BILL PASSES HOUSE 4/10/25 The
House passed a bill Tuesday that would ban public schools from using mascots
that discriminate against people with disabilities. The
bill, if signed into law, currently would affect just one high school in
southern Illinois, Freeburg Community High School in St. Clair County. Under
House Bill 3527, the school could continue using “uniforms or other materials”
it bought before the bill was passed until September 1st, 2028, as
long as it already picked a new mascot, according to the bill’s language. The
bill doesn’t clarify what repercussions, if any, the school would face if it
didn’t change its mascot. The
bill passed through the House on Tuesday with a vote of 71-38. The
mascot was chosen during the 1930s when a reporter coined the term because the
tallest member of the basketball team was just 5 feet, 10 inches tall,
according to the school’s website. The
bill’s main sponsor, Representative Maurice West, said the name was chosen
during a time when freak shows, the exhibitions of human “abnormalities,” were
popular. School
alumni, members of the Freeburg community, along with activists and
organizations, filed more than 1,000 “witness slips” to the General Assembly
for and against the bill. Opponents
said the school’s mascot is a tradition, and there aren’t any students with
dwarfism in the school who might be affected by the mascot. However,
Shelby Holloway, a woman with dwarfism and a national advocate and co-director
of Mascots Matter, said students at Freeburg aren’t the only ones affected by
its mascot. “This
is a statewide issue, and it deserves a statewide solution,” said Holloway
during a March 20 committee meeting. “The Freeburg mascot does not just affect
the students who attend that school. Every time a Freeburg sports team
travels, its mascot’s name is displayed in the schools across Illinois.” Representative
Kevin Schmidt, represents Freeburg and argued against the bill Tuesday on the
House floor. Schmidt
and other opponents said the school board should be in charge of changing the
mascot name, and the General Assembly is infringing on other governing bodies. “I
think this would certainly be obvious that it would be a slam down yes vote for
everyone because it is important that we respect people with disabilities,”
said Representative Amy Elik, during the committee meeting. “But the fact that
it is geared towards one community in Illinois from advocates outside of
Illinois makes this really uncomfortable for all of us, I think.” The
bill still has to go through the Senate.