Elgin, IL-(ENEWSPF)- It isn’t often that we receive press releases from out-of-district members of the Illinois General Assembly. They are coming more frequently now, however. Not entirely certain why, but we will give these fair consideration for publication. This one, from Illinois State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, arrived recently.
For the public’s sake, please remember that these statements are directly from offices of politicians. As such, they tend to be self-serving, but do provide insight into the priorities of those in the General Assembly. For that reason, we will continue to offer them to our thoughtful readers who can make their own determination of their value.
We will not include statements that purport to offer facts that are simply not true.
This one, however, is good news for our LGBQT readers in Illinois and those who support them. It would be good to hear similar sentiments from our representatives who serve Park Forest.
Unfortunately, Rep. Anthony DeLuca officially took no stance on this bill. He is registered as “NV”, or “No Vote,” when the bill came up for third reading on March 13, 2019, where it passed the House. The bill passed the Senate on May 23. State Senator Toi Hutchinson voted in favor of the bill.
The bill is now with Governor Pritzker, awaiting his signature.
Rep. Moeller’s Statement on HB 246 Requiring Illinois Schools to Include LGBQT Contributions in U.S. History Studies
State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, issued the following statement in response to the signing of House Bill 246, which bars discrimination in state-funded textbooks in Illinois schools and requires schools to include instruction on the contributions of the LGBQT community in U.S. history studies:
“Today is an important and historic day for fairness and compassion in Illinois. I was proud to sponsor House Bill 246 and am delighted to see it become Illinois law.
“The new law’s goal is simple: to understand that people from different backgrounds deserve the same opportunity to learn and be recognized for their contributions in society as everyone else.
“Historically, gay and transgender people have been treated as second-class citizens: persecuted, discriminated against and forgotten. As our society has evolved to rectify these injustices, our school teaching should as well. I hope Illinois schools will embrace the opportunity to show that we all are equal and valuable through this commonsense update to their curriculum.
Illinois becomes the 5th state in the nation and first in the Midwest to adopt this change. I thank Gov. Pritzker for his leadership in signing and supporting this legislation, Sen. Heather Steans for her leadership in the Senate, my colleagues in the Legislature who voted for it, and the dedicated advocates – led by Equality Illinois, the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, and the Legacy Project – for their commitment to ending discrimination and helping cut through the uninformed and misguided arguments on House Bill 246.
“I look forward to continue working on legislation that recognizes we all matter, and we all deserve to be able to live happily and find our own path forward.”
This is a release from Illinois State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin.