FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan applauds the Michigan Supreme Court for adopting a new court rule that requires all state court judges and their staff to use a person’s chosen pronoun and name of all who appear before them, including attorneys. The rule, which goes in effect January 1, 2024, also will apply to all written court documents. Michigan is the first state court to adopt such a rule, which comes after the ACLU sent a letter on behalf of a coalition of LGBTQ+ advocates and allies supporting the proposed rule change.
“This is not about special treatment; it is about ensuring that anyone who identifies by a particular pronoun receives the dignity of being addressed by that gender when they are before a judge,” wrote Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra H. Bolden in the court order issued Wednesday, and who was among five of the seven justices who supported the new rule.
Jay Kaplan, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s Nancy Katz & Margo Dichtelmiller LGBTQ+ Rights Project, issued this statement in response to today’s ruling:
“The adoption of this court rule is incredibly uplifting and sends an important message to Michigan’s transgender and gender non-binary community that they will be afforded the same dignity, courtesy, and fairness given to cisgender persons, and can expect equal access to justice in Michigan courts. We are thrilled the court adopted the rule and that Michigan is a model for other states we hope follow suit.”
Read the Michigan Supreme Court’s order adopting the new rule here: https://www.courts.michigan.gov/siteassets/rules-instructions-administra...
Read the ACLU’s letter in support of the new court rule here: https://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/comment_on_proposed_court_r...