Transgender athletes in Illinois can still compete despite federal executive order

PEORIA (25News Now) - The Illinois High School Association will continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in their desired sport despite an executive order by President Donald Trump.

This week, the IHSA issued a letter to state lawmakers announcing the decision to continue allowing transgender athletes to compete on a case-by-case basis while clarifying the association takes no position on the matter.

The letter, signed by Board President Dan Tully and Executive Director Craig Anderson, reads, “The Illinois Attorney General and, more recently, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, have asserted to the IHSA that the Illinois Human Rights Act requires that transgender athletes be permitted to participate in events and programs aligning with the gender with which they identify.”

The announcement comes after a push from state Republicans to comply with Trump’s policy of keeping men out of women’s sports.

The leaders clarify in the letter that compliance with the President’s executive order could cause the IHSA to be non-compliant with the Illinois Human Rights Act.

State Senator Neil Anderson (R-Aledo) says this decision means a lot to him because he is the father of a 12-year-old softball player. He believes allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports diminishes hard work and threatens safety.

“Biology is pretty simple. Males are bigger, faster, and stronger, and when you put them in the arena with females, somebody’s going to get hurt,” said Anderson.

In 2022, Illinois became the 28th state to establish women’s wrestling as a high school sport. Anderson said that was one step forward, but he believes the IHSA’s announcement takes the state two steps back.

“In a state that now says biological boys can play in girl’s sports is the same state that just a few years ago said, ‘Yeah, we need to sanction another female sport.’ The hypocrisy is laughable,” said Anderson.

However, a spokesperson for Central Illinois Friends, a local LGBTQ advocacy group, said the inclusivity provides comfort for people transitioning.

Selena Pappas said transgender people often take hormones that align with their gender identity, which reestablishes puberty.

“A transgender man is going to go through a man’s puberty. His voice is going to deepen, he is going to put on more muscle mass, he is going to gain more body hair, and it is the same thing with a transgender woman,” said Pappas.

According to the IHSA, there are only three or four transgender student-athletes in the entire state of Illinois and 133,000 total high school athletes.

“You are targeting a total of three people in a state of over 12 million. Who does that help? It’s not helping women and girls,” said Pappas.

Senator Anderson is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 2079. The bill states intercollegiate athletic administrators shall make student eligibility determinations based on biological sex and not gender preferences.

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