Called to serve: Moon Valley Justice Precinct’s Judge Deborah Ann Begay restoring ‘wholeness’ in north Phoenix

WINDOW ROCK – Judge Deborah Ann Begay, known as Ann, continues to shimmer in Maricopa County’s Moon Valley Justice of the Peace in Phoenix.

Begay became the first Native American to be elected as a judge in 2020 and was sworn in as justice of the peace in 2021. She believed she needed to do more for her people and to help those who came to her court to resolve an issue.

“They made a mistake–hit a pitfall in life, which so many people do,” Begay said, “it is my job to help restore them to wholeness.”

The two-spirit Lupton, Arizona, Diné said she treats those before her as customers in her court and should be treated equally, with dignity and respect. Despite the outcome of their wrongdoings, she encourages them to achieve a better result because that’s the goal of all justice courts.

Right the wrong

Deborah Ann Begay said the law greatly impacted her life growing up. She was adopted at 6 because of an intemperance environment.

“It was the year before ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act),” said Begay, who is Naakaii Dine’é and born for Kinyaa’áanii. Her maternal grandfather is Dziłtł’ahnii, and her paternal grandfather is Tódích’íi’nii. Her parents are Joseph Pinto and Theresa Ann Begay.

Begay said being adopted from a couple from California is not possible nowadays because of ICWA laws keeping Native children with Native families.

“I share that only because that really is the beginning point of why of who I am and why I do the work that I do,” Begay said. “If ICWA would’ve been in place, I believe I would still be with my birth family.”

The intrepid Begay said growing up in a non-Native family, she always knew she was different.

But that did not stop her from pursuing a bachelor’s in Native American history from UC Berkeley in California and a law degree from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law focusing on federal Indian law.

“I graduated with the hope to return back to my tribe and be a lawyer—be an attorney for my tribe,” Begay said.

Begay was a McNair Scholar at UC Berkeley and a Udall Foundation Congressional Fellow during law school, where she worked for the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Begay said she served 18 years in the Naval Reserves, where she learned a lot in various areas.

Before law school, Begay was selected for software project management in Silicon Valley.

Additionally, she worked for the Arizona Department of Education’s Policy and Government Relations as a tribal policy specialist.

Spiritual calling to be a judge

Proud of her Diné culture, Deborah Ann Begay believes being a judge was a spiritual calling.

“It’s the way I carry myself,” Begay said. “For me, that is something I take very seriously.”

Begay openly shares that as a parent of three who were adopted from the Navajo Nation, it was her way of righting the wrong.

“I felt like I was adopted by non-Natives, and that shouldn’t have happened,” Begay continues, “so I gave some Navajos a Navajo home to grow up in.”

When Begay examines her life with the knowledge she imparts, she knows many are watching and listening to what she says. As a proud parent, she said it was the proudest moment she had the privilege to have, but many do not view it as that.

“My kids call me daddy,” she said. “They lived with me since they were babies.”

Begay said her kids know about two-spirit and the LGBTQ2S+ community because they see it and live with her.

Often, while attending a school event and when her kids call her daddy, parents turn around expecting to see a man, but it is her.

Many hear the stigma regarding LGBTQ2S+ and have expressed that “gay people shouldn’t be parents” and “you’ll change and ruin the children that we raise.”

“I’ll get to tell my story,” Begay said. “My kids are so happy about everything because it really changes people’s minds.”

Begay said her kids are open-minded and are following their spiritual path.

“They’re not copying me or thinking, ‘Dad’s way is the only way to go,’” Begay said.

“That is my greatest accomplishment,” she added. “I am raising three kids on my own. They’re super cool kids (which) is hard, but I am doing it.”

Be who you are

“If any time I give my opinion, I’m very sensitive to homophobia, which happens in my court,” Deborah Ann Begay said. “I’m very careful around those things because I have a big impact on it.”

In her field of work as a two-spirit person, she illuminates LGBTQ2S+ practices in the workplace, tribal sovereignty, and building a diverse community.

Some of her work includes same-sex marriage and the reasonable outcome of one’s fate when it comes to people of color or Diné individuals.

“I have a lot of Navajo couples come down to officiate their weddings,” Begay said. “There are Navajo people that are very proud the fact that I am a judge and have some sort of connection to me.”

She heard stories from same-sex Diné couples, who admitted it is hard to be open on the Navajo Nation, where some families don’t acknowledge the identity of their relatives and are treated differently.

“We just have to stay strong and committed to who we are because eventually, the love will transform that,” Begay said. “I identify as two-spirit.”

Begay said many do not understand what two-spirit means, which she said is deeper than one saying, “I like this gender or that gender.” She describes it as a spiritual way of who she is.

“I feel that it is applicable to the LGBTQ people because there’s a harder road that we have to walk,” Begay added. “We are always being judged (and) told we are sinning and doing something wrong.”

Following her commitment to ensuring that many live a happy life regardless of who they love or how they carry themselves, she ensures that people of color deserve the same fairness.

When Begay lived in California, the court system was dissimilar, and when the judge looked at “you” and saw that your skin was darker than theirs, you were presumed guilty.

Now, as a judge living in north Phoenix, Begay navigates her court for a better outcome for those before her, especially people of color and those in the LGBTQ2S+ community.

She shows herself as being proud and open as a two-spirit person and encourages those to be you, regardless of what is said.

Being part of the LGBTQ2S+ community is a special gift, Begay describes.

“It was given to you,” which is not a choice, nor was one born that way, said Begay.

“It was a gift because there is something so unique and special about you that this is your journey, and you were meant to be a role model to somebody,” she said, encouraging those on their own journeys in the LGBTQ2S+ community.

“Just by being you,” she added, “that you will be somebody that helps to dismantle the system that continue to oppress LGBTQ communities.”

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