Human Rights Campaign Praises President Obama's Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court

"We applaud President Obama for
choosing Judge Sonia Sotomayor to become our nation's next U.S. Supreme
Court Justice," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights
Campaign. "The U.S. Supreme Court decides cases that intimately affect
the lives of all Americans. We are confident that Judge Sotomayor has
a demonstrated understanding and commitment to protecting the liberty
and equality of all Americans."

The Human Rights Campaign is
encouraged by Judge Sotomayor's record of fair-minded decisions. Judge
Sotomayor has consistently recognized the constitutional right to
privacy, first articulated in Griswold, that lays the foundation for
fundamental rights for LGBT people.

Judge Sotomayor was born in June of
1954 in the Bronx, New York and graduated from Yale Law School in
1979. Judge Sotomayor began her legal career at the New York County
District Attorney's Office where she was an Assistant District Attorney
from 1979 to 1984. In 1984 she went into private practice with the
firm of Pavia & Harcourt in New York City, where she practiced
until 1992. She was nominated as a federal judge by President George
H.W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 1992. She was subsequently
nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit and confirmed by the Senate in 1998.

Judge Sotomayor's nomination makes
her only the third woman and first Latina nominated to our nation's
highest court. Once confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will be the second
woman on Supreme Court, in addition to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We
praise President Obama for his commitment to diversity and expanding
the number of women on the Court. Judge Sotomayor clearly possesses
the intellectual rigor and experience required of a Supreme Court
Justice and we are confident her knowledge and expertise will serve our
nation well.

Learn more about federal judicial
nominations and follow our work on these crucial issues on HRC's
Equality in the Courts by visiting: www.HRC.org/EqualityInTheCourts.

--A commitment to full equality under
law for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans; individuals
living with HIV and AIDS; women; people with disabilities and racial,
ethnic, and religious minorities;

--A commitment to the constitutional
right to privacy and individual liberty, including the right of two
consenting adults to enter into consensual intimate relationships;

--A respect for the constitutional
authority of Congress to promote equality and civil rights and provide
statutory remedies for discrimination and violence;

--A sophisticated understanding of
and commitment to the separation of church and state and the protection
of those citizens with minority religious views;

--A respect for state legislatures'
attempts to address discrimination and violence based on sexual
orientation, disability, race, ethnicity and other factors through
carefully crafted legislation that meets the requirements of the
Constitution.