SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Many people across the country will celebrate Pride this weekend with their partners, friends, and allies. Illinois has been one of the few states with legislation to protect rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and a state senator from Chicago says the state can never turn back.
Illinois Democratic lawmakers have recently passed plans to guarantee insurance coverage for medication abortion, hormone therapy for people needing gender affirming care, and PEP or PrEP medication to prevent HIV. Another plan will ensure marriage equality is cemented in state law as many people worry the Republican controlled Supreme Court could overturn historic decisions on interracial and gay marriage.
Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) told reporters Friday that he has been attacked for sponsoring such bills.
"There's not a day that goes by where somebody doesn't go on my social media and tell everybody in my district to keep their children away from me because I'm a pervert, because I'm a groomer," Simmons said. "I don't care about how I feel. It's my family and my community that I'm always concerned about."
Simmons also said elected officials should not be allowed to threaten anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation. This comes months after floor debate on a bill allowing businesses to install multiple stalls in gender neutral bathrooms. Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Moline) said he would beat a man up if they walked into a bathroom his daughter was using.
"And it was me standing up and telling the presiding officer to strike that garbage from the record because I wouldn't want a single trans person in the state to feel unsafe doing something as simple as using the restroom," Simmons stressed.
Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) argues that the state needs to act quickly to address the growing number of parents running for school boards with the intent of banning books.
Although, lawmakers and advocates also know that there have been over 500 bills filed in states across the country since January to target the LGTBQ+ community. They believe no one should deny millions of Americans the right to live their lives authentically.
"Pride is declaring that trans lives matter. Black lives matter," said Timothy Jackson, the government relations director at AIDS Foundation Chicago. "Pride is not woke because pride is humanity."
Simmons also noted that Illinois Democrats will fight tooth and nail to build on the progress and rights LGBTQ+ communities have secured in recent years, including prohibiting book bans in libraries funded by the state.
He was the lead sponsor of a bill in the Senate to block school boards from banning books in classrooms. While that plan passed out of the chamber this spring, it failed to receive a vote in the House before adjournment. Yet, Simmons is optimistic that the bill will pass out of the House during veto session this fall.
"What are the times we are living in if this is the reality," Simmons asked. "My dad was a refugee from Ethiopia. This is the kind of crap that we were fleeing a generation ago and it's bubbling up right here, live, in our society."
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