Lake Forest and Lake Bluff families wondering whether their children's schools face a federal probe over gender-identity policies now have an answer: none of the three local districts appear on the U.S. Department of Justice's list.
The question resurfaced locally on Wednesday, July 9, when Moms for Liberty Illinois posted on X that the Illinois Human Rights Act permits students to access school facilities based on gender identity and offered to connect affected families with attorneys. The organization's Lake County chapter is chaired by Marsha K. McClary.
What the DOJ is investigating
The DOJ's Civil Rights Division announced on Wednesday, April 30 that it opened investigations into 36 Illinois public school districts. The probes examine whether districts include "sexual orientation and gender ideology" content in classes from pre-K through 12th grade, whether parents can opt out, and whether girls' sports teams and single-sex facilities are restricted by biological sex. Districts found in violation could lose federal funding.
The only Lake County district named is North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Harmeet Dhillon, the DOJ's Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, said in the April 30 announcement that the department "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."
The DOJ did not explain why the 36 districts were selected. Spokesperson Katie Kenlein told Axios Chicago on Tuesday, May 6 that the agency had nothing to share beyond the press release.
What state law requires of local schools
Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, public schools cannot deny a student access to restrooms, locker rooms, or changing rooms that correspond to the student's gender identity. The law also prohibits blanket bans on transgender girls participating on female sports teams. The Illinois Department of Human Rights reaffirmed those requirements in non-regulatory guidance published in March 2025.
District 67 and District 115 both publish nondiscrimination policies on the Lake Forest Schools website that explicitly list "gender identity" as a protected class and cite compliance with the IHRA. Lake Bluff District 65 does not appear to publish a policy specifically addressing gender identity in its publicly available documents.
The federal-state tension
The investigation creates a potential bind for Illinois districts. State law mandates gender-identity-based facility access; the federal probe examines whether that same access may violate other students' rights under Title IX. Axios Chicago reported that districts could face conflicting legal obligations between state and federal requirements.
Gov. JB Pritzker called the investigation "yet another sham investigation carried out by an office with no regard for the rule of law," in a statement to the Chicago Tribune on April 30.
A Lake County precedent
In December 2025, Deerfield Public Schools District 109 faced a separate DOJ Title IX investigation after a parent alleged her daughter was required to change in a locker room with a transgender student at Shepard Middle School. District 109 said its policies comply with state law and Illinois State Board of Education guidance. The outcome of that investigation has not been publicly reported.
What's next
The DOJ has not announced a timeline or reached any conclusions, and no local district has publicly responded or scheduled a board discussion on the topic.
