Tracy Thorne-Begland

Tracy William Thorne-Begland (born October 3, 1966) is an American judge, currently serving on the Circuit Court of Richmond, Virginia. He was the first openly gay jurist elected by the Virginia General Assembly.

After graduation from university, Thorne-Begland served in a jet combat squadron of the United States Navy. During the 1992 presidential campaign, he appeared on the television news program Nightline to criticize the Navy's policy of excluding homosexuals, identifying himself as gay, and was honorably discharged from the service. As a result of the appeal processes, Thorne-Begland became interested in the law and graduated from law school.

After serving twelve years as a prosecutor, Thorne-Begland was nominated for an open seat on the General District Court of Richmond in 2012, but the Virginia House of Delegates rejected him for the position for his perceived advocacy on homosexual issues. The Richmond Circuit Court judges granted him a temporary appointment to the post on June 14, 2012. On January 15, 2013, he was confirmed in the position by both houses of the Virginia General Assembly.

Early life and military career Tracy W. Thorne grew up in a well-off family in West Palm Beach, Florida. Initially denying his homosexuality, Thorne accepted it in 1990 when he visited a gay bar for the first time on New Year's Eve.

In 1992, Thorne came out to his squadronmates, who he later stated were supportive: "It was a complete non-issue".

Within days, the Navy began discharge proceedings against him, though he was not formally discharged until 1995. On May 11, 1993, he testified before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, which was surveying the opinions of service members on the question of service by open homosexuals. He told the senators that his discussion with his peers following his television disclosure was "a nonevent" and called the policy banning service by homosexuals "Government-sanctioned discrimination." During the committee session, South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond advised Thorne to seek psychiatric help. In 1994, a Navy board of inquiry recommended that Thorne be honorably discharged, though the discharge was not official until May 6, 1995.

Thorne then brought suit in federal court to overturn the discharge; the court ordered his reinstatement while the case proceeded. After he lost his challenge to DADT in both U.S. District Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal on October 19, 1998, and he was again discharged. Before the vote, the conservative advocacy group Family Foundation of Virginia lobbied heavily against his nomination due to his homosexuality and past activism. He had served for a time on the board of Equality Virginia, a gay rights advocacy organization. Thorne-Begland also attempted to address concerns by pledging to "neutrally apply the laws" and avoid political advocacy. Delegates also stated that they felt Thorne-Begland's homosexuality and previous history of activism would influence his rulings on the bench.

Following a lengthy discussion, the vote on Thorne-Begland's nomination was held shortly after 1 am on May 15. Republican senate candidate and former senator George Allen expressed disagreement with the vote, stating that judges should be appointed based on judicial qualifications rather than sexual orientation. Stephanie Cutter of US president Barack Obama's re-election campaign described Thorne-Begland as "overly-qualified" for the post, stating "He is a well-known successful prosecutor ... That is how the legislature should be making these decisions. Not based on someone's own sexual orientation." The campaign of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney declined to comment. The Washington Post stated that "no matter how they dressed it up, the Republicans' opposition boiled down to old-fashioned prejudice." Dahlia Lithwick of Slate wrote that if Thorne-Begland's previous advocacy for gay rights disqualified him from the bench, Thurgood Marshall's advocacy with the NAACP and Ruth Bader Ginsburg's advocacy for women's rights would have disqualified them from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judgeship Thorne-Begland commented that he was "looking forward to continuing to serve the citizens of the city of Richmond and the great commonwealth of Virginia" in his role as a prosecutor.

On January 15, 2013, the House of Delegates elected Thorne-Begland to a full six-year term with a vote of 66–28, with one abstention. The 28 votes against him were all cast by members of the Republican party. The Senate followed with a vote of 28–0, with 12 Republican senators not voting. Thorne-Begland was the first openly gay jurist elected by the General Assembly.

On February 22, 2023, the General Assembly elevated Thorne-Begland to an eight-year term as a judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.

Personal life Thorne-Begland lives with his husband, originally Michael Begland, a Richmond attorney. They have combined their original surnames, and both use the surname Thorne-Begland. They had a commitment ceremony in 2001 after 8 years together and soon decided they wanted to have children. Using eggs from Michael Thorne-Begland's sister and sperm from Tracy Thorne-Begland, they used a surrogate to give birth to their twins in 2004 in a Maryland hospital.