(The Washington Times)—Illinois education authorities were hit with a federal probe over a mother’s report that her middle-school daughter and other girls were required to change clothes in the same locker room as a biological male who identifies as female.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened investigations Thursday into the Illinois Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools District 299, and Deerfield Public Schools District 109 over complaints that their gender-identity policies violate Title IX.
“The architects of Title IX understood that males and females, especially minors, have a right to be free from compelled exposure of their bodies or from engaging in intimate activities — like changing their clothes in a locker room — in front of the opposite sex,” acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement.
The investigation came in response to complaints filed by the Defense of Freedom Institute, the Liberty Justice Center, and Nicole Georgas, the mother of a 13-year-old girl attending Shepard Middle School in Deerfield.
Ms. Georgas drew headlines last week for announcing at a Deerfield school board meeting that her daughter and other girls were questioned by the assistant principal for refusing to change in front of a male-born student in the girls’ locker room.
A few days later, two school administrators and two teachers entered the girls’ locker room and told the girls to change into their P.E. clothes, she said, even though the transgender student was present.
“There was no other option that she had other than to change,” Ms. Georgas told podcast host Charlie Kirk. “There was the assistant superintendent, the assistant principal, and two other teachers. How difficult would that be as a child? You’re only 13 years old. How do you think that pressure felt for any girl?”
Deerfield Public Schools said that “no student is required to change into a gym uniform for physical education class in front of others,” given that private changing rooms are available.
“When both our middle schools were renovated in 2017, we added five private changing stations within each locker room that are available to all students,” said the district in a Tuesday statement. “All students also have multiple options to change in a private location separate from the locker room if they wish.”
The district also cited I its defense that the Illinois Human Rights Act “mandates that students must be permitted access to the locker room and bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.”
“Deerfield Public Schools District 109 complies with state law,” the statement on the district’s website said.
The Illinois law conflicts with President Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order threatening to withhold federal funding from schools that allow male-born students to access female locker rooms, bathrooms and sports.
Illinois Freedom Caucus members held a press conference Thursday at the state Capitol in Springfield with Ms. Georgas and conservative advocates calling on the state to adhere to “federal rules preventing biological males from accessing female locker rooms.”
“How can anyone look at this situation and not have any empathy for the girls being forced to change in front of biological males?” said Republican state Rep. Adam Niemerg. “Instead, the extremists who are now the face of the Democratic party are saying the quiet part out loud. They are calling these girls liars instead of taking the necessary steps to protect them.”
He referred to comments Tuesday on the House floor by Democratic state Rep. Bob Morgan, who described the situation as a “lie.”
“I’m really proud of my community, who stood up for those who need to be defended and protected, making sure we have great schools, which we do by the way – we have incredible, incredible schools, incredible families, an incredible community that has come together to deal with this situation,” Mr. Morgan said, as reported by ABC7 in Chicago. “Because it’s a lie.”
Ms. Georgas said that the school principal offered to move her daughter to another P.E. class, but she declined, saying that “she’s not changing for the remainder of the year, and she’s not changing into another class.”