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News

First openly gay judge appointed most senior civil justice in England and Wales

updated on 01 June 2016

For the first time, an openly gay judge has been appointed to the most senior civil judicial position in England and Wales.

Sir Terence Etherton has become the first openly gay judge to be appointed master of the rolls and head of civil justice, making him the second most senior judge in the country after the lord chief justice (currently Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd). The appointment is a significant and welcome step toward a more diverse judiciary.

In 2006, Etherton also became the first High Court judge to enter a civil partnership, which he later converted to marriage in 2014. In 2008, on being appointed lord justice of appeal, he made the following comment on diversity in the legal profession: "My appointment…shows that diversity in sexuality is not a bar to preferment up to the highest levels of the judiciary."