President". IALGBTJ Forum. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Victoria Kolakowski Association's New President". IALGBTJ Forum. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  16. ↑ Fraley, Malaika (March 14, 2017). "Meet Judge Victoria Kolakowski, Nation's First Transgender Judge". Oakland Tribune . Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Main Page".
  18. ↑ "The Power List: VICTORIA KOLAKOWSKI". 2012-04-25.
  19. ↑ Kahn, Janine (June 3, 2008). "Q&A;: Victoria Kolakowski". SF Weekly Blogs. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014.
  20. ↑ "San Francisco Pride Individual Community Grand Marshals: Victoria Kolakowski". San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration Committee. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  21. ↑ "LGBT History Month(tm) Icon: Victoria Kolakowski". Equality Forum. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
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.