Pritzker unveils Illinois LGBTQ hotline amid debate over transgender athletes

By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Reports of a transgender student being accepted onto the Conant High School girls volleyball team has supporters and opponents sharing their thoughts with the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District board.

While critics voiced concerns about potential injuries to female athletes, others defended the decision as a matter of inclusion and equal rights.

Marsha McClary, chair of Lake County Moms for Liberty, expressed concerns about fairness in girls’ sports.

“There’s an innate difference in strength, size, and performance of biological males versus females,” said McClary. “Even the Olympic Committee has rules that elite athletes compete based upon biological sex. High school athletes deserve the same fairness.”

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee recently banned transgender athletes from women’s sports, following President Donald Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

Democratic Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, a graduate of District 211 and the first openly gay person elected to the Cook County Board, spoke out against “dehumanizing the student.”

“You know, I was not brave enough to come out of the closet while I attended schools here in our own home school district, but that did not mean I did not face bullying,” Morrison said during public comment. “There are kids who are watching this meeting. It is not okay for us to dehumanize someone for living their lives authentically.”

McClary questioned why Morrison was allowed to speak despite not signing up in advance, noting that the board had limited public comment to just one hour—an unusually short timeframe, according to McClary.

“I took a photo of the sign-up sheet when I came in, and I signed up, but we ran out of time,” McClary said. “Yet the commissioner somehow got to comment. That was very odd to me.”

Steven Rosenblum, Board of Education president, told The Center Square in a statement that information regarding individual students and coaches is confidential.

“District 211 supports students’ access to District athletic opportunities consistent with Board policy,” Rosenblum said.

McClary, an attendee of the meeting, pointed to recent action in Kern County, California, where the Board of Education voted to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

“Kern County recognized the impact on female athletes and did the right thing,” McClary said. “District 211 should follow suit to ensure fairness, privacy, and safety for all students.”

Taking a different path than Kern County on LGBTQ policy, Gov. J.B. Pritzker accepted the James Monroe Smith Founder Award and unveiled Illinois Pride Connect, a first-of-its-kind legal hotline for LGBTQ+ residents.

“We will be the only state who will provide free legal advice to protect the LGBTA community,” said Pritzker. “Illinois Pride Connect will provide resources from health care and education, immigration, social services and beyond. It will inform individuals of their rights and provide advocacy tools. Together we are fighting ignorance with information, we are fighting cruelty with compassion.”