Nearly a year into her first term as an elected official, Tonya Parker made national headlines. Not for the way she cleared-out scores of dated cases in the severely backlogged court she inherited. Not for her award-winning service to the legal community. Not for breaking barriers as one of the few African-American judges or female judges or openly gay judges.

Tonya Parker was labeled “The Gay Judge,” splashed across social media for declining to exercise her privilege to officiate marriage ceremonies, and later compared to Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis. Listen as she takes the TEDxTurtleCreekWomen stage to talk about the lessons she learned from being so prominently labeled.

Since being elected to the 116th Civil District Court of Texas, Judge Tonya Parker consistently is recognized as an exemplary jurist with ratings from the Dallas Bar Association Evaluation Polls among the highest at over 90 percent.

Reportedly, the first openly gay African-American elected to any office in Texas, she serves as a mentor and role model across multiple communities and inspires young women to run for public office.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx