WHEREAS, the Philadelphia Bar Association (the “Association”) and its Board of Governors (the “Board”) has long supported recognizing civil union and marriage protections for LGBTQIA+ relationships, supports the protection of civil rights and the elimination of wrongful discrimination, and is committed to advancing the fair and effective administration of justice; and
WHEREAS, on November 18, 1993, the Board adopted a resolution calling for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to create domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples; and
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2004, the Board of Governors adopted a resolution opposing a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would constitutionally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman and restrict the ability of the several states to legislatively recognize civil marriage between same-sex couples; and
WHEREAS, on March 30, 2006, the Board of Governors expanded its June 24, 2004, resolution to oppose any proposed amendments to the Pennsylvania Constitution that would prohibit the Commonwealth from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or substantially equivalent to that of marriage for same-sex couples; and
WHEREAS, on January 27, 2014, the Association adopted a resolution urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to legislatively recognize marriage equality and declared the Association’s support of marriage equality in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, on September 16, 2025, the Board adopted a resolution urging the Supreme Court of the United States to deny petition for writ of certiorari in Davis v. Ermold; and
WHEREAS, the Prior Resolutions made the Association’s position in support of marriage equality in the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania clear;
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015); and
WHEREAS, on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump rescinded all prior Executive Orders and Actions of President Joseph R. Biden that addressed LGBTQIA+ equity including “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” (Executive Order 13988) and “Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals” (Executive Order 14075), as well as the order establishing the White House Gender Policy Council (Executive Order 14020) and several orders related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to nondiscrimination and equity;1
WHERAS, since January 2025, President Donald J. Trump has issued numerous executive orders, proclamations, letters, and memorandum aimed at removing protections for the LGBTQIA+ community;2 and
WHEREAS, the need to codify protections for the LGBTQIA+ community into Pennsylvania law is high due to the efforts of the Trump Administration to remove protections for the LGBTQIA+ community and due to recent United States Supreme Court decisions overturning precedent and eliminating rights of United States citizens that had previously been recognized as protected by the United States Constitution;
WHEREAS, on March 25, 2026, the Pennsylvania House passed House Bill 1800, Printer’s Number 2214 that would amend Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes;
WHEREAS, House Bill 1800, Printer’s Number 2214 would repeal Section 1704 of Title 23, which currently states:
It is hereby declared to be the strong and longstanding public policy of this Commonwealth that marriage shall be between one man and one woman. A marriage between persons of the same sex which was entered into in another state or foreign jurisdiction, even if valid where entered into, shall be void in this Commonwealth.
WHEREAS, House Bill 1800, Printer’s Number 2214 would change the definition of “marriage” from “[a] civil contract by which one man and one woman each other for husband and wife” to “[a] civil contract between two individuals”;
WHEREAS, adopting the changes to Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes proposed in House Bill 1800, Printer’s Number 2214 would codify marriage equality into law in Pennsylvania;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Bar Association hereby calls upon the Pennsylvania Senate to pass House Bill 1800, Printer’s Number 2214, codifying marriage equality into law in Pennsylvania and recognizing the right of LGBTQIA+ individuals to marry in Pennsylvania;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Bar Association authorizes the Chancellor and/or the Chancellor’s designee(s) to communicate the contents of this resolution to the Senators and Representatives elected to represent constituents in the Pennsylvania legislature, in the United States Congress, and other government officials, bar associations, the legal profession, the media, and the public and take any and all additional action that is necessary to effectuate this resolution.
PHILADELPHIA BAR ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Adopted: May 21, 2026
1 See https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/initial-rescissions-of-harmful-executive-orders-and-actions/
2 Since January 2025, President Trump has issued numerous Executive Orders, Proclamations, Letters and Memoranda aimed at removing access to resources, removing access to healthcare, and removing legal protections afforded to LGBTQIA+ people. See https://www.kff.org/lgbtq/overview-of-president-trumps-executive-actions-impacting-lgbtq-health/ Since President Trump took office, the federal government has erased references to LGBTQIA+ community and LGBTTIQ+ issues from government websites, has removed references to LGBTQIA+ individuals from national monuments, has shut down a crisis line for LGBTIQ+ youth, banned transgender servicemembers from serving in the military, changed policies for federal prisons on housing transgender inmates, and changed policies for gender markers on federal documents, just to name a few. See https://www.npr.org/2025/03/19/nx-s1-5317567/federal-websites-lgbtq-diversity-erased
