Donald Trump nominates openly gay conservative to appeals court
Donald Trump (Sean Rayford/Getty)
US President Donald Trump has nominated an openly gay conservative attorney, Patrick Bumatay, to serve on the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the nation’s largest federal appeals court.
The court hears cases from nine states and has 29 judges, and there are currently six vacancies in the court.
Bumatay is currently an Assistant Attorney for the US Southern District of California, where he handles criminal cases including drug abuse and organised crime, according to the White House.
Pompeo and Trump (Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty)
He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and then went on to study at Harvard Law School.
The 40-year-old attorney’s nomination to serve in federal court marks the second openly gay person Trump has nominated, after Mary Rowland was nominated earlier this year.
The Washington Blade reports that there is currently only one gay federal appeals court judge in the US.
Gregory T. Angelo, president of gay conservative group Log Cabin Republicans, told NBC News that Bumatay is “highly qualified” for the role, adding: “The fact that he is openly gay only adds to the historic nature of his nomination.”
Meanwhile, California’s two Democrat senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris have opposed Bumatay’s nomination, with Associated Press reporting that California lawmakers were not consulted before the nomination.
The nomination may come as a surprise to some LGBT+ people, as Trump’s administration has previously faced criticism for rowing back on LGBT+ rights.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty
The US President has faced criticism for nominating Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, despite allegations of sexual misconduct.
There are also doubts about his stance on LGBT+ rights after Kavanaugh refused to give his opinion on same-sex marriage while being questioned during a confirmation hearing last month.
Instead of responding to the question, he repeatedly answered questions by saying that he would obey the law, and that same-sex marriage was the law.
Meanwhile, just weeks ago, President Trump’s lawyer met and posed for pictures with a far right candidate, who previously said: “Don’t be gay, pray.”
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney and former Mayor of New York, was photographed with Faith Goldy, a 29-year-old YouTuber running to be Toronto’s Mayor who has been condemned for her anti-LGBT and white supremacist views.
