Survey Asks Whether It's Harder for Gay Lawyer to Become a Judge

Gay lawyers in the United Kingdom agree that becoming a judge is more difficult for them.

A study by the LGBT legal group Interlaw found that 70% believe prejudice exists in the selection process. The Guardian reports that a new "judicial appointments committee" is hoping to fix the problem.

For starters, the committee is now counting the number of people applying to become judges who are gay, as it already does for other demographics.

In the United States at the federal level, President Obama has been praised for selecting the first openly gay man to serve on the bench. He's made other appointments, but they still represent a small number of federal judges. There is no statistical information about the LGBT diversity of lower courts.

For more on the problem, and the proposed solutions, check out the Guardian.