The Williams Institute

Since 2006, an Illinois state law has prohibited employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, a term which the statute defines to include “gender-related identity, whether or not traditionally associated with the person’s designated sex at birth.”1 However, notwithstanding this statute and several municipal-level anti-discrimination laws that cover sexual orientation and/or gender identity, there is a pattern of unconstitutional employment discrimination in public sector workplaces in the state, both before and after enactment of the 2006 provision.