A June 24 reception will mark the inauguration of the Alliance of Illinois Judges ( AIJ ) , an LGBT-oriented organization recently founded by a group of judges from the Cook County Circuit Court.
Judge Tom Chiola, who will preside over the new organization, says that AIJ is intended to act as a resource for LGBT people involved in the world of the courts; though comprised of judges, the group seeks as well to enhance the experience of lawyers and law students. Without taking an explicit politics—prohibited under judicial ethics rules—AIJ provides a forum for discussion of LGBT issues within the judicial system, including domestic partner coverage ( which its members, as state employees, have access to ) and pension benefits ( which they don't ) .
"We are searching out ways to equalize the playing field for our members," said Chiola. He pointed out that the benefits that judges and their partners receive from the state are taxed: "This is not something that would happen if we were married with a spouse."
"This is one of the things that we deal with," Chiola said. "We all need to consider whether that's equitable."
Chiola, the first openly gay judge to be elected to the Cook County Circuit Court, has been on the bench since 1994. Before his election, Chiola worked for the State Attorney General's Office and in the State Department of Professional Regulation. An active member of the LGBT community for a long time, he also served as the race director for Proud to Run. "One of the things my campaign was about," he said, "was to get somebody from the gay community elected in Illinois."
Being out and on the bench, he said, is "not something I would have even considered when I became a young lawyer."
His comments were echoed by Judge Sebastian Patti, also a founding member of AIJ. Patti, who was appointed to a vacant seat on the Circuit Court in 1995 and stood for election in 1996, said that the cultural change he's witnessed within and without the judiciary is "nothing short of remarkable."
" [ Chiola's ] election was huge," Patti said. "It really did pave the way for us after that."
( Chiola returned the compliment, calling it "nothing short of a coup" that the Democratic Party chose Patti as its candidate in 1996 ) .
What would eventually become AIJ started as an informal group of judges who, said Tom Chiola, grew close by "trying to socialize and give each other support." Chiola said that group has been particularly instrumental in electing LGBT people as Associate Judges—positions whose occupants are chosen by already-seated members of the judiciary, the latter of whom are free to lobby colleagues on behalf of preferred candidates. Nancy Katz, the first out lesbian judge on the Circuit Court, was elected as an Associate Judge in 1999.
Ten years after Katz's election—and fifteen years after Chiola's—the Alliance of Illinois Judges is being founded with 16 charter members.
Chiola also proposed, in 2001, a rules change that would include sexual orientation in discrimination protections accorded to members of the Illinois bar. His proposal was accepted by the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, who, Chiola said, "didn't consider it to be a big deal." Big deal or not, Chiola pointed to the event as an illustration of the importance of having "access from the inside"—and being able to use that access on behalf of LGBT people.
The group also grew to function as a support system. Because stringent ethics rules make it difficult to talk openly about certain LGBT issues that could be construed as political, Sebastian Patti said, "We have to rely on one another for an internal support system." The fact of being a minority within the judicial system, he said, "increases the burden on each of us to support our brother and sister judges."
See www.theaij.com .
