21 Proposed Anti-LGBTQ Bills in Illinois: A Significant Increase From Last Year’s Numbers

Although a sanctuary state, Illinois currently has 21 bills that target the LGBTQ+. This legislation is divided into six categories: civil rights, healthcare, sports, bathrooms, performances, and ‘other.’

“We are not a state where that is going to fly,” said Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front Illinois — the state’s only deaf and trans-led coalition fighting to ensure equality and access to medical care for trans and nonbinary people.

All House bills, except for HB1209, have been referred to the Rules Committee. All Senate bills, except for SB2078, have been referred to the Assignments Committee

While the Illinois legislature has a Democratic majority, these proposals reveal a strategy aimed at chipping away at the individual rights of the LGBTQ+, particularly focusing on transgender individuals.

“I’m not saying I’m the most optimistic person in the world, but I feel strongly about our legal system and our legislative system here in Illinois,” said McMaher.

Civil Rights:

Under Section 10 of HB1209, any government office that collects vital statistics — including public schools — must classify each individual as either “male or female at birth.” That stipulation effectively eliminates the identity of intersex, nonbinary, and transgender individuals.

Along the same lines, SB2078 requires all Illinois-issued identification documents to reflect the holder’s ‘sex’ as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.” The bill also orders the state Department of Human Rights to ensure the “expression of binary sex” and single-sex spaces in workplaces.

The senate bill also impacts transgender women in prisons, forbidding ‘males’ from being detained in women’s prisons, and preventing state funds from providing gender-affirming care.

HB4030 creates the Definitions of Sex-Based Terms Act, which outlines State and administrative definitions for the following terms: “boy,” “father,” “female,” “girl,” “male,” “man,” “mother,” “sex,” and “woman.”

The bill outlines everyone is either male or female, and intersex people “are not members of a third sex and must be accommodated consistent with State and federal law.”

Healthcare:

Under HB1214, the Medical Practice Act of 1987 would be amended, prohibiting anyone under 18 from sex reassignment and/or procedures. Sex reassignment procedures are defined in the bill as “any medical procedure, including a surgical procedure, to affirm a person’s perception of his or her sex if that perception is inconsistent with the person’s sex.”

For patients 18 or older seeking sex-reassignment procedures, the bill mandates specific consent protocols, yet the exact requirements are not detailed.

Similar to HB1214, HB3819 additionally amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, which allows emergency rulemaking.

Amending the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code is what HB3666 proposes to do — requiring healthcare professionals to quarterly report their prescription of puberty blockers to anyone under 18 through forms that ensure anonymity.

Access to the confidential reports would be restricted only to authorized DPHP staff for statistical purposes and they would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

Amending the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, HB3686 proposes that any compound containing gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs is a Schedule V controlled substance. These hormone analogs are synthetic hormones that halt puberty.

The Youth Health Protection Act of SB2474 would also amend the Medical Practice Act of 1987 to make related changes.

The Senate bill outlines that a medical doctor can not prescribe, provide, administer, or deliver puberty-suppressing drugs or cross-sex hormones or perform surgical orchiectomy or castration, urethroplasty, vaginoplasty, mastectomy, phalloplasty, or metoidioplasty on “biologically healthy and anatomically normal persons” under 18 for the purpose of treating the “subjective, internal psychological condition of gender dysphoria or gender discordance.

Any doctor who violates this Act will be punished for unprofessional conduct and subjected to review by the licensing entity or disciplinary board.

Sports:

HB1117 proposes to amend the Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act by designating female, male, or coeducational teams. Public and private schools would require a written statement from the student’s parent/guardian that verifies the student’s age, biological sex, and that the student has not used ‘performance-enhancing drugs.’ False or misleading statements would result in a penalty.

The same regulations as HB1117 are outlined in HB1204 with one addition — it prohibits any governmental, association, or other ‘entity’ that provides for any athletic competitions from ‘entertaining’ a complaint, investigation, or other adverse action against the school for complying with the bill.

HB1216 and HB2915 utilizes the exact bill text as HB1204.

The Gender in Sports Act was introduced by HB2823. This bill impacts intercollegiate sports, with athletes only being able to participate in programs that align with their biological sex.

HB4027 amends the Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act, proposing that public schools and postsecondary institutions offering interscholastic or intercollegiate athletics provide male and female students with equal athletic opportunities. Coeducational teams are allowed depending on skill level and physical contact.

The bill defines ‘female’ as “an individual who has, had, or will have the reproductive system capable of the generation, migration, and utilization of eggs for fertilization or would have such capabilities but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident.”

“Male” is defined as “an individual who has, had, or will have the reproductive system capable of the generation, migration, and utilization of sperm for fertilization or would have such capabilities but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident.

Additionally, it states any school/athletic association may not “any male to occupy a roster spot on any team designated for females, women, or girls; or any male to receive a scholarship designated for female athletes.” There is no stipulation regarding ‘females’ on ‘male’ sports teams — a trend among anti-trans legislation.

“No one ever mentions trans men. It’s all about trans women,” said McMaher. “It’s very pointed and I think that’s really important to state because we know trans, especially trans women of color, are the most targeted for violence and attacks in our community.”

SB2079 creates the Gender in Athletics Act. Sports are to determine eligibility based on ‘sex’ rather than ‘gender.’ Like other bills, it only mentions ‘males’ trying to play on ‘female’ teams. Students can file complaints if they feel the Act has been violated.

Additionally, the Act grants the Board of Higher Education the authority to create and enforce rules.

Bathrooms:

The Safety and Opportunity for Girls Act was proposed by HB1161, stating all recipients of State funding must enforce sex-segregated bathrooms and sports teams.

Amending the School Code, SB1226 would require schools to regulate bathrooms, locker rooms, and “other similar places” based on biological sex. If the school district deems appropriate, it can provide gender-neutral facilities for students, staff, and members of the public.

The bill states that school districts are not required to limit access to a minor accompanied by an adult guardian of the opposite sex into a facility for the adult guardian, prohibit a person with disabilities from using a specified facility suitable to the biological sex of either the person with disabilities or of a caretaker, or prohibit access to these facilities in an emergency.

Performances:

SB1783 creates the Prohibition on Government Sponsored Sexual Performance Act. The bill states that a local government or school district unit may not allow a “live adult performance” to be held on its publicly owned/operated property.

The bill defines “live adult performance” as “a live performance that features dancers, exotic dances, strippers, vogue type movements, or male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to the prurient interest of persons under 18 years of age.”

Any school or unit of local government will have their funding pulled from the State if it violates the bill’s provisions.

Other:

To amend the Departments of State Government Law, SB2288 would require all state departments to abolish Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) programs established under the Office of Equity upon the Act’s enactment. ​Additionally, this bill repeals the Commission on Equity and Inclusion Act.

DEI can be explained through Dictonary.com’s definition: “a conceptual framework that promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially in the workplace, including populations who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity, disability, etc.”

Ironically, the bill states: “A Department may not enforce any policy that favors or discriminates against a person based on the person’s race, sex, or disability.”

Proposed in HB1845, the Illinois Right of Conscience Act would create a public policy of Illinois that every person has the “right of conscientious refusal to speak, create art or crafts, perform or participate in any way in any particular form of services contrary to his or her conscience.”

HB3229 amends the Flag Display Act. This bill states that only the United States National flag or the POW/MIA flag may be flown over government buildings used by the State, units of local government, and school districts.

“Despite the fact that we are a sanctuary state, we still have more work to do. We still need more inclusive policies. We need more not just inclusive for the trans and gender non-conforming community, but for all the intersections that are within there. Trans people don’t just exist in one demographic,” said McMaher. “They are black, they’re white, they’re brown, they’re Asian, they’re differently abled, they’re immigrants, they’re, you know, all backgrounds, all ethnicities, and we need to make sure that we have protections in place for every one of them.”

While it is unlikely for these bills to pass due to officials like Governor J.B. Pritzker in office, it is vital to keep an eye on all states — even the democratic-leaning ones.

To keep up to date with anti-LGBTQ legislation in all 50 states, check out Trans Legislation Tracker.