Senate hearing for lesbian judicial nominee set Wednesday

A lesbian judicial nominee who would be the first-ever Asian member of the LGBT community to sit on the federal bench is set to have a Senate hearing on her potential appointment Wednesday.

Pamela Ki Mai Chen, whom President Obama nominated in August for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, is scheduled to be among five judicial nominees who will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearing will begin at 10 am and will take place in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226.

Chen, a Chinese-American, an assistant U.S. attorney who has experience as a trial attorney, would upon confirmation join four other openly gay judges who are currently sitting on the federal bench. According to biographical information, Chen has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York for 14 years — with the exception of a four-month period in 2008 when she served as New York State Division of Human Rights’s Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement.