Illinois School District Dissolves Committee on Transgender Issues

The move effectively ends the East Aurora School District's much-talked-about transgender rights effort, but advocates vow to keep up the fight.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

December 19 2012 5:31 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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The East Aurora School District in suburban Chicago has dissolved a committee that was working on antidiscrimination policies for transgender students, "effectively ending that effort," Windy City Times reports.

The school board Monday voted to dissolve the committee, which was formed just this fall, after the board in October approved a transgender rights policy and then within days revoked it in the face of right-wing opposition.

About 100 people attended a meeting November 29 to discuss the policy, with many expressing disapproval of the effort.

Shannon Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, said efforts to protect transgender students will continue. Her group released a statement saying, "The people of East Aurora deserve better than a school board that cannot facilitate difficult -- but necessary -- conversations, and we will stay steady in our efforts to work with school staff, parents, and community members to foster a safe and supportive district for all East Aurora youth."