The Mexican American judge, who presides over Bexar County Court 13 in San Antonio, blasted the situation as xenophobic, gender-based discrimination, adding that other county judges are allowed to display an Irish flag or wear a camouflage robe in the courtroom. “It felt like they were trying to shame me and bully me into not expressing who I truly am,” Gonzalez told NBC in an interview published Tuesday.
Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez told NBC News that she was investigated by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and ordered to remove the flag, eyeglasses and a mouse pad with rainbow patterns, as well as a colorful Mexican cloth called a sarape. An openly gay Texas judge says she was forced to take down her rainbow pride flag and other colorful materials after a local defense attorney filed a complaint, comparing the symbol to a swastika and Confederate flag.
