Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage County Republicans said the Illinois High School Association’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order banning transgender athletes from competing based on gender identity undermines the integrity of women’s sports. The organization made its statement in an April 16 Facebook post.

“The IHSA thinks our young female athletes should have to compete in boxing, wrestling, track, basketball, swimming, and other sports with biological men. This is an absolute insult to women’s sports and to the hard work and dedication that our female athletes put into their athletic careers,” DuPage County Republicans said. “Tell your Democratic State Reps and Senators to stop this insanity and place fairness to women above pandering to the fringe of the Democrats' increasingly extreme Party.”

According to WTVO News, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) said this week it will maintain its policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in accordance with their gender identity, despite a recent Executive Order from President Donald Trump prohibiting such participation. The Trump administration has argued that Title IX prohibits transgender participation in girls’ and women’s sports.

In a letter dated April 15, the IHSA responded to 40 Illinois Republican lawmakers who had requested the association change its policy. The lawmakers cited the Executive Order and said federal policy now prohibits “biological men” from competing in women's sports. The IHSA stated that state law must also be considered.

“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 IHSA wrote. “Compliance with the Executive Order could place the IHSA out of compliance with the Illinois Human Rights Act and vice versa.”

IHSA Board President Dan Tulley and Executive Director Craig Anderson said the association is attempting to comply with legal obligations and is not taking a position on which law should prevail.

The IHSA clarified that its policy applies only to postseason competitions it sponsors, and that individual member schools determine transgender participation during the regular season.

WTVO News reports that last week, the U.S. Department of Education referred a case involving transgender athlete participation in Maine schools to the Justice Department and indicated that failure to comply with the federal directive could result in a loss of funding.