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.

Sexual Orientation as a Youth

In terms of my sexual orientation, I don't think I realized it until I was in college. And when I looked back, I realized that some of the feelings that I had were related to me being lesbian. But I didn't know that when I was growing up because these were things that weren't really talked about in the sixties and seventies, early seventies when I was growing up.

Remember, until 1973, um same-sex sexual attraction was considered an abnormal in the abnormal psychological condition. It was considered an abnormality by the American Psychological Association, the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual, until DSM 3 in 1973. So that's when I was a senior in high school. So you could see why people didn't talk about these things.

But I really wasn't focused on that because—but I was dating boys—and but when I look back on it, I realize, you know, I would much have preferred spending time with my my friends, my girlfriends and so my friends that were girls.

And so when I look back on it, I realize that it was when in college, when I played basketball and there were, you know, athletes around me that were lesbian, I realized that this was this is why I have had felt the way I had. So, yeah, it was a little bit a different era in the sixties and seventies.

identity LGBTQ+ people sexual orientation

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.