By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Three Illinois organizations have been identified as connected to a national network that helps families reach pediatric gender transition treatments banned for minors in 27 states, according to a City Journal investigation by Christina Buttons.
The network operates through the Campaign for Southern Equality, a North Carolina-based nonprofit that runs referral services connecting families to clinics and providers outside their home states. The investigation names Chicago Community Trust, Choices Medical Services in Carbondale and Outpatient Family Medicine Transformed in Bloomingdale as participants tied to the network.
Chicago Community Trust is a major donor to the Campaign for Southern Equality, according to the investigation. The trust received $6 million from the state government in 2021, according to the report, though the investigation does not specify how that funding was used.
Choices Medical Services in Carbondale received $1.1 million in state funding over three years and provides cross-sex hormones to patients 16 and older, according to the investigation. The Campaign for Southern Equality awarded the clinic $45,000, the investigation found.
Outpatient Family Medicine Transformed in Bloomingdale, run by physician Jessica Lipinski, charges a $170 monthly membership fee for minors seeking gender transition care, according to the investigation. An unnamed referral coordinator with the Campaign for Southern Equality recommended the Bloomingdale practice to callers seeking care for younger children, the investigation found.
Radio host Amy Jacobson said on air that she added financial details about the Illinois organizations beyond what appeared in the original City Journal article, including the state funding figures for Chicago Community Trust and Choices Medical Services.
The investigation comes as 27 states maintain bans or restrictions on gender transition treatments, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries, for minors. Illinois does not have such a ban, which the investigation says has made the state and its organizations part of the broader referral network for families from states that do.
None of the three Illinois organizations named in the investigation has issued a public response. The Illinois Department of Human Services, which oversees some state grant funding, was not cited as having responded to the findings.
