Latest news with #NicoleGeorgas
Chicago Tribune
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Group files federal complaint over Deerfield transgender student using locker room
Deerfield Public Schools District 109 is in the national crosshairs, with a conservative group filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) accusing the district of forcing middle school students to change into gym clothes in front of a transgender student. The incident previously gained national attention after the mother of one of the students, Nicole Georgas, went on Fox News to criticize the district over the alleged incident. She also spoke during a school board meeting to demand that locker rooms and bathrooms be designated for either biological males or biological females, arguing there is 'already a gender-neutral option.' In a previous statement, the district said students are not required to change into gym clothes in front of others in locker rooms and have 'multiple options to change in a private location if they wish.' The district said its policies and procedures, including those related to students' use of locker rooms, are in line with state laws, the Illinois School Code and guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education. 'District 109 is committed to providing a learning environment where all students and staff are respected and supported,' the statement said. Conservative nonprofit America First Legal (AFL) announced Tuesday it had filed a complaint with the criminal section of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, urging it to conduct a criminal investigation into District 109 and its administrators over the alleged incident. A DOJ spokesman declined comment, but a department source with knowledge of the complaint confirmed it was submitted. Attempts to reach the Illinois State Board of Education for comment were unsuccessful. AFL claims the district violated Title IX and President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14168, called 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.' AFL was founded in 2021 by Stephen Miller, a senior Trump advisor. According to AFL's allegations, the district's policy of allowing the transgender student to use the girls' bathroom and locker room led to a protest by a group of teenage girls who refused to change for gym class. AFL claims school administrators 'admonished (the students), and threatened them with discipline for 'misgendering' the boy and refusing to change for PE.' 'Shockingly, the school administrators, including the superintendent of student services, and the assistant principal, entered the girls' locker room and used their authority to intimidate the girls into changing in front of the boy,' the AFL said. In the release, Ian Prior, an AFL senior counsel, claimed the students' 'First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights' had been 'sacrificed at the altar of radical transgender madness and the woke government bureaucrats that view the Constitution as nothing more than toilet paper' and district officials 'should face the long arm of our Justice Department.' Protestors on both sides of the controversy were expected at Thursday evening's school board meeting, with Moms For Liberty Lake County and several LGBTQ organizations expected to advocate for support. Kristal Larson, who is the executive director of the LGBTQ+ Center Lake County, Avon Township's clerk and a transgender woman, said during a transgender visibility event last month that there is 'a lot of anger' and 'concern' over what has been happening in Deerfield. 'There's fear that other schools may be targeted in the same way, and that Lake County can become unsafe,' Larson said. But the controversy over the unidentified transgender student's bathroom and locker room use goes far beyond Lake County's, and even the state's, borders, Larson added, saying the transgender community has been a target of the new presidential administration. Executive orders from the Trump administration seek to stop transgender, nonbinary and intersex people from changing their gender markers on passports or serving in the military, force transgender women in federal prisons to be housed with men and bar them from participation in female sports. The orders also attempt to end gender-affirming care for transgender people younger than 19, and prohibit federal spending on the promotion of 'gender ideology.' 'Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women's domestic abuse shelters to women's workplace showers,' Trump wrote in an executive order. The Deerfield controversy has attracted attention from unusual places. Last month, District 109 put out a statement saying it was aware members of the community had received communications asking them to complete a survey about Deerfield schools, which they clarified were not from the district. In the statement, the district said it was not aware of who was distributing the survey. In late March, Dave Nayak, a Chicago-area politician and former Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for the District 20 seat and said he had turned on the 'radical left,' announced he had commissioned a survey from conservative pollster group M3 about the district's transgender policies, ultimately calling for the district to change its policies.
Fox News
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Illinois school district responds to federal probe into allegations of making girls change with transgender
Deerfield Public Schools District 109 has responded to a federal Title IX investigation that was launched over allegations of administrators forcing middle school girls to change in the same locker room as a transgender student. The district provided a statement to Fox News Digital insisting that its actions were rooted in Illinois state law. "Deerfield Public Schools District 109 complies with state law. The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits all public school districts from discriminating on the basis of sex, including gender identity, and mandates that students must be permitted access to the locker room and bathroom that aligns with their gender identity," the statement read. "We are sensitive to the privacy needs of all of our middle school students and ensure that no student is required to change into a gym uniform for physical education class in front of others. When both our middle schools were renovated in 2017, we added five private changing stations within each locker room that are available to all students. All students also have multiple options to change in a private location separate from the locker room if they wish." The district also says it will work with local families to determine next steps. "The District and the Board are united with our leaders and educators on this issue and have a shared commitment to upholding the law," the statement continued. "The District and the Board call upon all of those expressing concerns or perspectives on this issue with our staff and educators to do so in a respectful and civil manner. We are glad to work with families to address any individual concerns and determine appropriate next steps to support your child's well-being and participation." The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights announced on Thursday that it is launching an investigation into the Illinois Department of Education, the Chicago Public School District 299 and Deerfield Public Schools District 109 over reported Title IX violations. Illinois mother Nicole Georgas brought the situation to light when she filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice after alleging that school administrators had attempted to force her 13-year-old daughter to change in front of a transgender student in the girls' locker room last month. She revealed the complaint during a Board of Education meeting for Deerfield Public School District 109 last week, claiming the incident had taken place last month after her daughter had refused to change into her uniform during physical education because a biological male student had been present at the time. "The girls want their locker rooms and bathrooms back. They want their privacy back. This is why I'm here tonight. My 13-year-old daughter's well-being, mental health and privacy are at stake," Georgas said during her speech at the board meeting on Thursday. Georgas then raised the issue to the school's administration, noting to them that she believed it was a direct violation of President Donald Trump's Keeping Men out of Women's Sports executive order. She said in her speech that the school administration had informed her that, under the direction of its legal counsel, the transgender student was free to use both the girls' bathroom and the girls' locker room. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Illinois mother files civil rights complaint, says daughter nearly forced to change in front of trans student
An Illinois mother has filed a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department after claiming that school administrators attempted to force her 13-year-old daughter to change in front of a transgender student in the girls locker room last month. Nicole Georgas revealed the complaint during a Board of Education meeting for Deerfield Public Schools District 109 last week, claiming that the incident took place last month after her daughter refused to change into her uniform during physical education because a biological male student was present at the time. "The girls want their locker rooms and bathrooms back. They want their privacy back. This is why I'm here tonight. My 13-year-old daughter's well-being, mental health, and privacy are at stake," Georgas said during her speech at the board meeting on Thursday. According to Georgas, her daughter was "frightened" and "extremely upset" when on Feb. 5 she was using the girls bathroom and noticed that a transgender student was also using the facilities at the same time. "She was told by the administration that a student can use the bathroom as well as a female locker room because they now identify as female," Georgas said of the explanation administrators allegedly provided to her daughter. Georgas then raised the issue to the school's administration, noting to them that she believed it was a direct violation of President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men out of Women's Sports" executive order. She said in her speech that the administration informed her that, under the direction of their legal counsel, the student was free to use both the girls bathroom and the girls locker room. Fox News Digital reached out to the school district for comment. "That day, I filed a civil rights complaint, on behalf of my daughter, with the Department of Justice. It has now been referred to the Department of Education. A federal complaint has been filed with the district to protect the students." Georgas said the situation worsened when, days later, her daughter and other classmates refused to change into her uniform during physical education because the transgender student was present. She claimed that the following day, school administrators pulled the girls aside and later made them change into uniform. "That day, [Assistant Superintendent for Student Services] Joanna Ford, [Assistant Principal] Cathy Van Treese, and multiple teachers all came into the girls locker room, making them change into uniform. This went on all week," she said, adding that her daughter still "refused to take part." As part of Georgas' speech, she "demanded" the district move forward with designating facilities for biological males and biological females. Georgas appeared on "America Reports" last week when she expressed her biggest concern regarding the situation. "This sets such a dangerous precedent for girls everywhere by allowing men into safe places. My biggest concern is that an adult, biological male — that hasn't transitioned — can freely access women's bathrooms [and] locker rooms, putting their safety and privacy at risk. This is common sense." Fox News Digital contacted the Justice Department and the Education Department for comment on the complaint. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
