(The Center Square) – A heated debate over transgender athletes in school sports is reigniting in the Illinois House after a biological male runner from Naperville competed and won in the girls’ division at a recent junior high track meet.
During House floor debate Wednesday, state Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, criticized the continued allowance of biological males in girls’ sports, saying it undermines girls’ hard work and defies existing executive orders from President Donald Trump.
“He won, and it wasn’t even close. According to reports on social media, many of the girls who competed that day left the track meet in tears because they understood, and rightly so, they had no chance of winning,” said Niemerg. “This insanity is leaving a trail of tears, heartache, and oppression of girls and women everywhere. It’s time for Illinois to end the madness and to follow federal law.”
State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Naperville, condemned lawmakers for using a child’s athletic moment as a political talking point, calling it “disgusting.” She said the child and parents didn’t consent to the national attention and that the child’s identity is their private business.
“I find it disgusting when adults try to bully children and that’s what’s happening right now because this actually happened in my hometown of Naperville and there was a contentious board meeting at the school board last night, but there were many community members who showed up in support in allyship with the young trans child who’s still navigating the treacherous waters of being a preteen,” said Stava-Murray.
Awake Illinois filed a Title IX complaint against the Naperville 203 Community school district.
Also on Wednesday, state Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, disagreed with a House ruling that no decorum violation occurred on Friday during a similar discussion. The Speaker of the House declared the decision final and non-appealable.
“However, the Chair does again admonish the members of this body to confine their remarks to the subject matter under discussion,” said state Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, acting as the Speaker of the House at the podium.
The ruling followed comments made by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, on Friday regarding state policy and transgender athletes’ participation in school sports.
“It’s a day that ends in ‘Y’ and therefore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle feel the need to share their obsession with children’s genitalia once again. The [Illinois High School Association] has revealed that there are three students in the state of Illinois who identify as transgender competing in sports. Three,” Cassidy on the House floor after being recognized by the speaker. “Y’all, we are grown adults and we are picking on kids because you are obsessed with children’s genitalia.”
Hauter criticized the Illinois House Speaker for claiming to represent both parties and accused the majority of abusing their power. He emphasized that the House has rules of decorum and strongly disagreed with the speaker’s ruling, though he doubted the speaker would care.
“I find it disgusting that those words can be uttered with no ruling of a violation of decorum,” Hauter said Wednesday on the House floor after the parliamentary rulings were revealed. “We find today that the other side is so smugly confident in their own unaccountable power and their manipulated map majority that they can say anything they want. This isn’t Facebook. This isn’t X. This is the Illinois House.”
On Friday, Hauter said he thinks the House can have legitimate debate over transgender policy without accusing Republican members of pedophilia.
