Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs 3 bills to boost protection for LGBTQ+ Illinoisans

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker held a ceremony for the signing of three bills to strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ Illinoisans on Sunday morning.

The ceremony took place at a Chicago Pride Parade reception Sunday at El Mariachi Tequila Bar & Grill, 3906 N Broadway.

"One of the things that we should have pride about, and that all around the country, I think people look in envy about the fact that Illinois truly does step up and protect our LGBTQ+ community," Pritzker said, "and we're not going to stop."

One of the bills Pritzker signed, HB4834, removes testosterone from the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program — the electronic database that collects information about specific medications and treatments. The bill also prevents the addition of estrogen, mifepristone, and misoprostol — the latter two of which are used to end pregnancies early — to the monitoring program.

Another bill, HB5095, enshrines the self-selection process for gender markers on Illinois IDs and driver's licenses, allowing people to self-report "male," "female," or "X."

A third bill, HB5492, requires insurance companies to cover six months of prescribed hormone therapy.

The Chicago Pride parade was set to step off at 11 a.m.