BALIF: Judge Victoria Kolakowski

JUDGE VICTORIA KOLAKOWSKI
Alameda County Superior Court
First Openly Transgender Trial Court Judge in the U.S.

Judge Victoria Kolakowski has received worldwide attention since winning her November 2010 election to become the first openly transgender trial court judge in the United States -- and possibly the world. Judge Kolakowski marched before the hundreds of thousands of people at the 2011 San Francisco Pride Parade as one of the Community Grand Marshals. And in October, she will be featured as one of the 2011 Icons during GLBT History Month organized by Equality Forum. Over the course of her 22-year legal career, Judge Kolakowski has encountered -- and overcome - significant discrimination for being transgender. After graduating from law school, she was denied permission to take the bar exam in Louisiana. Unwilling to accept second class citizenship, she appealed the rejection to the Louisiana Supreme Court - and won. Judge Kolakowski has also been passed-over for numerous jobs because she was "not a good fit for us." Yet despite overwhelming odds, she never gave up on her dreams. It was this fierce determination that enabled her to secure high profile positions in the private and public sector -- including senior government attorney; general counsel of a publicly traded company; and Administrative Law Judge for the California Department of Insurance and California Public Utilities Commission. Since coming out publicly in 1989, Judge Kolakowski has been a pioneer in numerous local, state and national LGBT legal, political and spiritual organizations. She has been an outspoken and passionate leader for marriage equality from 2004-2010, and co-authored Berkeley, California's domestic partner registration ordinance in 1991. Judge Kolakowski is the recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Award (2011) from the National Women's Political Caucus, Alameda North; the Equality & Justice Award from Equality California (2011); and the Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award (nominated by BALIF) from the Bar Association of San Francisco (2010). She was also honored as an "Outstanding Woman of Berkeley" (1995) by the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women. She and her wife, Cynthia Laird, were married on the first day same sex marriages were allowed in San Francisco in 2004, and again on the first day same sex marriages were allowed in Oakland in 2008. To LGBT teens worldwide, "Judge Vicky" has these words of encouragement: "Remember to always believe in yourself, and surround yourself with people who believe in you, and care about you, for who you really are. There really are people like that out there, but sometimes it just takes time to find them. Just don't give up hope."

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• Victoria Kolakowski
• Judge
• Alameda County Superior Court
• transgender
• Alameda