The Illinois Attorney General’s Office allegedly allowed the state’s biggest school system to conceal material about gender and sexuality education in classes, according to a letter sent to the Daily Caller News Foundation on January 5.
The Sexuality Education Program at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has received over $90,000 in funding from the Chicago Public Schools since 2021. Presentations on anal sex education and pro-trans communication are part of these workshops. The DCNF requested the sexual education materials through a Freedom of Information Act request in August. Illinois state law exempts “course materials utilized by instructors” from FOIA inquiries; hence, CPS denied the request.
By referencing an Illinois provision that exempts “course materials” used in public institutions, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office supported the finding in a January letter to the DCNF. The DCNF sought any and all documents, presentations, handouts, or videos pertaining to the sexual education resources that CPS had acquired from Lurie Children’s Hospital through a Freedom of Information Act request.
“Course materials” used in public schools are particularly shielded from disclosure under Section 7(1)(j)(iv), according to a letter from the AG’s office. While the attorney general’s office claims that “FOIA does not identify ‘course materials,’” (AGO).
“Course materials or research materials utilized by faculty members” are among the items that are “exempt from scrutiny and copying” in the context of requests for public documents in Illinois. But if a public entity finds non-exempt material in an exempted document, they must make it public.
The DCNF has previously stated that the sex education program in Chicago schools should be accessible to the public for examination because the city’s schools are footing the bill for it.
Lurie Children’s Hospital asserts on its website that it possesses “unique expertise for grades K-8” in relation to sexual education. The student classes at the hospital include a range of topics, including “safe sex, consent, and communication,” “healthy LGBTQ relationships, HIV, and anal sex,” and more.
The hospital boasts that it offers “Gender and LGBTQ Inclusion Trainings” to educators and other healthcare workers.
As part of its K–12 sex education program, the National Sex Education Standards recommend discussing sexual orientations with fifth graders and anal sex with eighth graders. All of this fits nicely with the hospital’s “inclusive sexual health practices” approach.
In 2022, the hospital and four school districts in Illinois collaborated to raise awareness about gender transition choices and sex toys. In a video series made public by the medical facility, transgender adults have sexual conversations with children.
Even though CPS is denying the DCNF access to the exact materials used in its sexual education programs in Chicago schools, the invoices they were able to gather do reveal some information about these programs.
