PALATINE, Ill. — A School Board race in suburban Chicago centers on transgender student access to locker rooms and restrooms, with a slate of candidates in Tuesday’s election promising to roll back a policy that allowed a transgender student to use the girls’ facilities.
Three parents seeking seats on the Palatine-based Township High School District 211 School Board have pledged to end locker room and bathroom access for students of the opposite biological sex. The district reached an agreement in late 2015 with a student that allows her to use the girls’ locker rooms and restrooms.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which supported the student in her lawsuit against district, said that if all three parents calling themselves Parents With Purpose win seats on the board, there will likely be enough votes to roll back the district’s policy.
The parents’ campaigns have drawn financial support from Richard Uihlein, a businessman from Lake Forest who has given millions to conservative causes.
More than 50 families calling themselves Parents for Privacy are suing the district over the transgender policy.