Trailblazers in the LGBTQ+ legal community, Alameda County Judge Victoria Kolakowski and Los Angeles County Judge D. Zeke Zeidler received the 2025 Stonewall Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
About the Stonewall Award
Named after the New York City Stonewall Inn police raid and riot of June 28, 1969, which was a turning point in the gay rights movement, the national award recognizes lawyers who have advanced lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the legal profession and successfully championed LGBTQ+ legal causes.
Judge Kolakowski and Judge Zeidler join Justice Martin Jenkins of the California Supreme Court as the award honorees from California. Justice Jenkins received the award in 2021.
Judge Kolakowski
Elected by voters to the Superior Court of Alameda County in 2011, Judge Kolakowski is the first transgender judge in California and the first transgender person to serve as a trial court judge of general jurisdiction in the United States. Prior to her election to the bench, Judge Kolakowski served as an administrative law judge and practiced as an attorney for 21 years in California and Louisiana. She is a former president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges. Judge Kolakowski currently serves as a district co-director for California and Nevada in the National Association of Women Judges.
“It’s important for people to see and understand that [transgender people] can be judges; we can be all sorts of other things,” Judge Kolakowski said in a 2024 interview. “It’s important for people to see that this is an option if it’s something that they could aspire towards, and I've been truly amazed and blessed by the number of people who've told me that they were inspired by me being a judge to enter the legal profession, or to seek public office because they knew that I had achieved this.”
In her acceptance speech at the ABA's award ceremony held February 1 in Phoenix, Judge Kolakowski spoke about her journey to the bench, being a trailblazer in her profession, and being transgender today. “All the things I learned in law school about rights, equality, and freedom -- the things that this country has always stood for -- are protected by the people in this room,” she said in her remarks.
Judge Zeidler
The first openly gay man initially elected to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in 2004, Judge Zeidler had previously been appointed as a Juvenile Court Referee in 1998 and continues to focus on juvenile issues. Like Judge Kolakowski, he is also a former president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges.
“A big part of judicial ethics is about treating people with dignity and respect and ensuring others are too," said Judge Zeidler in a 2024 interview. "The court deals with people from every walk of life. Understanding the litigants who come before us is a major part of the judicial branch’s dedication to diversity and inclusion."
In his acceptance remarks, Judge Zeidler spoke on LGBTQ+ history and the importance of diversity on the bench. “What history teaches us is that we need to share our stories. We need to share who we are and what our experiences are.”
See Judge Kolakowski and Judge Zeidler's full remarks on ABA News.
