The Senate has confirmed the first openly gay, Black male to a top-level federal judgeship on Tuesday. In a 98-0 vote, Darrin Gayles has been named district court judge in Florida.
Gayles is in good company, with another one of President Barack Obama‘s nominees, Staci Yandle, who is an openly gay, Black woman and federal district court judge in Illinois.
The White House said the vote was a landmark, bringing Obama’s tally of appointed federal judges to 112, more than any other president.
The representation of LGBTQ people of color is unprecedented and speaks to the power of voters to change the face of their representatives in government.
Gayles was nominated by President Obama after Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, stopped the appointment of a previous openly gay, Black nominee, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas, because of what Rubio called his decision making in some cases.