Michigan LGBTQ+ Community Groups Unite to Admonish Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra Over Transphobic Comments
Boonstra called trans defendant a 'biological man,' refusing to be part of 'wokeness' culture
A group of 19 organizations came together to condemn Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra.
In a letter to Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack and Michigan Court of Appeals Chief Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, the organizations claim Boonstra acted outside the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct by not only refusing to refer to a defendant in a case by their proper pronouns but also by writing a concurring opinion in the case wherein he criticized his fellow judges for doing so.
In the case, People v Gobrick, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed the criminal conviction of the defendant. The court’s majority opinion acknowledged in a footnote that in the defense attorney’s appellate brief, counsel stated their client was a transgender female who uses the gender nonbinary pronouns “they” and “them.” The majority noted that the prosecuting attorney also referred to the defendant as such in their appellate brief and oral argument and so, too, would the court.
Boonstra objected in his concurring opinion.
“This court should not be altering its lexicon whenever an individual prefers to be identified in a manner contrary to what society throughout all of human history has understood to be the immutable truth,” the opinion read in part.
What’s more, Boonstra, who called the defendant a “biological man,” said a litigant’s right to self-identify “frankly should not be of interest or concern to the Court unless it somehow impacts the resolution of the case before us. …Once we start down the road of accommodating pronoun (or other) preferences in our opinion, the potential absurdities we will face are unbounded. I decline to start down that road, and … do not believe we should be spending our time crafting our opinions to conform to the ‘wokeness’ of the day.”
The ACLU of Michigan is one of the organizations who signed the letter.
“He refers to [using correct pronouns] as ‘insanity’ and says the Court shouldn’t be bothering itself with the predilections of defendants,” ACLU of Michigan LGBT Project Staff Attorney Jay Kaplan told Pride Source. "It was pretty offensive language, and certainly Judge Boonstra, as an individual, has a right to his own opinions. But we felt that his language in that concurring opinion really sent a message to trans people that they’re not to be treated with the same respect as other people. Those pronouns are not a preference; they’re a fact.”
The Ruth Ellis Center (REC) is another organization that signed the letter.
“REC signed on to the letter because these behaviors perpetrated by people in power render transgender individuals shamed, silenced and invisible,” said REC Executive Director Jerry Peterson. “It is an outrageous form of harm and oppression that cannot be tolerated from anyone, but even less from people who hold such enormous power.”
Jey’nce Poindexter Mizrahi , herself a trans woman and vice president of the Trans Sistas of Color Project , who also signed the letter, said Judge Boonstra’s behavior and language was “heinous.”“To have a judge, a sitting judge, who commands the attention and respect of a courtroom, be so reckless and dismissive and just, quite frankly, downright ignorant,” Mizrahi said. “I think his comments were unethical and unprofessional. Those types of comments, you keep them to yourself. You never know who comes in your courtroom and who occupies your space.”
Mizrahi said that such behavior from a judge is why many trans persons feel uncomfortable and unsafe going to court.
“It speaks to why the most horrible and most violent things can happen to community members and then they choose not to report it. They don’t choose not to report it because they’re scared of an offender or an attacker. They choose not to report it because, historically, they’ve been disrespected, dismissed and dismantled by the criminal justice system just for their identities.”
Chief Justice respondsChief Justice McCormack did respond quickly to the letter. She thanked the senders for writing and for their analysis, which she called “thorough, well-researched and obviously supported by an impressive range of organizations who care deeply about equality, equity and fair treatment of all.”
McCormack, who did not mention Boonstra or his concurring opinion at all, did say she agreed with the letter’s suggestion of cultural competency training for all judges and court staff and that she would ask the Michigan Judicial Institute and the state’s newly created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission to investigate the issue further.
“Such efforts could be part of planned future mandatory judicial education efforts,” the letter continued. “We welcome your advice and input in the development of a cultural competency curriculum that is a model for the nation.
“I look forward to working with you to build a more inclusive justice system in Michigan.”
Groups who signed the original letter include the LGBTQA Section of the Michigan State Bar, the ACLU of Michigan, Equality Michigan, Affirmations LGBT Community Center, Ruth Ellis Center, Out Center of Southwestern Michigan, Out Front Kalamazoo, Services and Advocacy for LGBTQ Older Adults (SAGE) Metro Detroit, the LGBT-Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Detroit, Stand with Trans, Transgender Michigan, Transcend the Binary, Trans Sistas of Color Project, Great Lakes Bay Pride, Grand Rapids Pride, Out on the Lakeshore, PRISM Detroit, Stonewall Sports and the Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network.
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