The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has revised its nondiscrimination policy to include protections for gender identity and expression.
The update took effect in July, one month after the Pennsylvania Youth Congress initiated the conversation with a common pleas judge from Western Pennsylvania. Last week, a memo was distributed to all state judiciary employees detailing the new policy.
“This happened very quickly,” said Jason Landau Goodman, executive director of the youth congress. “I think it’s a really good sign of the times.”
He talked about the need for the policy change at an event in June with Allegheny County Judge Christine Ward. She shared the suggestion with her colleagues.
“We were thrilled with how promptly the Supreme Court reviewed this proposal,” Landau Goodman said. “It wasn’t like they woke up one morning and said, ‘We’re going to do this’ without background. They’re familiar with the issues and they can understand the issues and make the right decision.”
The nondiscrimination policy — which was originally issued in 2008 and included sexual orientation at the outset — applies to all courts under the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction from the Superior and Commonwealth courts to Common Pleas and Magisterial courts. Court employees, justices and judges, as well as district attorneys and private lawyers engaging with the court must follow the new policy.
Deja Lynn Alvarez, a transgender advocate and director of the LGBTQ Home for Hope in North Philadelphia, said she had tears in her eyes when she heard the news.
In a statement, she said, “This is a landmark moment in ending discrimination in a system that directly affects our ability to live, where our community is often unjustly put through the criminal-justice system at alarmingly high rates.”
Landau Goodman said transgender people have reported coming before judges who only use their birth names; don’t use correct pronouns; or force them to change clothing, hair or accessories.
“Those are the kinds of things that have happened across the state that will no longer be tolerated,” he said.
For those who experience discrimination, they can report it through the website of the Unified Judicial System. The updated nondiscrimination policy is also available online.