Prairie State Wire

David E. Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, is weighing in on the Illinois High School Association's (IHSA) refusal to comply with a federal executive order that bans biological males from competing in female sports, calling the organization's stance “radical,” “anti-science” and harmful to young women and girls.

Smith said the IHSA’s decision to uphold a gender identity-based participation policy ignores biological realities and disregards the legitimate concerns of parents, students and athletes across Illinois.

“The IHSA is shamelessly defending a political agenda that is not only radical, anti-science, and anti-women, but one that directly harms and impacts a woman’s right to privacy and safety and her future ability for scholarships,” Smith told Prairie State Wire.  

Smith warned that embracing gender identity over biological sex has far-reaching consequences, both for individuals and for society at large.

“Dignifying trans ideology as normal will go down in history as a travesty,” he said. 

Smith said the IHSA’s position sends a harmful message to young women.

“The IHSA’s decision to prioritize the radical transgender agenda is worse than just ignoring federal efforts to protect females in sports,” he said. “These public officials are telling young girls and young women that their privacy, their safety, their access to championships and scholarships for their achievements don’t matter. They are promoting the false reality that pretends that biology is subservient to disordered thinking.” 

The controversy follows the Feb. 5 executive order signed by President Donald Trump, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” 

The order cites Title IX and recent court rulings to establish a federal mandate that sports designated for women must be reserved for individuals assigned female at birth. Noncompliant institutions, under the order, face the loss of federal funding, and federal agencies—including the Departments of Education and Justice—have been instructed to enforce the policy.

But the IHSA, a private nonprofit organization that does not receive state or federal funds, announced it would not enforce the order, citing the Illinois Human Rights Act. That law, supported by the Illinois Attorney General and Department of Human Rights, allows transgender biological males to compete against females according to their gender identity.

The IHSA noted it would not budge on allowing biological males to compete in female sports in its response to a March letter from 40 Republican state legislators seeking clarification on its policy. 

IHSA Assistant Executive Director Matt Troha said the association has not changed its policy and remains bound by Illinois law “that has existed for many years.”

The decision comes amid federal investigations into Illinois schools, including Deerfield Middle School, where female students say they were forced to undress in a locker room with a transgender student—an incident that sparked nationwide attention and Title IX investigations by the Department of Justice into several Illinois institutions. 

Smith called the IHSA’s stance both dangerous and scientifically unfounded.

“The IHSA’s dismissal of biological reality that ignores the fact that men have significant physical advantages over women in sporting competitions is shocking, if not laughable,” Smith said. “A quick Internet search yields a plethora of examples of how men are biologically stronger and faster than women. This is why it is so important for the IHSA to adhere to biological reality and science – because if they don’t, women will get hurt.”

He cited the case of Payton McNabb, a North Carolina volleyball player who suffered a brain injury after being hit by a spike from a transgender opponent, and cyclist Hannah Arensman, who left the sport after being edged out by transgender competitors.

“The IHSA is absolutely out-of-step with parents, students and taxpayers,” Smith said. “A 2025 New York Times/Ipsos Poll (Jan. 2-11, 2,128 adults) found that 79% of respondents, including 94% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 64% of Independents, believe transgender women (described as ‘athletes who were male at birth but currently identify as female’) should not compete in women’s sports.”

He went on to address transgender ideology more broadly.  

“Sex change is physically impossible,” Smith said. “Men can never become women and women can never become men. Our brains are designed to connect us with reality. Transgender ideology is 100% fantasy.”

Smith referenced a 30-year Swedish study that found individuals who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery had a suicide rate 20 times higher than comparable peers. 

“Many who took hormones and underwent irreversible surgery did not find the wholeness and fulfillment that they sought,” Smith said. 

All 10 members of the IHSA Board of Directors—comprised of principals and athletic directors from high schools across the state—have declined requests for comment from Prairie State Wire.