Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton on
Friday announced the appointment of Court of Appeals Judge Margaret
H. Chutich as associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court,
making her the state's first openly gay Supreme Court justice.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
reported that Dayton, a Democrat, appointed Chutich to her position
in 2012.
“It is important that the court
reflect the community it serves, and I also think symbolism is very
important,” Chutich said. “If there are gay attorneys, gay
people thinking about going to law school, I think it's important
that they know there aren't barriers to their dreams.”
Dayton is a strong supporter of LGBT
rights.
In 2013, he signed a marriage bill into
law on the front steps of the Capitol in St. Paul that made Minnesota
the 12th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws and
constitutional amendments that exclude gay couples from marriage.