Full Text of HR0582 103rd General Assembly
HR0582 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | HR0582 | | LRB103 36546 LAW 66653 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court administers the | 3 | | State's legal system, regulates the legal profession, and | 4 | | seeks to foster a diverse and inclusive legal system; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Despite more and more LGBTQ+ people and people | 6 | | living with HIV who are living as their authentic selves, the | 7 | | Illinois Supreme Court does not have a formal education | 8 | | requirement for attorneys, judges, and courtroom staff to be | 9 | | aware of and meet the social and cultural needs of LGBTQ+ | 10 | | communities and people living with HIV; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, In 2023, more than 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were | 12 | | introduced in statehouses across the country, including | 13 | | initiatives to criminalize healthcare for trans individuals, | 14 | | to create licenses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ families, | 15 | | and to deny LGBTQ+ students the opportunity to experience the | 16 | | stories of people like themselves, and such anti-LGBTQ+ bills | 17 | | are contrary to the values of the State of Illinois; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, As LGBTQ+ people and families visit Illinois to | 19 | | access reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care or | 20 | | move to Illinois in order to escape the oppression of cruel and | 21 | | harsh anti-LGBTQ+ regimes in other states, attorneys, judges, | 22 | | and courtroom staff in Illinois will more frequently come into |
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| 1 | | contact with and represent LGBTQ+ people who need legal | 2 | | services to defend their rights, freedom, and bodily autonomy; | 3 | | and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The Movement Advancement Project's August 2016 | 5 | | report, entitled Unjust: How the Broken Criminal Justice | 6 | | System Fails LGBT People of Color, wrote that "Discrimination | 7 | | against LGBT people, particularly LGBT people of color, is | 8 | | pervasive, and it infiltrates the halls of justice", and that | 9 | | "Judges, prosecutors, and even defense attorneys tasked with | 10 | | representing LGBT people often rely on misinformation, | 11 | | stereotypes, and inflammatory language when interacting with | 12 | | LGBT people"; for instance, "LGBT immigrants frequently | 13 | | encounter judges who are unfamiliar with the challenges facing | 14 | | LGBT people in other countries or who use incorrect language | 15 | | to refer to transgender immigrants"; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Lambda Legal's Protected and Served? 2022 report | 17 | | includes data from a national survey about the experiences of | 18 | | LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV when in courts and | 19 | | courthouses; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Of survey participants who had appeared in court, | 21 | | 22.2% of those who identified as LGBTQ+, women, or individuals | 22 | | living with HIV indicated that someone in the legal | 23 | | profession, including judges, public defenders, prosecutors, |
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| 1 | | court clerks, court security, or other court employees, made | 2 | | negative comments to or about them relating to sexual | 3 | | orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In that same report, 30.1% of transgender | 5 | | participants had their gender identity inappropriately | 6 | | revealed in court; in particular, transgender participants of | 7 | | color were more likely to have their gender identity revealed | 8 | | in court than were those who were white; specifically, 42.9% | 9 | | of Indigenous trans people, 42.3% of Black trans people, 34.5% | 10 | | of Latinx trans people, and 23.3% of white trans people | 11 | | reported having their gender identity inappropriately revealed | 12 | | in court; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The report additionally revealed that 25.0% of | 14 | | people living with HIV said that their HIV status, which is | 15 | | private health information, was inappropriately revealed in | 16 | | court; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, According to the 2015 US Trans Survey, 13% of | 18 | | respondents reported negative experiences in a court or | 19 | | courthouse because of being transgender; additionally, 6% of | 20 | | respondents reported negative experiences when accessing legal | 21 | | services from an attorney, a clinic, or a legal professional | 22 | | because of being transgender; negative experiences include | 23 | | being denied equal treatment or service, verbally harassed, or |
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| 1 | | physically attacked because of being transgender; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Reports by the Movement Advancement Project and | 3 | | Lambda Legal and the US Trans Survey highlight the pervasive | 4 | | harassment, discrimination, and exclusion that LGBTQ+ people | 5 | | and people living with HIV experience in law offices, legal | 6 | | clinics, courts, and courthouses; this harassment, | 7 | | discrimination, and exclusion contribute to the distrust of | 8 | | the legal system by LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV; | 9 | | in fact, according to Lambda Legal's survey, 32.2% of LGBTQ+ | 10 | | people do not trust the court system at all while only 8.5% | 11 | | completely trust the court system; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court and relevant | 13 | | authorities have the authority to require that attorneys, | 14 | | judges, and courtroom staff be trained in LGBTQ+ and HIV | 15 | | cultural competency as part of continuing education; having | 16 | | such a requirement will increase the ability of attorneys, | 17 | | judges, and courtroom staff to meet the social and cultural | 18 | | needs of a diversifying state; therefore, be it | 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 20 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 21 | | we urge the Illinois Supreme Court and relevant authorities to | 22 | | require, as a consistent part of continuing education, LGBTQ+ | 23 | | and HIV cultural competency education for all attorneys, |
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| 1 | | judges, and courtroom staff in the State of Illinois; and be it | 2 | | further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 4 | | delivered to the Illinois Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of | 5 | | Illinois Judicial College Board of Trustees, the Director of | 6 | | the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and the | 7 | | Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary | 8 | | Commission. |
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