Judge Steven Kirkland (from his website — Photo: David Lewis Studio)
Steven Kirkland, an openly gay former district court judge, announced he will run for state Supreme Court.
“GREAT NEWS! I will be candidate for Justice, Place 2 of the Texas Supreme Court,” he announced on his website.
He is the first openly gay person to run for Texas Supreme Court. Kirkland became a Houston municipal judge in 2001 and served in that position until 2008 when he was elected to the 215th District Court, where he served until 2012. He currently works on economic development projects in the Houston city attorney’s office.
Among his awards are three LGBT-related accolades: Houston GLBT Political Caucus Leadership Award–2009, Judge Norman Black Award, State Bar of Texas, LGBT Law Section–2009 and Harvey Milk Award, Houston Stonewall Young Democrats–2008.
He has been a board member of the International Association of LGBT Judges from 2010 to present and was treasurer of former Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s campaigns from 1991 to 2001.
— David Taffet
