And how you can take action
By Ethan Rice, Lambda Legal Senior Attorney for the Fair Courts Project
Nine months into the second Trump administration, the promise of a fair and impartial federal judiciary is again under serious threat.
As during Trump’s first administration, judicial nominees with clear anti-civil rights backgrounds, including anti-LGBTQ+ rights records, have been confirmed to lifetime positions as judges on the federal courts. And we expect there to be plenty more.
Many of these judges have refused to acknowledge that the landmark marriage equality decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, was correctly decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015. Their records have also demonstrably reflected anti-trans bias. These judges and nominees are harmful to our federal court system and the people who need the courts to protect their rights.
Why the Federal Courts Matter for LGBTQ+ People
About 9.3% of the U.S. population now identifies as LGBTQ+. Our federal court system serves these LGBTQ+ people, just as it does every person living across the country
There are always cases about the rights of LGBTQ+ people winding through the federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court gets the most attention, but the circuit and district courts hear many more cases than the Supreme Court and actually set precedent for whole regions of the country.
Federal judges hear many types of cases, from criminal to employment discrimination, and their biases can greatly impact the lives of LGBTQ+ people. Because the judge gets to decide whether their bias or prejudice influences the case; what judicial philosophy to apply; and ultimately, the outcome of the case, it’s vital that the right people are given access to this kind of power.
Many of the judges and justices nominated and confirmed during the first Trump presidency have already shown their hostility to LGBTQ+ rights, access to abortion, and other major civil rights issues. We have already seen and can expect more of the same, and worse, from Trump’s current nominees. And they aren’t only coming for LGBTQ+ rights. Many of these nominees are also bad for reproductive rights, voting rights, consumer protection, and the environment.
The Harmful Agenda of Trump’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Judges
Judicial nominations have become less transparent during this second Trump administration, as the administration has stopped issuing press releases to inform the public about them. Nowadays some are sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee without any advance notice to the public, making it more difficult to respond to the nomination. As of October 2025, 17 federal judicial nominees have been confirmed under the second Trump administration. Some of these judges are determined to strip rights away from the LGBTQ+ community. Two have even litigated against Lambda Legal in important cases involving the rights of transgender youth.
Whitney Hermandorfer, now a judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, covering the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, was counsel for the state of Tennessee in the Supreme Court case U.S. v. Skrmetti. She defended the Tennessee law that bans transgender youth from accessing gender affirming health care. She also sued the Biden administration to invalidate the 2024 Title IX rules that included protections for transgender students.
Josh Divine, who is now a judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, has also litigated against Lambda Legal. In Noe v. Parson, an ongoing case now at the Supreme Court of Missouri, he defended Missouri’s ban on gender affirming care for youth. He has also sued on behalf of the state challenging the constitutionality of Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri’s bans on “conversion therapy” for youth. Representing Missouri, he argued that banning conversion therapy infringes upon the rights of therapists to provide this illegitimate and pseudoscientific form of “treatment.” Additionally, he has published articles stating his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Another new judge, William “Bill” Mercer, for the District of Montana, has been a state representative in Montana since 2019. He has taken this opportunity to support anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the state. He voted for a bill in 2023 that redefined the terms “sex,” “male,” and “female” in ways that harm and attempt to legally “erase” transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people. This year alone, he’s voted for bills that bar transgender people from using restrooms in public buildings consistent with their gender and ban trans youth at school from participating in sports and accessing the correct locker rooms and restrooms. Unfortunately, these three judges are now on the bench and may hear cases related to LGBTQ+ issues in their new positions.
The Trend Continues: The Next Wave of Anti-LGBTQ+ Federal Judges
Regrettably, there are more anti-LGBTQ+ judges who will be taking the bench soon.. Jordan Pratt, just confirmed as a judge for the Middle District of Florida, was senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute prior to becoming a judge in the state of Florida. In this role, he represented a medical provider who was let go from her position because she refused to use correct pronouns for transgender patients, participate in gender affirming medical treatments, or refer transgender patients to appropriate gender affirming medical providers. Pratt has also written that professors should be allowed and encouraged to misgender transgender and nonbinary students.
Edmund LaCour, Jr. , was also just confirmed to a seat on the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. As solicitor general of Alabama,he defended an extreme anti-trans law that makes it a felony to provide gender affirming health care for youth. He also has taken the anti-trans fight outside of Alabama to support anti-trans laws in other states by filing amicus briefs in cases supporting laws that ban transgender youth from playing sports with their peers, accessing medically necessary health care, and using the restrooms and other facilities that match who they are. Additionally, he spoke at a Federal Trade Commission event last summer, where he opposed gender affirming health care for youth.
What is Lambda Legal Doing to Fight Back? And How You Can Help
Lambda Legal is working in coalition to push back on these unqualified, anti-LGBTQ+ judges and judicial nominees. We’ll continue researching, reporting on, and opposing nominees with clear anti-LGBTQ+ biases. Watch for action alerts that Lambda Legal will put out on social media.
The most important thing you can do is to contact your senators. Tell them to vote against any judicial nominees with anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-civil rights backgrounds. And remember, when you vote for your senators, you are voting for the judges they will confirm.