Trying to Bring Sanity to Women’s Sports in Illinois

In a culture where some men think they can become women, and some women think they can become men, HB 4027 brings an element of sanity back to an arena where it is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Thankfully, the chief sponsors of this bill, State Representatives Tom Weber (R-Fox Lake), Blaine Wilhour (R-Louisville), and Regan Deering (D-Decatur), are thinking clearly and have not rejected science in favor of a social construct. Yes, there are huge differences between men and women, or girls and boys, in this case, related to sports.

HB 4027 amends the Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act by requiring public schools and postsecondary educational institutions to designate sports teams for males, females, or mixed. It prohibits men from participating in women’s sports unless it’s designated a co-ed team. The bill also protects schools that comply from retribution from a government entity, accrediting organization, athletic organization, or another school.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send your state representative a message urging him/her to pass The Riley Gaines Act (HB 4027). You may even want to encourage your representative to co-sponsor this legislation. It is time to put an end to the transgender ideology that claims a person’s gender identity is fluid and society should accommodate, in this case, trans athletes.

It is time to stand up, speak out, and push back. No girl should be forced to compete in an unfair or unsafe game against male athletes.

Background

It’s hard for some of us to fathom that such a bill is even necessary. Unfortunately, there are too many instances of egregious behavior in just the last few years requiring this response.

Riley Gaines is a perfect example. Training in the pool for 6 hours a day, she became a 12-time All-American swimmer, a two-time Olympic Trial Qualifier, and a five-time SEC Champion. Then in 2022, she was forced to not only compete against a man (born William Thomas, now going by “Lia”) but also share a locker room with this non-surgically altered, fully-endowed man.

In 2023, Abbigail Wheeler, a member of the Springfield, Illinois YMCA’s SPY Typhoons Swim Team, was forced to share the women’s locker room with a biological male pretending to be female. She saw this gender-confused male changing in the locker room during swim practice on April 27 and reported the incident to her coach.

To be clear, Abbigail tried to get the attention of her coach and other YMCA officials three times, but they scoffed and mocked her. Most sensible people would be upset by this, as she was. So she and a teammate put up signs in the locker room that said “Women’s Rights,” “Biological Women Only,” and “SafeSport” to warn others and draw attention to this very inappropriate situation.

The YMCA accused Wheeler of hate speech and banned her from the swim team, pointing to their policy that states “all individuals, regardless of gender identity, are welcome to use the facility that corresponds with their gender identity.” Wheeler and her family responded by saying that they are the ones who are being discriminated against because they are not transgender. (Learn more HERE.)

According to the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, in nine months, they have recorded 578 male victories in female sports. HeCheated is a website that lists, by sport, women’s competitions won by male athletes. This website also has a section titled Injury Report, which details incidents, sport by sport, in which female athletes have been injured by males.

In the video below, Illinois State Representatives Weber and Deering are joined by female athletes Caitlyn and Abbigail Wheeler to champion HB 4027, the “Riley Gaines Act.” We are pleased to report that this legislation is co-sponsored by State Representatives Norine Hammond (R-Macomb), Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee), Paul Jacobs (R-Carbondale), Kevin Schmidt (R-Cahokia Heights), Dave Severin (R-Benton), and GOP Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna). Please watch and take the time to reach out to your representative about this crucial legislation!

We are thrilled to boost our annual fall banquet, with keynote speaker: