Gov. JB Pritzker vows Illinois will protect trans athletes after Supreme Court decision
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker vowed the state will continue to protest transgender Illinoisans and athletes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday.
The high court ruled that state brans on trans athletes participating in women's and girls' sports does not violated Title IX, upholding the bans passed in those states. Right now, 27 states have bans on transgender athlete participation on the books.
"In Illinois, anyway, we protect LGBTQ+ rights, we protect trans kids. Remember, in Illinois, trans athletes, we literally, in high school, have three," Pritzker said. "Frankly, I think ought to be talking about bigger things. I know in the state of Illinois we have much bigger challenges, as they do all across the country with the things, like they've cut SNAP benefits, they've cut Medicaid, they've made life harder for people, raised prices. These are all things that we're having to deal within our states, and they're trying to distract with something that has very little impact."
To break down the Supreme Court's ruling further, CBS News Chicago was joined by Northwestern University LGBTQIA+ rights law professor Kara Ingelhart. She helped explain why this decision matters beyond the scope of transgender athletes, whether it was a predictable ruling based on the court's recent decisions impacting the rights of transgender Americans under federal law, and what this decision and those other cases suggest about what to expect in the Supreme Court's next term.
