Obama nominates lesbian attorney to federal bench

President Obama nominated on Thursday a lesbian attorney and former administration official for a position on the federal bench.

Alison Nathan, who currently serves as special counsel to the solicitor general in the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York, was nominated to become a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York.

“Alison Nathan is a distinguished individual who has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to justice throughout her career,” President Obama said. “I am grateful for her decision to serve the American people from the district court bench.”

According to the White House, Nathan previously served as a special assistant to President Obama and an associate White House counsel. Before joining government service, she taught law first as a visiting assistant professor at Fordham University Law School, and later as a Fritz Alexander fellow at New York University School of Law.

Nathan obtained her law degree in 2000 from Cornell Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Cornell Law Review.

Nathan’s position on the federal bench is subject to Senate confirmation. Other out federal judicial nominees pending before the Senate are J. Paul Oetken, nominated for a position on the Southern District of New York, and Edward DuMont, nominated for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.