Rowland, a federal magistrate judge in Illinois who spent 12 years in private practice and 10 years in the Chicago federal defender's office, was Trump's nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She stands out among the rest of the president's selections for being an open lesbian who is "married" to a woman and has two adult children.

The Senate confirmed Rowland by voice vote last week, the Washington Blade reports, meaning no Republicans opposed her. Democrat Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois praised the smoothness of the process leading to her confirmation.

The Bay Area Reporter highlights several aspects of Rowland's professional background overlooked by Republicans, particularly her memberships in the Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of Chicago and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the latter of which called Justice Neil Gorsuch "dangerous" for defending Hobby Lobby's conscience rights, has sued to attempt to force Catholic Charities to place children in lesbian foster homes, and sued Arizona over a law banning pro-LGBT prosyletizing in HIV/AIDS education.