Text of IL SR 733 (2024)

SR0733LRB103 36545 LAW 66652 r 1SENATE RESOLUTION 2 WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court administers the 3State's legal system, regulates the legal profession, and 4seeks to foster a diverse and inclusive legal system; and 5 WHEREAS, Despite more and more LGBTQ+ people and people 6living with HIV who are living as their authentic selves, the 7Illinois Supreme Court does not have a formal education 8requirement for attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff to be 9aware of and meet the social and cultural needs of LGBTQ+ 10communities and people living with HIV; and 11 WHEREAS, In 2023, more than 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were 12introduced in statehouses across the country, including 13initiatives to criminalize healthcare for trans individuals, 14to create licenses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ families, 15and to deny LGBTQ+ students the opportunity to experience the 16stories of people like themselves, and such anti-LGBTQ+ bills 17are contrary to the values of the State of Illinois; and 18 WHEREAS, As LGBTQ+ people and families visit Illinois to 19access reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care or 20move to Illinois in order to escape the oppression of cruel and 21harsh anti-LGBTQ+ regimes in other states, attorneys, judges, 22and courtroom staff in Illinois will more frequently come into SR0733- 2 -LRB103 36545 LAW 66652 r 1contact with and represent LGBTQ+ people who need legal 2services to defend their rights, freedom, and bodily autonomy; 3and 4 WHEREAS, The Movement Advancement Project's August 2016 5report, entitled Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice 6System Fails LGBT People of Color, wrote that "Discrimination 7against LGBT people, particularly LGBT people of color, is 8pervasive, and it infiltrates the halls of justice", and that 9"Judges, prosecutors, and even defense attorneys tasked with 10representing LGBT people often rely on misinformation, 11stereotypes, and inflammatory language when interacting with 12LGBT people"; for instance, "LGBT immigrants frequently 13encounter judges who are unfamiliar with the challenges facing 14LGBT people in other countries or who use incorrect language 15to refer to transgender immigrants"; and 16 WHEREAS, Lambda Legal's Protected and Served? 2022 report 17includes data from a national survey about the experiences of 18LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV when in courts and 19courthouses; and 20 WHEREAS, Of survey participants who had appeared in court, 2122.2% of those who identified as LGBTQ+, women, or individuals 22living with HIV indicated that someone in the legal 23profession, including judges, public defenders, prosecutors, SR0733- 3 -LRB103 36545 LAW 66652 r 1court clerks, court security, or other court employees, made 2negative comments to or about them relating to sexual 3orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status; and 4 WHEREAS, In that same report, 30.1% of transgender 5participants had their gender identity inappropriately 6revealed in court; in particular, transgender participants of 7color were more likely to have their gender identity revealed 8in court than were those who were white; specifically, 42.9% 9of Indigenous trans people, 42.3% of Black trans people, 34.5% 10of Latinx trans people, and 23.3% of white trans people 11reported having their gender identity inappropriately revealed 12in court; and 13 WHEREAS, The report additionally revealed that 25.0% of 14people living with HIV said that their HIV status, which is 15private health information, was inappropriately revealed in 16court; and 17 WHEREAS, According to the 2015 US Trans Survey, 13% of 18respondents reported negative experiences in a court or 19courthouse because of being transgender; additionally, 6% of 20respondents reported negative experiences when accessing legal 21services from an attorney, a clinic, or a legal professional 22because of being transgender; negative experiences include 23being denied equal treatment or service, verbally harassed, or SR0733- 4 -LRB103 36545 LAW 66652 r 1physically attacked because of being transgender; and 2 WHEREAS, Reports by the Movement Advancement Project and 3Lambda Legal and the US Trans Survey highlight the pervasive 4harassment, discrimination, and exclusion that LGBTQ+ people 5and people living with HIV experience in law offices, legal 6clinics, courts, and courthouses; this harassment, 7discrimination, and exclusion contribute to the distrust of 8the legal system by LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV; 9in fact, according to Lambda Legal's survey, 32.2% of LGBTQ+ 10people do not trust the court system at all while only 8.5% 11completely trust the court system; and 12 WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court and relevant 13authorities have the authority to require that attorneys, 14judges, and courtroom staff be trained in LGBTQ+ and HIV 15cultural competency as part of continuing education; having 16such a requirement will increase the ability of attorneys, 17judges, and courtroom staff to meet the social and cultural 18needs of a diversifying state; therefore, be it 19 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL 20ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois 21Supreme Court and relevant authorities to require, as a 22consistent part of continuing education, LGBTQ+ and HIV 23cultural competency education for all attorneys, judges, and SR0733- 5 -LRB103 36545 LAW 66652 r 1courtroom staff in the State of Illinois; and be it further