Republican state lawmakers have signaled they want to ban transgender girls from competing on girls school sports teams in Illinois.
This comes after President Trump signed an executive order to narrow the definition of women protected by Title IX to include only cisgender women.
The Illinois High School Association said it allowed three transgender girls to compete in girls sports last year.
Illinois Senate Republicans sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for guidance on Illinois’ policy on transgender athletes’ ability to play girls sports under Title IX, the landmark federal law that bars gender discrimination in public education.
Republicans said they got a confusing statement from the IHSA. The association says it can’t follow the federal executive order since the Illinois Human Rights Act dictates transgender athletes cannot be restricted from playing in sports with their chosen gender.
Republican lawmakers consider that unfair.
State Sen. Sally Turner of Beason interprets women in Title IX to only include cisgender women, arguing that transgender people have a different biological makeup.
“And this isn't anything political,” Turner said. “This is just the way people should recognize that women need to have their own area in sports, and I think that's the right thing to do. It's about protecting people and making sure that they're getting the safety that they need in order to play sports fairly.”
Turner said she wants to protect the legacy of female athletes who paved the way for Title IX.
“I will say that we as women fought hard for Title IX to be recognized in this sports field, and we fought very hard for that, and I think that's really important that we continue to look at that in that fashion, that women's sports is something that women need to be participating in,” Turner said.
Turner said people in her mostly rural district support banning transgender girls from competing in girls sports. Turner's district includes parts of Bloomington-Normal and stretches to near Peoria, Springfield and Decatur.
Opposition from Central Illinois Friends
A few miles from Turner's district, an organization based in Bloomington-Normal and Peoria that provides a space and support for people in the LGTBQ+ community vehemently opposes the message Republican lawmakers are sending.
Selena Pappas, a spokesperson for Central Illinois Friends, said the letter is meant to bully the trans community and distract from real issues affecting women.
“We are focusing on this tiny subset of people, on isolating them, on removing them from public existence, on keeping them down when there are far more important issues,” Pappas said.
Pappas said trans teenagers are already marginalized on top of the anxieties that often come with growing up.
“When you isolate a person, that has a negative effect on their emotional development, right?” Pappas said. “There are numerous studies that you can go out there and find about how laws like this negatively affect the mental health of transgender youth, right? Again, transgender people, for the portion of the population that they make up, are targeted extremely disproportionately by some of the most powerful people in the nation.”
Forty-eight percent of transgender youth in Illinois seriously considered suicide and 15% attempted to last year, according to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit group.
Pappas says sports are not only a space to compete but also to develop as a person.
“The positive effect of a transgender person being able to participate in youth sports is the same reason that all youth participate in in sports,” Pappas said. “Kids go to sports for socialization, and that is the that is the same for kids, whether they are cisgender or whether they are transgender, right? It's about being able to build community.”
A couple days after Republicans sent the letter to the attorney general with no response, Republican state Rep. Regan Deering called for a legislative fix.
Deering, who represents parts of Bloomington-Normal, pushed a bill to ban transgender girls from playing on girl sports teams.
“What we're talking about today is protecting all athletes, and if we have gender confused athletes that are looking to compete, there are opportunities for them,” Deering said. “But our legislation talks about sanctioned sports, and we're trying to create an opportunity to maintain these biological females’ right to compete in their sports, to win awards, to gain scholarships and continue to have a career and a camaraderie.”
Deering's bill would create co-ed teams for transgender athletes. She filed the bill soon after she took office in January. It's never been given a hearing.
