PRESS RELEASE: DFI, Liberty Justice Center File Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools for Violating Title IX

WASHINGTON—The Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) and the Liberty Justice Center (LJC) filed a federal civil rights complaint today with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The complaint asserts that ISBE and CPS are violating Title IX by forcing students to share bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations with members of the opposite sex, based solely on self-declared “gender identity.”

The complaint highlights that ISBE and CPS are carrying out a state law that conflicts with Title IX’s guarantees by forcing students to share intimate spaces like bathrooms with members of the opposite sex as a condition of accessing school programs and activities. ISBE and CPS policies suggest that any students who are uncomfortable with such an arrangement not use the bathroom that corresponds with his or her sex, stating that “[a]ny student who desires increased privacy—for instance, in order to avoid being forced to share a restroom or locker room” with a transgender student “should be provided with a reasonable alternative arrangement” such as using “a nearby all-gender or secure-access restroom.” The policies thus subordinate sex to gender ideology in violation of Title IX.

The complaint also exposes the lengths to which ISBE has gone to prevent parental notification and involvement in these issues. The complaint highlights sample procedures provided to school districts by ISBE that state, “Students shall be permitted to participate in overnight [school] trips in accordance with their gender identity; with other students who share their gender identity; or in a manner that makes them feel safe, affirmed, and included.” These sample procedures go on to require schools to make these arrangements in secret, without parental notification, approval, or opportunity to opt out: “[s]chools shall not notify chaperones or parents of other students about the housing arrangements for a transgender, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming student.”

Despite multiple federal court rulings striking down unlawful redefinitions of Title IX, ISBE and CPS continue to enforce policies that are in direct conflict with the law. In light of these violations, DFI and the Liberty Justice Center are urging OCR to take immediate action, investigate ISBE and CPS, and ensure that these entities comply with Title IX or risk losing federal funding.

“Congress intended Title IX to ensure that schools provide equal educational opportunities without regard to sex, not to erase biological reality and force women and girls into uncomfortable and unsafe situations that violate the very law designed to protect them,” said DFI President and Co-Founder Bob Eitel. “ISBE and CPS are pushing radical policies that prioritize ideology over student safety and privacy and parental rights. We will not stand by while states and school districts sacrifice civil rights on the altar of gender ideology. We urge the U.S. Department of Education to investigate this matter and, if necessary, move to terminate federal funding until ISBE and CPS comply with the law.”

“The Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools are violating parents’ right to raise their children by hiding important information about their children’s activities at school,” said Jacob Huebert, President of the Liberty Justice Center. “They’re also violating federal law by forcing women and girls to share facilities with the opposite sex. We’re asking the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to hold them accountable.” 

To read the complaint, click here.