Policy Resource Hub for Transgender Rights Daily Update Instructions
The goal of this project is to maintain an up-to-date research database tracking the legal environment relating to restrictions and protections affecting transgender individuals in every state and territory in the country. The database will be a shared resource, accessible online and shared with partners (including law firms participating in this project, allied organizations, healthcare providers, and others).
Mandatory Training for Pro Bono Attorneys:
All attorneys participating in this project must view the mandatory Daily Update Process Training before starting work.
The training recording can be accessed here
The training slides can be accessed here
Important Reminder:
Before beginning work, please make sure your team has determined how daily updates will be handled (only one attorney should be submitting a daily update for your team's assigned state on any given day).
If you have questions about this, please consult with your firm's pro bono coordinator or email ProBono@L4GG.org for assistance.
Instructions for Daily Updates:
Step 1: Go to the Policy Resource Hub for Transgender Rights.
Step 2: Click on “Laws by States” on the home page.
Step 3: Find the state you are researching.
To do this:
Use the search function to find your state
Then click “View Research” on your state
Step 4: Review your state’s current research.
Step 5: Conduct legal research to determine whether the answer(s) in the database for your assigned state are still accurate.
ℹ IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
Please remember that changes can come from many sources, and verify that your research encompasses all of those sources, including:
Changes to existing legislation
Promulgation of new legislation
Procedural progress in litigation/new rulings or orders
New rule-making
Newly announced orders
Constitutional amendments or interpretations
Any other relevant legal authority of which you think we should be aware
Please also verify whether any details of the relevant law/legal framework have changed. For example, it is crucial to know whether a state has changed an exception to an abortion ban to an affirmative defense, or whether new reporting requirements have been instated.
The specific daily updates questions you will be asked to respond to in the online form can be found here: Policy Resource Hub for Transgender Rights Daily Update Questions
Keep your notes and draft responses to the questions in a Word document
For each change you identify during your research, keep track of the following information in your Word document:
Bluebook citation
Public website URL where the source material can be viewed online (a free site, such as Justia or a state legislative site, rather than a paid subscription site like Westlaw or Lexis)
Source of change (legislative, constitutional, litigation, and/or other legal source).
ℹ IMPORTANT NOTE ON SECONDARY SOURCES:
If you use secondary sources for your research, you must independently confirm that any information upon which you are relying is up to date.
Step 6: Go to the daily update form.
‼️DO NOT BEGIN THIS STEP UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED STEPS 1 THROUGH 5 ABOVE.
ℹ IMPORTANT NOTE:
The daily update form must be completed even if there are no changes to report.
Step 7: Fill out the daily update form as appropriate
Step 8: If the current answers are up to date, please continue to Step 9. Otherwise, continue to Step8(a).
Step 8(a): Copy the current answer that requires changes from the resource hub (from Step 4) and paste it into your daily update form submission.
Step 8(a)(1): Copy from the Hub (as viewed in Step 4)
Step 8(a)(2): Paste into the update form submission
Step 8(b): Update the answer within the update form.
ℹ IMPORTANT NOTE:
Use the formatting bar to ensure proper formatting!
Proper formatting allows us to quickly parse through recommended changes.
Ensure your answers are using the formatting requirements:
For Additions: If you are suggesting an addition to the answer you MUST enclose the addition in brackets [] and make the addition BOLD.
For Removals: If you are suggesting text be removed from the answer you MUST use a strikethrough.
For Changes: If you are suggesting a change you MUST strikethrough what you want to change and then rewrite it as an addition, enclosed in brackets [] and BOLD.
Ensure your submissions conform to the style guide!
Step 8(b): Formatting example for a proposed change
Step 8(c): If an additional answer needs updating repeat Step 8(a) through Step 8(c). Otherwise, continue to Step 9.
Step 9: Submit the form.
Step 10: Take a deep breath! Give yourself a pat on the back for your incredible contributions to this critical project!
Helpful Tools
Helpful Primary Sources & Tools:
Your Westlaw or Lexis account: You will need to use their Keycite or flag tools to ensure the authorities cited remain good law.
Justia: Publicly available resource of the current version of state codes of each jurisdiction, so that practitioners and advocates can quickly view the state code without a Westlaw or Lexis paywall. The easiest way to find a code provision in Justia is just to google the state code provision and add “justia”.
Cornell Legal Information Institute: A publicly available resource of the state regulations.
Court Listener: A free legal research website containing millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts.This includes PACER data! (Also install RECAP to help contribute PACER data while you use PACER as usual! This will help make legal information more accessible to the public.)
Google Scholar: A free source for case law research.
Puerto Rico Code: An English translation of the Puerto Rico code on Justia — an English translation is also available on Westlaw.
Helpful Secondary Sources & Tools:
Legiscan bill tracking: Useful tool for tracking the details and progress of proposed and passed legislation that allows you to search individual bills.
Legialerts: a trans-led LGBTQ+ bill tracking tool on Google Sheets that covers this year’s proposed and passed legislation, but also includes cumulative information on positive and negative bills since 2023, along with vital information such as state legislative session dates.
ACLU’s Anti-LGBTQ Bill Tracker: A reasonably reliable and comprehensive bill tracker for issues related to trans health – good for cross-checking Legialerts, above.
Trans Journalists Association Stylebook and Coverage Guide: For inclusive, accurate language please use this style guide, established by the country’s top transgender journalists.
ℹ IMPORTANT NOTE:
re: Secondary Sources - If you use secondary sources for your research, you must independently confirm that any information upon which you are relying is up to date.
Thank you for contributing to this important project. If you have any questions, please email us at probono@L4GG.org.