Deborah Batts, Pioneering Lesbian Jurist, Dies at 72
First out LGBTQ federal judge with lifetime appointment joined NYC-based bench in 1994
Judge Deborah Batts (center) last June being honored by the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission on the 25th anniversary of her swearing
in on the SDNY bench.
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
Judge Deborah Batts, who sat on the
Southern District of New York (SDNY)
federal bench since 1994, when she became
the fi rst out LGBTQ federal judge
given a lifetime appointment, died in her sleep
in the overnight hours of February 2-3. The
cause of death was not immediately known.
Batts was 72.
She is survived by her wife, Dr. Gwen Lois
Zornberg, a psychiatrist. The couple married in
Washington in 2011 and lived on Manhattan’s
Upper West Side.
In a tweet on February 3, Alphonso David,
an attorney who is president of the Human
Rights Campaign, wrote, “Saddened to hear of
the passing of Deborah Batts, a giant of the legal
community who blazed new trails for justice
and equality. This is a major loss for our judiciary
and our movement.”
In a written statement, the LGBT Bar of New
York (LeGaL), wrote, “Judge Batts leaves behind
a broad legacy for all New Yorkers as a trailblazer
and an astute jurist… Her passing is a
loss for all of New York.”
Matthew Skinner, the executive director
of the New York State Unifi ed Court System’s
Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission, saying
he was “devastated” by news of Batts’ passing,
told Gay City News, “She was such a humble giant.
She could have taken her ‘fi rst’ status and
used it to attract a much greater degree of acclaim.
It could not have been easy to be a party
COURTESY OF MATTHEW SKINNER/ RICHARD C. FAILLA LGBTQ COMMISSION
of one for nearly 20 years. But I think she was
a pretty private person and most interested in
doing her day job well, which she did.”
Skinner, whose group honored Batts last
June on the 25th anniversary of her swearing
in on the Southern District bench, noted she insisted
on being identifi ed as the fi rst out Article
III judge in deference to a federal judge appointed
before her to a non-lifetime post authorized
under other provisions of the Constitution.
Roberta Kaplan, a founding partner at Kaplan
Hecker & Fink who represented the late
Edie Windsor in her successful 2013 challenge
to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, tweeted
of Batts’ death, “This is so sad and such a loss
for her wife, many friends, clerks, fellow judges,
and every litigant in the SDNY.”
Born in Philadelphia, Batts graduated from
Radcliffe College in 1969 and from Harvard
Law School in 1972. After seven years at Cravath
Swaine & Moore, Batts went to work in the
US Attorney’s Offi ce, also in New York’s Southern
District, in 1979, and fi ve years later joined
the faculty at Fordham Law School.
In a written statement, Fordham Law’s dean,
Matthew Diller, said, “Since joining the federal
bench, we have been fortunate to hold on to her
as a superb teacher of trial advocacy and a dear
friend. She was a mentor to students and faculty
alike.”
According to Arthur S. Leonard, Gay City
News’ legal correspondent, prior to her appointment
to the federal bench, Batts joined the New
York City Bar Association Special Committee
REMEMBRANCE
on Lesbians and Gay Men in the Legal Profession,
which he co-chaired, as an “ally “ to the
community but soon came out herself. When
New York Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick
Moynihan recommended her to President Bill
Clinton, she informed the White House team
that she was a lesbian and was told that posed
no problem in their view. The fact of her being a
lesbian never came up in the public confi rmation
process, though she joked to Leonard that
she was fortunate that Richard Nixon’s funeral
took place the day of her Senate Judiciary Committee
confi rmation hearing and had all the
Republicans away in California.
According to Time Magazine, at the time she
told the New York Law Journal that did not
want to be known as the “gay judge,” but also
said, “I’m a mother, I’m an African American.
I’m a lesbian.”
SDNY Chief Judge Colleen McMahon, in a
written statement issued February 3, said,
“Deborah Batts was a trailblazer in every respect:
an openly gay African-American woman
who became a United States District Judge
after a distinguished career as a federal prosecutor
and law professor. It will be diffi cult to
replace her. Our hearts are broken at her premature
passing. She will be remembered by her
colleagues for her devotion to the work of the
court, for her mentorship of a cadre of young
lawyers of all backgrounds, and for her infectious
smile and extraordinary collegiality.”
Lambda Legal, in a statement praising Batts
as “the embodiment of the highest standards
of professional excellence,” also took note of
her as a role model for African Americans and
other people of color in the legal profession. The
group’s legal director and chief strategy offi cer,
Sharon McGowan, said, “As we commemorate
Black History Month, we acknowledge as well
how signifi cant her nomination remains even
today for attorneys of color — and particularly
Black attorneys — who are still dramatically
underrepresented on the federal bench. And
more than 25 years after Judge Batts’ historic
confi rmation, it is unacceptable that there has
only ever been one other Black lesbian elevated
to the federal bench. While there will never be
another Deborah Batts, there are many extraordinary
LGBTQ people of color in the legal
profession who are far too often overlooked for
positions of leadership and public trust, including
federal judgeships. That must change.”
At the time of her death, Batts was due to
oversee the embezzlement trial of attorney Michael
Avenatti, who had represented Stormy
Daniels in her high profi le dispute with President
Donald Trump and his former attorney
Michael Cohen.
GayCityNews.com | February 13 - February 26, 2020 5
/GayCityNews.com
