Illinois teen opposes YMCA trans locker room policy
JULY 13, 2023BY LISA MISNER
A teen from Chatham is leading the fight against a YMCA policy that allows biological men to use the women’s locker room by claiming they are transgender.
The girl, 16-year-old Abbigail Wheeler, was a member of the Springfield Kerasotes YMCA Typhoons Swim Team until management refused to act on her concerns and, she said, made it impossible for her to participate.
The teen, who attends a Baptist church in Sangamon County, became emotional speaking about the situation at a press conference held at a park across the street from the Springfield Kerasotes YMCA on July 13. It was hosted by the Illinois Freedom Caucus.
Wheeler described how, after practice on April 27, she informed Coach Alex Totura about seeing a man wearing a woman’s swimsuit in the locker room. According to Wheeler, he brushed off her concern saying there was nothing that could be done, because the transgender woman’s presence “was permitted by Illinois law.” However, he told her that she could move to a private changing area such as the family locker room or stop using the facilities if she was bothered.
Her voice quivered as she described the coach as “someone I was supposed to trust.” And, how her “feelings of fear were pushed aside.”
Her father, Dan, a 13-year-veteran of World of Swimming, described how he and others tried to work with YMCA officials to find a solution to the matter, but were repeatedly told discrimination against the transgender community was against the law and nothing could be done.
It was nearly a month later that Wheeler and a friend posted signs in the locker room “to express our concerns and to let people know what was actually happening.” The next day at practice she was informed not only that the signs were “hate speech” and “disrespectful,” but that “it was probably not appropriate for us to practice that evening.” The signs read “Women deserve to be safe here” and “Biological Women Only.”
According to Wheeler, officials later contacted her parents to say she was banned from the YMCA until “she met with the staff, and they further explained the punishments” she would receive.
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