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

Sabrina Shizue McKenna

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

Early Childhood

I was born on October 7, 1957, in Tokyo, Japan, to a Japanese mother and an American father. I was raised in Japan and in the Philippines, attending United States DOD (Department of Defense Dependents) schools.

Unfortunately, when I was nine, when we moved to Yokota Air Force Base, which is part west Tokyo, my father died of a heart attack and then my mother went to work for the US government at the front desk of the US military hotel and then through for the military travel services.

So after that, I only spoke Japanese at home. Of course, Japanese was my first language with my mother, and my father, he told my mother, “Speak Japanese, she'll pick up English in school, but make sure she understands Japanese.” So I grew up in Yokota, graduated from Yokota Air Force Base high school, and that's my childhood.

American military post schools Department of Defense dependents schools Japan Japanese language languages Yokota Air Force Base

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.