Benjamin Joseph Franquez Cruz (born March 3, 1951) is a Chamorro lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the Speaker of the 34th

Guam Legislature The Legislature of Guam () is the law-making body for the United States territory of Guam. The unicameral legislative branch consists of fifteen senators, each serving for a two-year term. All members of the legislature are elected at-large with ...

from 2017 to 2018 and as Vice Speaker from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the Guam Legislature from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2008 to 2018. He was Chief Justice of the Guam Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001. In September 2018, Cruz was elected to serve as

Public Auditor of Guam The Public Auditor of Guam is an elected territorial office independent of the legislative, Executive branch, executive, and Judiciary, judicial branches of the Government of Guam. Five individuals have held the office of Public Auditor since its cr ...

Early life and education

He was born Benjamin Joseph Franquez Cruz on , in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, the second child and only son of Juan Quenga Cruz ("Tanaguan") and Antonia Cruz Franquez. His father, who had just been elected Commissioner (Mayor) of Piti, was killed by Marcelo "Mar" C. Biscoe in 1956 when Cruz was five years old. In 1960, while in Guam, Cruz's mother married Vicente Cruz Guerrero ("Tico"). They resettled the whole family in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1962.They returned to

intermittently, where Cruz attended

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

at St. Francis School in

Yona The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (), who were probably the first Gr ...

. He went to

St. John Bosco High School St. John Bosco High School (SJBHS) is a Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian all-boys college preparatory high school located in Bellflower, California, and is operated by the San Francisco Province of the order. The school is named after the ord ...

in California until 1968. His bachelor's degree political science and economics was obtained in 1972 from the Claremont Men's College, and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1975 from the

Santa Clara University School of Law The Santa Clara University School of Law (Santa Clara Law) is the law school of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States, in the Silicon Valley region. The School of Law was founded in 1911. Santa Cla ...

Career

After graduating law school in 1975, Cruz returned to Guam to work as consumer counsel in the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

's Office. Four months later,

Ricardo Bordallo Ricardo Jerome "Ricky" Bordallo (; – ) was an American politician and businessman, who served two terms as the second and fourth governor of Guam with Lieutenant Governor Rudy Sablan from 1975 to 1979, and with Lieutenant Governor Edward Dieg ...

, who had just begun his first term as

Governor of Guam The governor of Guam ( / ) is the head of government of Guam and the commander-in-chief of the Guam National Guard, whose responsibilities also include making the annual State of the Island (formerly the State of the Territory) addresses to t ...

, asked Cruz to serve as legal counsel in the Governor's Office, where he served throughout Bordallo's first term until January 1979. Between Bordallo's two gubernatorial terms, Cruz established a private practice and served as minority legal counsel during the 15th and 16th Guam Legislatures. In 1983, Bordallo was elected to his second term as Governor of Guam and appointed Cruz to head the Washington, D.C. Liaison Office. There, he served as Guam's federal affairs liaison to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, and

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

. In 1984, Bordallo appointed Cruz to be a judge of the Superior Court of Guam, where he was then one of the youngest attorneys ever appointed to be a judge at 33. Several leaders of local Protestant churches testified against the confirmation, citing his "sexual preference" as disqualifying from being a good judge. Despite these interventions, Cruz was confirmed by the legislature and began a 17-year career in the island judiciary. Cruz spent nine years as a Superior Court Judge with the family court, where he was an advocate for establishing and improving services for juvenile offenders and troubled youth. As a trial court judge, Cruz presided over the controversial lawsuit filed regarding the implementation of the Chamorro Land Trust Act, issuing the landmark decision ordering the act's implementation. In 1997, Governor

Carl Gutierrez Carl Tommy Cruz Gutierrez (born October 15, 1941) is an American (U.S. citizen) politician who was the sixth governor of Guam, serving two four-year terms with Lieutenant Governor Madeleine Bordallo from January 2, 1995, to January 6, 2003. Guti ...

appointed Cruz to serve as an associate justice of the Guam Supreme Court. He served as associate justice until 1999, when his colleagues elected him chief justice. Cruz then served as chief justice from April 21, 1999 until August 31, 2001, when he retired from the judiciary. Prior to his appointment as Superior Court judge, Cruz held key positions in the Guam Democratic Party. He served as executive director from 1977 to 1983 and was national committeeman to the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

. Cruz returned to politics after his retirement from the judiciary in 2002 to chair

Madeleine Bordallo Madeleine Mary Zeien Bordallo (; born May 31, 1933) is an American-Guamanian politician who served as the delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2019. She is the first woman ever to serve as Guam' ...

's first successful campaign as Guam's United States Delegate to Congress. Between 2003 and 2005, Cruz once again served as an DNC national committeeman. In 2003, Cruz was appointed by U.S. Interior Secretary

Gale Norton Gale Ann Norton (born March 11, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. A member of the Republican Party, she previously serve ...

to be one of five members of the Guam War Claims Review Commission, established by the Congress to report and make findings relative to compensation for the victims and survivors of the

Japanese occupation of Guam The Japanese occupation of Guam was the period in the history of Guam between 1941 and 1944 when Imperial Japanese forces occupied Guam during World War II. The island was renamed Ōmiya-Jima ('Great Shrine Island'). Events leading to the occ ...

during World War II. The Federal Commission has issued a report to Congress recommending compensation, where legislation has been pending in Congress to compensate victims and survivors.

Gutierrez-Cruz campaign (2006)

In 2004, Cruz was elected to the 28th Guam Legislature, receiving the highest number of votes for Democratic candidates. In 2006, Cruz ran for lieutenant governor as the running mate of former Governor Carl Gutierrez in the Democratic primary against a ticket of former Delegate Robert A. Underwood and Senator

Frank Aguon Frank Blas Aguon Jr. (born June 21, 1966) is a Guamanian politician and army lieutenant. A Democrat, he served in the Legislature of Guam from 1997 to 2007, 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2019. He is a former Vice-Speaker from 2003 to 2005. Senat ...

. The Underwood-Aguon ticket won the primary but lost in the general election to the Republican incumbents, Governor

Felix Perez Camacho Felix James Pérez Camacho (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and businessman who served as the seventh governor of Guam from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party of Guam, he had previously served as a six-term senator in ...

and Lt. Governor Michael Cruz.

Guam Legislature

On January 7, 2008, Cruz was the victor in a special election to fill a vacancy in the 29th Guam Legislature left by the unexpected passing of former Republican Speaker Tony Unpingco. His victory shifted the majority from the Republicans to Democrats. In July 2008, Cruz worked to convince Navy Rear Admiral William French (who was Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Marianas) and other U.S. Navy officials to ease restrictions on the access of local veterans to the island's only VA Clinic located in a gated Naval hospital facility. In 2009, Cruz introduced same-sex civil union legislation on behalf of the Guam Youth Congress. The legislation has been publicly opposed by Archbishop

Anthony Apuron Anthony Sablan Apuron (born November 1, 1945) is a Guamanian American former prelate of the Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, ...

of the Archdiocese of Hagatna and the

Catholic Church in Guam The Catholic Church in the United States unincorporated territory of Guam is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome and locally administered by the Archdiocese of Agaña. History Catholicism on t ...

, who called for fasting and prayer for the Guam Legislature to reject the legislation. In July 2009, Cruz revised the legislation to provide for domestic partnerships between any two people.

Personal life

Cruz's nomination to be a Judge in the Superior Court of Guam in 1984 was marked with protests from evangelical and Baptist church groups because he was gay. Cruz was later confirmed as a judge and was assigned to lead the Family Court for nearly ten years. Cruz revealed a longstanding homosexual relationship in a local article published in ''Latte Magazine'' in 1995. Cruz eventually became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Guam and was featured in an article in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' about his homosexuality.

References

External links

Senator BJ Cruz' Official Website

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Benjamin 1951 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century Guamanian politicians American auditors Chamorro people Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Guam Claremont McKenna College alumni American gay politicians Guamanian Democrats Guamanian judges Guamanian lawyers Guamanian people of Spanish descent LGBTQ judges American LGBTQ lawyers LGBTQ legislators in the United States Guamanian LGBTQ people 20th-century Guamanian people Living people Members of the Legislature of Guam Santa Clara University School of Law alumni Speakers of the Legislature of Guam Justices of the Supreme Court of Guam 21st-century American LGBTQ people