Openly gay Kings County Supreme Court justice speaks with the Eagle in honor of Pride Month

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Hon. Richard Montelione, a Supreme Court of the State of New York, Kings County, justice and one of the first openly-gay men elected to the bench in Brooklyn, sat down with the Brooklyn Eagle for a conversation in recognition of Pride Month.

Brooklyn-born Montelione, who will be 71 in July, discussed the challenges of growing up gay in an Italian-American household prior to much of the progress of the LGBTQ+ community. “When I was coming of age, my environment was really homophobic,” he said. “You just didn’t come out, not as an Italian in that age and time.”

“I knew I was always attracted to other boys,” Montelione said. “I also knew very early that I wasn’t supposed to be and that was not something that you would ever say out loud. In fact, you wouldn’t even think about it.”

According to Montelione, who came out at the age of 25 while in law school, he would often have to overcompensate to show that he “wasn’t gay.” The justice also discussed how he first entered the legal profession and rose to the bench while navigating his career as a gay man. 

“My dad was a lawyer,” Montelione said. “He had an office on Court Street, and I remember as a kid going to court with him. Everybody smelled of tobacco.”

Montelione recalled being in a crowded courtroom with his father. His father began speaking, “and everybody shut up.”

“I thought that was so cool,” he said. “I have no idea whether a bailiff may have said, ‘everybody be quiet,’ but all I did was associate my dad speaking, and everyone went silent. My father was my hero. He was a World War II veteran, an honest man of principle and really socially conscious — something I believe I inherited from him.”  

At the age of 12, Montelione had his sights set on becoming a lawyer. His earliest exposure to law came some years later, when he began working for the Legal Aid Society and the Legal Services Corporation. “I did that for about five years, and I clerked for a judge for two years,” Montelione said. “I always just followed what I loved doing.”  

Before becoming a judge, Montelione practiced law privately, concentrating on fraud, civil rights, business and real estate matters. 

“Becoming a judge was not foremost on my mind, but an eventual opportunity arose,” he said. “This was back in 2012. I received a phone call that a judge was resigning in the First Municipal District, and I decided to run as an openly gay candidate. I remember saying to myself, ‘I’ll be damned if I run for this office without introducing my husband, Jack [Esterson].’ There’s something liberating about being out where you don’t have to hide who you are. There’s no double life. Ultimately, I was elected as a Civil Court judge.”  

Being a judge is satisfying on every single level, Montelione said, noting the difference members of the judiciary can make in people’s lives. “Even if a decision is not favorable to somebody, I’m a great believer that if you explain in a few sentences the rationale as to why you’re doing what you’re doing, then you’ve given someone the opportunity to know that they’ve been heard,” Montelione said. “That goes a long way in terms of making the system work.”  

Montelione is also involved in a high-profile dispute over the future of a judge’s parking lot adjacent to Brooklyn Borough Hall and Columbus Park. 

As chair of the Kings County Supreme Court justices, he has argued that the lot is essential for judicial security, while Brooklyn elected officials and community advocates seek to convert the space into public parkland as part of a broader redevelopment of Columbus Park. The disagreement has become one of Downtown Brooklyn’s most visible civic debates.  

As of 2026, no final resolution has been reached. “This area has never been used as a park,” Montelione said. “It has always been a parking lot designated for judges.”

“The suggestion is to use the parking lot at the Marriott, or the commercial lots that are a couple blocks away, but there have been several threats made against judges as of late,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that you’re not going to get a court officer to accompany you from the courthouse to the Marriott. It’s just not practical.” 

Montelione, who was born in East New York, has long had a deep affection for Brooklyn. 

“In 1969, my family moved out to Long Island for a while, but we ended up coming back to Kings County in 1985 when I met my husband,” he said. “I can honestly say that I truly missed Brooklyn. I’ll never move out. I think we’re going to die here.”

Montelione currently resides in Clinton Hill with his husband. When asked about retirement, Montelione said he plans on working as long as he can. 

“When they tell me I have to leave the bench, I will leave the bench,” he said. “I have enjoyed every minute of my career, and I’ve been very, very lucky.”  

Montelione, who is currently assigned to the Civil Term, was elected to the Supreme Court bench in 2021 after serving for nearly a decade as a judge sitting in both New York City Criminal and New York City Civil Court in Kings County. 

Montelione earned his bachelor’s degree from City University of New York, Queens College, and his law degree from the Antioch School of Law, now part of the University of the District of Columbia. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1984. 

Montelione has been active in numerous legal and civic organizations, including the Brooklyn Bar Association, the LGBTQ+ legal community and various nonprofit boards. He has also served as chair of the board of Supreme Court Justices of Kings County.