Deborah Anne Batts (April 13, 1947 – February 3, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. During Gay Pride Week in June 1994, Batts was sworn in as a United States district judge for Manhattan, becoming the nation's first openly LGBT, African-American federal judge. She took senior status on her 65th birthday, April 13, 2012. Biography Batts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James Alexander Batts, director of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Harlem Hospital Center, and Ruth S. Batts, nurse, homemaker, and board member of the Philadelphia Home and School Council in the 1960s. Marriage and family Batts' siblings included sisters Mercedes Ellington and Denise Batts, and twin, Diane Batts Morrow. She was married to Ira A. McCown, with whom she had two children, Alexandra S. McCown and James Ellison McCown. In 2011, Batts married Gwen Zornberg. Education and career Batts received an Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Radcliffe College in 1969, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1972. She subsequently clerked for Judge Lawrence Pierce of the United States district court on which she served as a judge until her death. She was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1979 to 1984. In 1984, she became the first African American faculty member and an associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law,. She was a special associate counsel to the Department of Investigation for New York City from 1990 to 1991. Outside of work, Batts dedicated her time to the RISE program, aiming to lower recidivism amongst at-risk offenders and continued to teach at the Fordham University School of Law. Federal judicial service On January 27, 1994, following the recommendation of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, President Bill Clinton nominated Batts to a seat on the Southern District left open in 1989 when Judge Richard Owen took senior status. Batts was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6, 1994, and received her commission on May 9, 1994. She took senior status on April 13, 2012. She continued to serve concurrently as an adjunct professor at Fordham University. She served until her death on February 3, 2020, from complications during knee surgery. On October 3, 2007, Bourne Co. Music Publishers filed a lawsuit accusing Family Guy of infringing its copyright on the song "When You Wish