Interviews

1. Early Childhood

2. Being “Half” in Japan

3. Sexual Orientation as a Youth

4. How Title IX Changed Her Life

5. Initial Interest in Law

6. Judge Marie Milks—Her Hero and a Mentor

7. On Being an Asian American Woman in Law

8. Confidence as a young Asian American woman

9. Not coming out at work until 1991

10. Becoming the First LGBTQ Judge to Serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court

11. Impact of Coming Out on Her Family

12. Impact of Coming Out Publicly in the US and Japan

13. Message for Young People

McKenna,Sabrina Shizue

(b. 1957) Jusice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.

Becoming the First LGBTQ Judge to Serve on the Hawaii Supreme Court

I learned that although in about 77% of white youth come out to their parents, that number is only 51% for Asian Pacific American youth. And I realized why. It's because the Asian-American, Pacific, Asian Pacific American population is not necessarily as accepting of the LGBTQ community. And I think there's various reasons for that. I think part one of the main reasons is that the Asian Pacific American population in the United States tends to be much higher percentage of first or second generation, the first generation actually.

And, you know, I think being in the United States for a while, sometimes it changes things culturally depending on where you are, of course. But when I realized those statistics, I realized how important it was for people like me to be more open. And so when the governor on January 25, 2011, had the press conference, my then partner and our three children were in the audience. It was a very small audience and the media was all there.

And afterwards, one of the media approached the governor's press secretary and asked if I would be willing to speak on record, because the journalist had asked my partner, “Who are you?” And she said, “Oh, I'm her partner”. And the journalist said, “Oh, law partner?” And she said, “Oh, no, partner, partner.” And so the media was like, “Oh, wow.”

identity LGBTQ+ people

Date: July 14, 2022

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Lana Kobayashi

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Sabrina Shizue McKenna was born on October 7, 1957, in Tokyo, Japan, to a Japanese mother and an American father. Being half-Japanese, McKenna struggled with feeling either “too Japanese” or “too white.” Justice McKenna’s life was drastically impacted in 1972, when Title IX was passed. Title IX allowed McKenna to receive a scholarship to attend the University of Hawaii and play basketball. During her time at the university, she came to terms with her sexuality.

McKenna believes her sexual orientation might have altered her career path. After graduating from law school and working for law firms, McKenna became a law professor. Instead of running for government office, she became a judge. However, McKenna’s path to becoming a judge was not a smooth one. It wasn’t until 2011 that she was appointed to her current position as the Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii. Justice McKenna's story shows that members of the LGBTQ community can have successful and meaningful lives. (October 2022)

*This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.