Pritzker unveils Illinois LGBTQ hotline amid debate over transgender
athletes
[August 27, 2025]
By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
(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.
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“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.”
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