The Illinois Supreme Court this week added sexual orientation to its discrimination ban for judges and attorneys.
Monday's order expands Supreme Court rules on bias to include sexual orientation, disability, age and socioeconomic status. Under the rule, courtroom personnel are "prohibited from expressing in words or conduct prejudice based on any of these categories," said openly gay Circuit Judge Tom Chiola.
The ban previously included race, sex, religion or national origin.
"I wish to thank Chief Justice Moses W. Harrison II who presented this to his fellow justices this week," Chiola said.
"The court determined that the time has come to amend these rules," said Chief Justice Moss W. Harrison II in a release. "We want to be sure that everyone understands that there is no bias whatsoever in the Illinois court system."
The rules take effect immediately, and Illinois joins about 25 other states with similar provisions, Chiola said.
Chiola and fellow Judges Nancy Katz, Sebastian Patti and Colleen Sheehan issued a letter to Harrison on Feb. 15, 2001, urging the justices to make the changes.
Included in their request was an endorsement from the Executive Committee, a group made up of all of the presiding judges in Cook County, Chiola said.
Chiola and Patti first made the request back in 1995. Since then, he said, there have been several changes to the Court, and they decided that "it was probably time to get this back on their agenda."
"This is the reason why we want ( GLBT ) people in these positions ( judgeships ) so we have the opportunity through our performance and our ability to be persuasive that we can lobby for these kinds of provisions," Chiola said.