The June 2 Naperville CUSD 203 board meeting’s public comment section focused on trans girls’ sports participation for a second month in a row.
This comes after a trans girl athlete won multiple events at a recent girls track meet held at Naperville CUSD 203’s Jefferson Junior High School. After that meet, some parents expressed outrage that a trans girl was allowed to participate and showed up at the packed May board meeting to speak out. Many other community members came to that same board meeting to show support for the trans athlete.
Since that time, the non-profit organization Awake Illinois, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Naperville CUSD 203, alleging that the district violated Title IX’s “sex-based discrimination” federal law.
There are also calls to have Naperville CUSD 203’s federal funds frozen until the board changes course regarding trans athletes’ school sports participation. The Illinois Human Rights Act includes a ban on gender identity-based discrimination in every public school in the state.
The overflow room had to be utilized at both the May and June board meetings to accommodate the members of the public who were in attendance to speak out and show support for the trans girl athlete and the others who were against her taking part in girls’ sports.
PFLAG DuPage and Naper Pride members were among the meeting attendees.
Pro-trans supporters waved small trans flags and homemade signs that read, “Trans Athletes Belong in Sports” and “Love All Children” among others, while the anti-trans attendees held up pre-printed signs on yellow paper that read, “Stop Exploiting Kids,” “Defend Title IX,” “Support Common Sense” and “Protect Girls Sports” at the June board meeting.
Of the almost 30 speakers who took to the podium, most spoke in favor of trans girls’ participation in school sports.
Ahead of the almost 90-minute-long public comment period, Naperville CUSD Board President Charles Cush outlined the speaker rules of conduct which included refrains on “commenting on specific individuals.”
Longtime District 203 resident Peter Schulman called out Awake Illinois and implored the board “not to acquiesce to the to the threats of a known anti-government hate group that is vilifying a minor child and the transgender community in order to further its ultra-conservative right-wing agenda.” He added that “gender is complicated” and much more than just XX or XY. Schulman also said the U.S. Constitution and state law will back the board up should they do the right thing and protect trans student athletes right to compete.
District 203 parent and trans woman Beverly Trafton lauded the parents and community members who were there in support of trans kids and also called out Awake Illinois.
Teacher Tim Thompson said he was frustrated that this issue was being addressed due to the actions of a small percentage of people who express hate towards the LGBTQ+ community (especially its trans members) which has, at times, resulted in violent threats. He called Awake Illinois Founder and President Shannon Adcock, who was in the room, by name. Thompson referenced the bullet mailed to the Downers Grove library and vandalism at the now-defunct UpRising Bakery in Lake in the Hills to highlight recent instances where violent threats have followed anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric directed against these locations by Adcock and other Awake Illinois members.
When Thompson invoked Adcock’s name, her supporters called for a point of order which resulted in an admonishment from Cush to refrain from using her or anyone else’s name during their speeches, which he did going forward.
District 203 parent and former student Diana Piedra said, “The leader of Awake Illinois calls herself out constantly speaking on FOX News and promoting herself like she’s getting paid for it.” She reminded the audience that Adcock lives in Indian Prairie School District 204 and should “slither her way back [there] and let us figure out what we are going to do here.”
Trans Upfront Operations Director Charlee Friedman said they were there to speak and protect trans children. They cited the Illinois Human Rights Act Section 3B and the Illinois Board of Education have clear guidance which says trans students cannot be excluded for any reason in any public-school setting based on other student(s), parent(s) or others’ discomfort. Friedman also cited statistics about the high rate of death by suicide of trans people and said that since the start of 2025, they know of 21 trans students in Illinois who have died by suicide. They thanked the school board for their trans-inclusive policies.
Christian Pastor Tim Rhodes spoke out in favor of trans athletes and pointed out that some student athletes have advantages and disadvantages that have nothing to do with their gender identity when they are tweens and teens.
District 203 parent John Higgins said that Awake Illinois did not attend this meeting to protect children. He alleged they were there to make money and get media hits. Other speakers who came to support the trans girl athlete focused on the board’s pro-LGBTQ+ policies, hateful online attacks by adults directed at children in the district schools, children’s emotional safety and the danger of rejection due to who children are and how the identify. Other speakers referenced invasive tests to determine a student’s gender identity that violates their bodily autonomy, death threats the trans girl athlete has received and intersex individuals.
Trans supportive speakers also outlined all of the things that would be eliminated in District 203 schools that impact all students and teachers should federal funds be withheld. They called Awake Illinois “Asleep Illinois,” said public schools and DEI aren’t going anywhere, and cited the history of the Nazis’ attacking trans people by first burning the books and research papers at Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute of Sexual Research in Berlin in 1933.
Adcock, who does not reside in the Naperville CUSD 203 school district, spoke while wearing an anti-trans “XX XY Athletics” tee-shirt. She said she would not be “slithering anywhere … It doesn’t matter how many lies are spewed, how many terrible, cruel, horrible, hateful things are said. We’re going to win this for all of these children. Debating the trans cult, not worth my time. Superintendent Bridges …Title IX will reign supreme. Federal supremacy exists. It doesn’t matter how many times people hope and wish a certain state statute can overrule federal law, it cannot.
“The federal administration is paying attention. And today, they actually announced that in celebration of 53 years of Title IX they are declaring June to be Title IX month, so this is going to be a big story. People are going to continue talking about this, and I think that it’s important to keep the topic alive with the facts, federal law reigns supreme … Only recently have trans cultists tried to contest [Title IX]. So, boys sports, girl sports. It is that simple. We’re not going to come up here and spew random facts to try and sound smart and make it seem like we’re super hyper educated. It is basic biology. It is basic sports. June is Title IX month. Get used to it. you guys. The last speaker at the last meeting, he said Title IX is coming folks. He’s absolutely right. Blue states are going to get relief. You think that somehow you’re going to be some type of haven for mental illness or fetish, not true.”
Awake Illinois Downers Grove Co-Chair Laura Hois also spoke out against trans girls competing in girls’ sports. She repeatedly called trans girls’ “boys” and said they are “pretending to be girls.” Hois further said trans girls using girl’s bathrooms and locker rooms is an “intrusion,” and alleged that trans girls are trying to “gain an advantage” when they compete in girls’ sports.
Other anti-trans speakers used terms such as “biological boys” when referring to trans girls, cited one poll where 79 percent of people said they do not support trans girls participation in girls’ sports teams and competitions, and alleged that students undress in front of each other in District 203 locker rooms which is not true (everyone has private stalls) according to audience members who spoke to this publication.
To express their disapproval of the anti-trans speakers, trans supporters stood up and turned their backs while they were speaking.
Following the board meeting, Naper Pride President Margie Wolf, who was in attendance, said in a statement to this publication, “Naper Pride believes that sports should be a space where everyone can participate, compete, and thrive—regardless of their gender identity. Transgender athletes, like all athletes, deserve the opportunity to play, to be part of a team, and to benefit from the physical, mental, and social advantages of sport.
“Excluding trans individuals from competition not only undermines the principles of fairness and inclusion, but also contributes to stigma, isolation, and harm. Scientific, ethical, and human rights-based perspectives support policies that affirm the dignity and inclusion of trans people in sports at all levels.
“We stand in solidarity with trans athletes and advocate for policies that ensure their full and fair inclusion in athletics. Sport is for everyone.”