The Sounds of Silence
Downstate Republicans speak out on women's rights in sports while Chicagoland politicians say nothing
A long-standing topic in Illinois circles revolves around the divide within the state.
We often hear about how there are two states, with the dividing line being the Interstate 80 Expressway that runs through the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago. When speaking broadly in general terms as to the population’s political persuasions, those who reside north of I-80 lean “blue,” and those south, “red.” What’s important to people in Cook County (big government, weed, abortion) ain’t what the folks in McLean County care about (more traditionally conservative values).
As the collar counties adjacent to Cook (Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake) turn more blue—as they have since Barack Obama rose to power in the mid-to-late 2000s—the divide is wider in scope. And it’s not just the data from elections that tells the story, but in the disparate behavior of politicians and public sector leaders from these regions of the state.
Transgenders in athletics is no longer a national issue isolated to a few pockets on the east coast. Predictably, we’re seeing it matriculate out to the Midwest. Illinois Republicans continue to be vocal. After getting nowhere with the Illinois High School Association, the Senate ramped up its letter-filing campaign by recently firing off another to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In the letter, Senate Republicans ask for “clarification” on how Illinois schools and athletic associations should respond to President Trump’s February 5 “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” Executive Order. The letter expresses anxiety over potential “legal action” by the Department of Justice and losing “federal education funding” if the state does not align its laws with those of the EO. Outnumbered 40-19 as Illinois Republican senators are by Democrats, no one is listening in Springfield. Appealing to a more captive audience in Washington is a sound strategy.
Although outnumbered by roughly the same percentage as the Senate (almost 50%), the House is armed with a larger body politic (40 members). It held a Thursday press conference pitching legislation for sports with defined genders for participants as “boys and girls.” Illinois politicians are taking the lead from other states in messaging by avoiding “transgender” labels. They are framing the subject as “protecting women’s rights” and creating “clarity for women across Illinois.”
Said state rep Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa):
Our objective here is simple – to protect the many female student athletes here in Illinois who are facing undue challenges when competing. Women have fought for decades to have equal athletic opportunities through Title IX, and we cannot let those great strides turn into steps backward. By designating interscholastic and intercollegiate teams as male, female, or co-ed, we can protect women’s sports by ensuring every athlete has access to safe and competitive opportunities.
Regan Deering, a GOP state rep from Decatur, had this to say:
Fairness in girls’ sports is not up for negotiation. Privacy and safety are not political issues. I refuse to stay silent while unelected bureaucrats and politically pressured institutions make decisions that compromise our daughters’ futures.
At this same press conference, testimonials were provided by two female athletes.
Kaitlynn and Abbigail Wheeler are sisters from Springfield. Both are former swimmers now ambassadors for The Riley Gaines Center, an organization that advocates for women in sports.
Kaitlynn Wheeler, a former All-American at Kentucky, said this at the House presser:
We need our elected officials to be representative of the people. That is their job. Have the strength and the courage and the spine to stand up for young women and girls. Again, we’re asking for the bare minimum.
Bless her heart, and Wheeler should be admired for her public advocacy, but she doesn’t quite grasp the lay of the land here. The people’s wishes take a back seat to what serves the monarchal class, and that class has decided to die on the hill in favor of men participating in women’s athletics.
Note who was missing from that press conference, signatures absent from letters, or any public comment whatsoever: representation from Chicagoland.
Seeing Weber’s involvement was a bit surprising, as we are so used to virtually no collar county association with gender identity subjects like male participation in female sports (Lake Villa is technically in Lake County but not far from McHenry County, the lone “red” collar county that remains in Chicagoland).
Further illustrating the divide: other than from a few Springfield-area outlets, the House presser got very little media coverage. In Chicago, the event was nothing more than a pinprick. Why waste time in the “A” or “B” block with such irrelevant drivel from those downstate hicks when we can fill airtime with another Trump-is-the-worst-person-in-the-world voice-over?
(Chicago television news is so far gone from credibility, it would better serve the public by running 80s/90s-style infomercials instead of “news.” Remember those, the “Enchanted Evening” videos with the sweater-wearing couple sitting by the fireplace hocking some overpriced CD loaded with dreadful easy listening songs by the likes of Sergio Mendes and Peabo Bryson? Found it. Tik-Tok does have some useful utility!)
With a month left in the spring General Assembly session, there are three topics involving youth and sports at various degrees of legislative action: Right to Play, transfers, and trans in sports. HB 3037 (Right to Play) has already passed through the House, and we will likely see fewer restrictions on athletes who switch schools (HB 0473). But the Weber-backed HB 4027 (clear requirements that schools designate sports teams as either male, female, or co-ed) and another proposal, HB 1117, that would do much of the same, while something should be noted for the effort, are dead on arrival.
Although the players and wording are slightly different, all pieces of legislation are guided by the same functioning principle: boys and girls should have more say in their athletic lives. Freedom of choice—with schools and teams, not gender—is better than restrictive practices.
On Right to Play and transfers, Democrats are vocal. Sponsors of both bills represent districts in Cook and DuPage County. But on trans sports? Gag order.
That muzzle is bought and paid for. That’s how business is done north of I-80.
I don’t know when it’ll happen, but it’s going to happen. There’s going to be a male participant in a female sport in one of the higher classification schools membered within a major suburban conference (MSL, CSL, North Suburban). Maybe this spring, at the state track meet, or in the fall, with girl’s swimming, perhaps. If so, it will become a story and attract the otherwise brain-dead Chicago press corps. What are they, the politicians, school board members, administrators, going to say when asked to comment? Are they going to hide behind the state rule of law, or are they going to stand behind the same children they claim to protect?
The Illinois Republican Caucus is doing the right thing by expressing outrage over what should be a matter of common sense. But good reasoning almost always takes the exit ramp before it crosses over Interstate 80.
The sounds of silence say it all.
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