First-ever LGBT judge in Texas county suspended after ordering attorney to be handcuffed, placed in jury box

Michie · Wednesday at 10:31 AM

A Texas county’s first LGBT-identified judge has been suspended for allegedly ordering a defense attorney to be handcuffed in a jury box during a courtroom incident.

Bexar County Court at Law Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez surrendered to authorities on Jan. 29 on charges of unlawful restraint and official oppression, according to KSAT-TV, a San Antonio ABC affiliate.

Gonzalez, whose term expires at the end of this year, was booked and released on her own recognizance, KSAT-TV reported.

Continued below.

First-ever LGBT judge in Texas county suspended after ordering attorney to be handcuffed, placed in jury box

A Texas county s first LGBT-identified judge has been suspended for allegedly ordering a defense attorney to be handcuffed in a jury box during a courtroom incident

www.christianpost.com

PloverWing · Wednesday at 1:37 PM

I hate the headline that Christian Post chose for its article. The judge may well have committed a crime; wiser folks than me, who know the law and who witnessed the incident, can sort that out. But I don't see that the incident had anything to do with the judge being gay.

It's an unfortunate observation that if you're the first person from a minority/underrepresented group to hold a particular position, you'd better be flawless, or people will condemn your entire group. Whenever we finally elect a female president, for example, she'd better not do anything wrong in office, or we'll hear "I told you so" and it'll be another century before a second woman is elected. Similarly for other minority groups.

So here is Christian Post doing it. Not "Judge suspended", but "First-ever LGBT judge in Texas county suspended". Unless her sexual orientation was relevant to the incident, it doesn't belong in the headline or the article.

RileyG · Wednesday at 3:33 PM

PloverWing said:
I hate the headline that Christian Post chose for its article. The judge may well have committed a crime; wiser folks than me, who know the law and who witnessed the incident, can sort that out. But I don't see that the incident had anything to do with the judge being gay.

It's an unfortunate observation that if you're the first person from a minority/underrepresented group to hold a particular position, you'd better be flawless, or people will condemn your entire group. Whenever we finally elect a female president, for example, she'd better not do anything wrong in office, or we'll hear "I told you so" and it'll be another century before a second woman is elected. Similarly for other minority groups.

So here is Christian Post doing it. Not "Judge suspended", but "First-ever LGBT judge in Texas county suspended". Unless her sexual orientation was relevant to the incident, it doesn't belong in the headline or the article.

I guess that makes sense. His sexual orientation has nothing to do with his job.

Michie · Wednesday at 3:44 PM

The Christian Post reached out to both Gonzalez and Russell for comment, but neither returned a response as of Wednesday.

In 2019, Gonzalez became the first openly LGBT-identified judge in Bexar County, where she oversees Reflejo Court, which offers first-time domestic violence offenders treatment in exchange for expunging the charge from their records.

The following year, she made national headlines after she claimed she was forced to remove a rainbow pride flag from her courtroom. In a 2020 complaint filed with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Gonzalez said she was required to remove a pride flag along with a “mouse pad with rainbow patterns” and other items, according to NBC News.

In 2023, Gonzalez won an appeal to continue displaying the flag in court, but later said she would discontinue the practice to avoid further complaints.

Historically a biblical symbol of God’s forgiveness and mercy at the end of Noah’s Flood, the rainbow has in the last half-century become a symbol of the LGBT community and is a ubiquitous sight at pride events around the country.

One of a record 52 LGBT-identified candidates who ran for public office in Texas’ 2018 election, Gonzalez told NBC she received the rainbow flag as a gift from advocacy group League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

I don’t think the title would bother her too much.

RileyG · Wednesday at 3:48 PM

Ehhh, the rainbow flag has no place in court. It’s too controversial.

FireDragon76 · Wednesday at 9:19 PM

PloverWing said:
I hate the headline that Christian Post chose for its article. The judge may well have committed a crime; wiser folks than me, who know the law and who witnessed the incident, can sort that out. But I don't see that the incident had anything to do with the judge being gay.

It's an unfortunate observation that if you're the first person from a minority/underrepresented group to hold a particular position, you'd better be flawless, or people will condemn your entire group. Whenever we finally elect a female president, for example, she'd better not do anything wrong in office, or we'll hear "I told you so" and it'll be another century before a second woman is elected. Similarly for other minority groups.

So here is Christian Post doing it. Not "Judge suspended", but "First-ever LGBT judge in Texas county suspended". Unless her sexual orientation was relevant to the incident, it doesn't belong in the headline or the article.

Christianpost is dominated by Evangelical cultural-political dynamics, where unreflexive stigmatization of LGBT persons is just "business as usual".

Regardless of what a Christian thinks of the morality of same-sex acts, the Catholic Church, as well as the majority of historic Protestant churches, regards shaming LGBT persons for their sexual orientation as contrary to Christian morality and ethics.

Tuur · Thursday at 5:07 AM

FireDragon76 said:
Christianpost is dominated by Evangelical cultural-political dynamics, where unreflexive stigmatization of LGBT persons is just "business as usual".

Regardless of what a Christian thinks of the morality of same-sex acts, the Catholic Church, as well as the majority of historic Protestant churches, regards shaming LGBT persons for their sexual orientation as contrary to Christian morality and ethics.

Sorry, but the moment someone is praised for being hired / elected / appointed based on an attribute that has nothing to do with why they were, or should have been hired / elected / appointed, it opens the door to pointing at the same attribute when they seriously mess up. If no one wanted that aspect pointed out, they never should have pointed it out to begin with.

Michie · Thursday at 9:48 AM

They don’t mind tooting their own sexual preference horns. Let someone else point it out…*gasps and pearl clutching*

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First-ever LGBT judge in Texas county suspended after ordering attorney to be handcuffed, placed in jury box

Michie

Well-Known Member