SR0733 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0733 LRB103 36545 LAW 66652 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court administers the State's legal system, regulates the legal profession, and seeks to foster a diverse and inclusive legal system; and

WHEREAS, Despite more and more LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV who are living as their authentic selves, the Illinois Supreme Court does not have a formal education requirement for attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff to be aware of and meet the social and cultural needs of LGBTQ+ communities and people living with HIV; and

WHEREAS, In 2023, more than 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in statehouses across the country, including initiatives to criminalize healthcare for trans individuals, to create licenses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ families, and to deny LGBTQ+ students the opportunity to experience the stories of people like themselves, and such anti-LGBTQ+ bills are contrary to the values of the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, As LGBTQ+ people and families visit Illinois to access reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care or move to Illinois in order to escape the oppression of cruel and harsh anti-LGBTQ+ regimes in other states, attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff in Illinois will more frequently come into contact with and represent LGBTQ+ people who need legal services to defend their rights, freedom, and bodily autonomy; and

WHEREAS, The Movement Advancement Project's August 2016 report, entitled Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails LGBT People of Color, wrote that "Discrimination against LGBT people, particularly LGBT people of color, is pervasive, and it infiltrates the halls of justice", and that "Judges, prosecutors, and even defense attorneys tasked with representing LGBT people often rely on misinformation, stereotypes, and inflammatory language when interacting with LGBT people"; for instance, "LGBT immigrants frequently encounter judges who are unfamiliar with the challenges facing LGBT people in other countries or who use incorrect language to refer to transgender immigrants"; and

WHEREAS, Lambda Legal's Protected and Served? 2022 report includes data from a national survey about the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV when in courts and courthouses; and

WHEREAS, Of survey participants who had appeared in court, 22.2% of those who identified as LGBTQ+, women, or individuals living with HIV indicated that someone in the legal profession, including judges, public defenders, prosecutors, court clerks, court security, or other court employees, made negative comments to or about them relating to sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status; and

WHEREAS, In that same report, 30.1% of transgender participants had their gender identity inappropriately revealed in court; in particular, transgender participants of color were more likely to have their gender identity revealed in court than were those who were white; specifically, 42.9% of Indigenous trans people, 42.3% of Black trans people, 34.5% of Latinx trans people, and 23.3% of white trans people reported having their gender identity inappropriately revealed in court; and

WHEREAS, The report additionally revealed that 25.0% of people living with HIV said that their HIV status, which is private health information, was inappropriately revealed in court; and

WHEREAS, According to the 2015 US Trans Survey, 13% of respondents reported negative experiences in a court or courthouse because of being transgender; additionally, 6% of respondents reported negative experiences when accessing legal services from an attorney, a clinic, or a legal professional because of being transgender; negative experiences include being denied equal treatment or service, verbally harassed, or physically attacked because of being transgender; and

WHEREAS, Reports by the Movement Advancement Project and Lambda Legal and the US Trans Survey highlight the pervasive harassment, discrimination, and exclusion that LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV experience in law offices, legal clinics, courts, and courthouses; this harassment, discrimination, and exclusion contribute to the distrust of the legal system by LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV; in fact, according to Lambda Legal's survey, 32.2% of LGBTQ+ people do not trust the court system at all while only 8.5% completely trust the court system; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court and relevant authorities have the authority to require that attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff be trained in LGBTQ+ and HIV cultural competency as part of continuing education; having such a requirement will increase the ability of attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff to meet the social and cultural needs of a diversifying state; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois Supreme Court and relevant authorities to require, as a consistent part of continuing education, LGBTQ+ and HIV cultural competency education for all attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff in the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Illinois Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Illinois Judicial College Board of Trustees, the Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and the Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.