Illinois Reps. Weber & Deering Want to Protect Women’s Sports

Illinois State Representatives Tom Weber (R-Fox Lake) and Reagan Deering (R-Decatur) are joined by female athletes Caitlyn and Abbigail Wheeler to champion HB 4027, the “Riley Gaines Act.” This bill would help protect female sports by prohibiting “any male to compete for, against, or with a team designated for females, women, or girls.”

This legislation is co-sponsored by State Representatives Norine K. Hammond (R-Macomb), Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee), Paul Jacobs (R-Carbondale), Kevin Schmidt (R-Cahokia Heights), Tony M. McCombie (R-Savanna) and Dave Severin (R-Benton)

In April 2023, 16-year-old Abbigail Wheeler, a member of the Springfield, Illinois YMCA’s SPY Typhoons Swim Team, sparked controversy after expressing extreme discomfort about sharing the women’s locker room with biological male pretending to be female. Wheeler claimed she saw this gender confused male changing in the locker room during swim practice on April 27, she reported the incident to her coach.

Abbigail was then kicked off her swim team.