The Human Rights Campaign has declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in response to the alarming surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the country. 

Tonight, the HRC Steering Committee of Chicago is holding a town hall in Lake View at 6pm to discuss how to ensure Illinois remains a safe haven for all in the midst of this emergency. (Details and registration here.)

State Representative Kevin Olickal is on the panel and that raises a big question.

More than 50 local, state and national organizations are calling for the Illinois General Assembly to ensure Illinois’ Invest in Kids voucher program ends as intended after the coming school year. Full press release below.

Public schools in Illinois can't discriminate on the basis of disability status, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, pregnancy or parenting status, marital status, or religion. But under the Invest in Kids voucher program, public dollars are now going to private schools in Illinois, many of which do discriminate against students in all these protected categories.

Sources for the examples below are here.

Public dollars should be for public schools—schools that serve all children and families.

That's why IL Families for Public Schools, along with more than 50 state and local orgs in Illinois are calling for the Invest in Kids program to end—just like the IL General Assembly intended for it to do when it was created it in 2017. Call your state rep and state senator and ask them to oppose any extension or expansion of this program. You can read our most recent action alert here and everything you need to know about the Invest in Kids voucher program here.

[Jan 3 2023: Updated alert here] Snow and winter holidays are quieting things down on the political front, but the IL General Assembly will be back right after New Year's Day in a “lame duck” session. And, just like with veto session, it’s possible that during lame duck, legislation on the Invest in Kids voucher program could move that included an extension, expansion or making it permanent.