Today, President Obama nominated Pamela Ki Mai Chen, an openly gay judge, to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Chen has been an Assistant United States Attorney in New York for 14 years, serving as chief of the civil rights section and deputy chief of the public-integrity division. Formerly she was with the Department of Justice, specializing in the reform of prisons, juvenile detention centers and facilities for the developmentally disabled.

If Republicans don’t figure out some way to trip her up, Chen will become only the second female Chinese-American and one of a handful of out gay people to be appointed to the federal district and appellate courts.

“I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States District Court bench,” the President said. “Pamela Chen has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction.”

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who initially nominated Chen, called her “a trailblazer in every sense of the word.”