GLASFORD – A LGBT student says she feels unprotected after backlash for a school project promoting gay rights. Now, she’s calling on the school district to take action.



The high school senior will be done with classes in a few days, but she wants to see some changes before she’s gone.



For the most part, Maggie Look,18, says she felt safe at Illini Bluffs High School. That’s until a recent assignment in her U.S. Contemporary Issues class caused a stir.

“We had a project called the Priority Issues Project where we had to choose one specific topic that was important to us and choose someway to represent that,” said Look.

Look — who along with some of her best friends identifies as LGBT — drew a sign supporting transgender bathroom rights.

“And at the top of it I wrote, ‘Trans rights are human rights,” and at the bottom I wrote, ‘Everybody deserves to feel safe in the bathroom.’ And to me neither of those seemed like controversial statements,” she explained.

But to some, they were. Students took pictures of her project and those images started circulating on social media.

“Some underclassmen posted some offensive things on Snapchat including like a picture of my project and using some derogatory language and slurs,” said Look. “I was immediately thinking, wow. Hurtful comments that is bullying.”

But when concerns were brought to the administration, Look claims the school did not take action on what she thinks is a clear sign of bullying.



So she thought the police could help. But when an officer arrived to Look’s home to hear her concerns, he reportedly made ‘insensitive’ comments about her project. She eventually spoke to a liutenant in the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department. The department says the officer has been counseled, and in regards to Look’s complaint — no laws were broken because none of the messages were threatening or directly addressed to her.

Look says it is not about getting the other students in trouble, but she believes the district should be mindful of the precedent set by this situation.

“It’s that the fact that they didn’t get into any trouble,” she said. “It’s telling them that their behavior is okay and it is telling other people that their behavior is okay.”

The Illini Bluffs CUSD 327 requires students and parents sign an Internet and Acceptable Use Contract, which details expected behaviors for students online at school. Of the “unacceptable” behaviors include: “accessing, submitting, posting, publishing, or displaying any defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, harrassing, or illegal material.” {C}{C} However, it is unclear if this applies to cell phone use and if any of the above covers what Look describes by the district’s definition.

{C}{C}

We reached out to Illini Bluff School District, which in a statement wrote, “The District is aware of the issues and has taken action to address these issues. This has included specific actions, and also more general action including arranging for the Safe Schools Alliance to conduct training in the District relating to these issues in May. Our goal is to provide information to students and staff concerning the rights of all students attending school in the District. The safety and security of our students remains a top priority.”

Illinois Safe Schools Alliance promotes safety, support and healthy development for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Illinois schools and communities, through advocacy, education, youth organizing and research, according to its website.

Look graduates in a few days and says she wants a more welcoming campus for students like her.

“You know not everybody is LGBT and out. You know there are enough people who are not able to speak up for themselves out of fear or just not having the ability to,” she said.