Openly gay nominee Laura Duffy was confirmed Friday as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California in San Diego.

Duffy was nominated by President Barack Obama in February.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved her nomination, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Duffy is a veteran federal prosecutor who has earned widespread respect battling criminal drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. She led the prosecution against Tijuana's Arellano Felix cartel, which resulted in a life sentence for its leader, Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, one of Mexico's most notorious drug kingpins.

“President Obama has appointed more than 100 LGBT Americans to his administration so far, with abut two dozen of those requiring Senate confirmation,” Denis Dison, a vice president at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group that supports openly gay candidates, told On Top Magazine in an email.

Last month, the Senate confirmation of Marisa Demeo, a candidate to the D.C. Superior Court bench, drew widespread criticism from conservative groups because she is a lesbian.

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint led the opposition, telling the National Law Journal that Demeo, who has worked as a lobbyist and advocate for Hispanic causes, had a history of “very leftist activism.”

And the socially conservative group Traditional Values Coalition labeled Demeo a “radical lesbian” who “supports gay marriage” in urging senators to reject her. The group went on to call Demeo “dangerous to our nation” and would “destroy traditional marriage through her edicts.”

“If Congress is to act fairly, it will consider the qualifications and competence of nominees, not their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Dison said. “Blocking nominees simply because of their sexual orientation is unfair and un-American.”

California Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, praised Duffy's confirmation, saying in a statement: “She will be an outstanding U.S. attorney for the people of San Diego and Imperial counties.”