A Personal Reason for Seeking Judgeship

By Victoria S. Kolakowski

My election would be historic for the LGBT community and an inspiration for transgender people.

I am a post-operative transsexual and a leader in the LGBT community. Alameda County has one of the highest concentrations of LGBT people in the nation, yet has only one "out" judge and an out commissioner amongst the almost six dozen members of the bench.

As far as I can determine, there are no transgender judges anywhere in the United States serving in a trial court of general jurisdiction. Indeed, I appear to be the only out transgender attorney with experience as any type of judge. Therefore, if my community is going to get this type of representation, I am the person best qualified to break through. That is one reason that so many LGBT leaders are excited about my campaign.

I am running because it is highly unlikely that the Governor would appoint me, or someone like me, to the bench. It is even unlikely that most Democrats would be willing to appoint me, notwithstanding my outstanding experience as a quasi-judicial officer (I am supported by many managers and colleagues from my agency).

Electing a transgender person to be a superior court judge would be transformative. Most members of my community have some interaction with the legal system. Transitioning sexes creates a wide range of family and legal issues, such as divorces, custody disputes, birth certificate changes, etc. Furthermore, unemployment and underemployment are major problems for the transgender community, and many of my sisters live as sex workers. Unfortunately, many attorneys, police officers and prosecutors have little positive interaction with the transgender community.

For example, back in the late 1990s I helped a colleague in representing a client in a complaint before the Berkeley Police Review Commission. Our client was a female-to-male transsexual, and a Berkeley police officer followed him into a single-stall men's room and physically removed him, using derogatory language. He was traumatized and humiliated (the complaint eventually led Berkeley to develop a model sensitivity traning program for police). Unfortunately, those attitudes continue with many people today.

I believe that interacting with a transgender person on the bench would help the other judges, court staff, police, district attorneys and the private bench to see people like me as respectable professionals and even colleagues, and not as "freaks."

Therefore I am passionate about blazing this trail for my community. I have been very fortunate to have a successful career as a public servant, and I feel an obligation to share from this privileged position.