DOJ Launches Probe Into Illinois Schools Over Gender Ideology Taught Without Parental Notice

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into three dozen Illinois school districts to determine whether pre-K–12 students were taught sexual orientation and gender identity content in classes without the schools notifying parents.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is leading the investigation.

“This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement.

Illinois, under Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state Attorney General Kwame Raoul, has clashed with the Trump administration on several legal fronts, such as immigration enforcement, federal funding, and other matters.

Pritzker is the co-leader, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, of Governors Safeguarding Democracy, a coalition of Democratic governors which promotes state litigation against the Trump administration.

If schools are teaching sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)-related content, the investigations will examine whether the schools have notified parents of their right to opt their children out of such instruction.

The investigation will, in part, focus on whether the Illinois school districts limit access to single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms, and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex.

The DOJ is citing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Supreme Court precedent on parental rights as recently reiterated in Mirabelli v. Bonta in March. In that ruling, the high court upheld a temporary injunction preventing schools from withholding information from parents about gender transitions. In another 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, the court allowed Maryland parents to opt their children out of exposure to LGBTQ school books.

“Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt: parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children,” Dhillon said. “This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests.”

The Daily Signal contacted the Illinois State Board of Education and Attorney General Raoul’s office. Neither responded by publication time.

The DOJ previously opened investigations into three Michigan school districts, as well as a joint investigation with the Department of Education into school sports in Washington state.