Illinois has launched a first-of-its-kind legal hotline that provides resources for the LGBTQ+ community at a time when they face increased hostility across the US.
Legal services in the US can be costly and inaccessible, and the creation of the phone line is aimed at helping LGBTQ+ people access them despite other federal cuts that may affect them.
“This hotline is a groundbreaking opportunity to receive free, affirming legal support from the comfort and safety of home,” said Joshua Gavel, the executive director of United Pride, an LGBTQ+ resource center in Illinois. “It sends a powerful message,” Gavel added, “that Illinois values and protects its LGBTQ+ residents, and we are proud to see our state leading the way.”
The phone line, called IL Pride Connect, was launched by the Democratic governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker. It includes a digital resource hub, referrals to affirming legal and community services, and advocacy tools. The hotline is staffed Monday through Thursday and can assist people with tasks such as accessing healthcare and changing their name and gender marker on documents.
“In Illinois, we are fighting ignorance with information and cruelty with compassion,” Pritzker said at the launch. “IL Pride Connect will inform individuals of their rights and connect them to health and social services support – making us the only state in the nation to provide free legal advice and advocacy tools to protect the LGBTQ community.”
Pritzker’s installation of the phone hotline comes as other US states and organizations have experienced rollbacks to LGBTQ+ initiatives.
Earlier this month, Trump shut down an LGBTQ+ youth suicide lifeline. Under the 988 national hotline, trained counsellors answered 1.5m online chats, calls or texts from queer youth in crisis. The 988 general hotline remains in place, and specialized services for veterans are still available.
The administration has also axed more than $125m in LGBTQ+ health funding, upending the research field, increasingly targeted books that cover topics such as queer identities or sexuality, and ruled, among other things, that trans athletes cannot compete in women’s sports.
“We applaud Illinois leaders for launching the IL Pride Connect Hotline,” said Carolyn Wahlskog, director of operations and programs at Youth Outlook in Illinois. “In a moment when rights can feel like a moving target, the hotline provides something vital: clear, trusted guidance. We’re grateful to have this resource available for the LGBTQ+ youth and families we serve.”
The hotline was supported by a $250,000 investment from the state and $100,000 in philanthropic support for legal staffing and statewide accessibility. It was developed with the guidance of LGBTQ+ organizations and legal advocates across the state, and will be directed by the Legal Council for Health Justice.
“In today’s political climate, LGBTQIA+ Illinoisans need real, practical support. IL Pride Connect offers exactly that: a statewide hub and live legal hotline staffed by people who understand, who care and who are ready to help,” said Julie Justicz, executive director of the Legal Council for Health Justice, when the initiative was launched.
For Precious Brady-Davis, who serves as a commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and is the first Black out trans woman to be elected to public office in Cook county history, said that the moment offered hope.
“I grew up in Nebraska, where I didn’t see many people who looked like me. Coming out in that environment was isolating, and being told I didn’t belong made the journey even lonelier,” Brady-Davis said.
“From time to time, little glimmers of hope reminded me I was worthy of love and had a place in this world. Those rare moments are why I fight for others to experience not just glimpses, but lasting belonging.”
