SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (WLS) â Suburban residents voiced their concerns at a meeting Wednesday night after a transgender student made the girlsâ volleyball team.
The transgender student in question attends Conant High School and reportedly is no longer on the girlsâ volleyball team, but that didnât stop a large crowd of people from offering opinions on the subject at the board meeting.
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âYou are infringing on the rights of all those girls to their private protected spaces,â D211 parent Angela Christman said.
Transgender athletes participating in girlsâ sports is clearly a hot-button issue. A volleyball athlete at Conant High School in the Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates area prompted an outpouring from those who oppose allowing the athlete to play, and those who believe they should be allowed to play.
Kevin Morrison is the first openly-gay Cook County commissioner and happens to be a graduate of Conant High School. He says heâs been told the athlete has left the team.
âWe are speaking about children, and it is so harmful when we dehumanize their individual identities,â Morrison said.
A large group of speakers opposed to the transgender athlete participating was organized by a group called citizens for kidsâ education. In general, they align with President Donald Trumpâs executive order earlier this year called keeping men out of womenâs sports.
âIf biological gender didnât matter in bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams then we wouldnât have a separation of those things now,â Christman said. âEveryone would just use the same bathroom or locker room.â
A spokesperson for School District 211 issued a statement regarding the comments from the board meeting, saying âInformation regarding individual students and coaches is confidential. District 211 supports studentsâ access to District athletic opportunities consistent with Board policy.â
Some transgender rights supporters say they support that policy.
âItâs important that when a kid wants to participate there are community members that have their back, not trying to attack these kids for their own political gains,â said Justin OâRourke with the Community Mental Health Project.
There is no pending vote before the school board about transgender athletes in the district. Nevertheless, the board encouraged anyone whoâd like to speak on the topic to come the next meeting next month.
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