Broward Circuit Judge John Contini was a tough prosecutor and an uncompromising criminal defense lawyer before winning his seat in 2014.

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But Contini is a softy when it concerns transgender folks seeking a name change.

Contini has been praised by a local social service organization for treating transgender individuals with dignity when they appear before him seeking to change their names. The judge even asks for the privilege to be the first to address them by their new names.

“We have never seen that before from a judge. It is touching,” says Mark Ketcham, executive director of SunServe.

SunServe is a non-profit group that concentrates on helping the LGBTQ community. One of the functions SunServe offers is assisting transgender people seeking a legal name change. Contini’s sensitivity is why they try to steer the cases to his courtroom.