Stop Hate Speech On House Floor To Honor Memory Of Elise Malary: Rep. Cassidy

SPRINGFIELD, IL — State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) invoked the memory of LGBT activist Elise Malary, who was found dead in Lake Michigan near her Evanston home last week, in response to remarks about transgender people on the House floor by state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine).

"I don't want to hear any more hate speech on this floor, not from anyone," Cassidy said. "And if we can only do one thing to honor Elise Mallory's memory, it's to do that."

Morrison had predicted that he would face condemnation from his Illinois House colleagues for his remarks, which suggested that a small group of transgender activists are threatening women's rights.

"This is becoming George Orwell's 1984. It's newspeak, it's gaslighting, it's activists pounding the table to declare that two plus two equals five, and that does not make it so," Morrison said Tuesday. "Demands that society accept lies as facts in the name of tolerance, inclusion and justice is anything but. It's not right, compassionate or just."

The northwest suburban Republican, a longtime opponent of same-sex marriage and transgender rights, discussed transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, an overnight school science field trip with non-binary counselors in California and transfers of transgender prison inmates to women's-only facilities.

"Ideas have consequences. It is a minority of vocal activists who continue to push this ideology in all levels of society, including to young schoolchildren. It's an ideology that is at war with reality, and we must stop blithely going along," Morrison said.

"We can, and should, be kind to individuals who suffer from gender dysphoria. But we can do so without completely and irrationally upending society, which is already happening at lightning speed," he continued. "If we really believe in the protection of women and women's rights, we must acknowledge the harms being done and bring a stop to this, including the silence and passive acceptance about what's really going on."

Cassidy responded to what she described as Morrison's "transphobic rant" by acknowledging the recent death of Malary, whom was remembered by hundreds of mourners Sunday in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood.

"Elise was a shining example of what we want people to do and be in our community. She was part of our community on the North Side. She was dedicated to uplifting the people that she lived and worked with every day," Cassidy said.

"She is one of too many Black trans women whose lives mean nothing to the man on the other side of this room. She is one of many transgender youth who are at increased risk of suicide because of the actions of people like the man that just spoke," she said.

Cassidy, the only openly gay woman serving in the Illinois General Assembly, said right-wing politicians are targeting transgender young people and their families across the country.

"I've watched for years as my colleague has tormented trans youth in his community. And the brave young woman who stood up to that behavior is now my constituent as well," Cassidy said.

Township High School District 211 in Palatine paid $150,000 last year to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by a transgender student over locker room access. That followed a dismissed lawsuit from a group of anonymous parents who sought to block the school from allowing students to use the facilities corresponding with their gender identity. District 211 board members eventually voted to adopt a policy granting transgender students access to locker rooms and bathrooms aligning with their gender, and the two suits ended up costing the district about a half-million dollars in legal costs.

Cassidy said Illinois lawmakers would not adopt transphobic policies that have been pursued elsewhere.

"To every trans youth out there listening, to every parent who loves and affirms their children as God gave them to them, that's not happening here in Illinois. We will not follow in the footsteps of states that are tormenting these families and driving them away," Cassidy said.

"We will embrace our youth. We will protect our youth, and we will work together to solve the epidemic of murders and suicides among trans women in our community," she concluded, to applause from the chamber. "Because we actually love and care for people as God made them."