Illinois launches landmark legal hotline for LGBTQ+ folks: "We're fighting cruelty with compassion"https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/08/illinois-launches-landmark-legal-hotline-for-lgbtq-folks-were-fighting-cruelty-with-compassion/Molly Sprayregen (25 Aug 2025)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced a landmark free hotline for LGBTQ+ people in the state. Offered in both English and Spanish, the first-of-its-kind service launches today and will provide legal advice regarding housing, safety, health care access (including gender-affirming care), discrimination, identity documents, and more.
Pritzker announced the initiative, called Illinois Pride Connect, at an August 21 event with the Chicago Legal Council for Health Justice, which will run the hotline. "For us to be able to go on offense, and not be on defense, is what I love about this state," he said.
"Building upon the state's transgender and gender-diverse wellness and equity project that we launched at the beginning of 2024, we will be the only state in the entire United States that provides free legal advice to protect the LGBTQ community," he said.
"IL Pride Connect was shaped by the voices and leadership of LGBTQIA+ communities across Illinois," said Dulce M. Quintero, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), in a statement. "This work is about solidarity and responsiveness – making sure our systems reflect the needs, strength, and lived realities of the people they serve."
The press release from IDHS slammed the "cruel and dehumanizing" legal attacks that the LGBTQ+ community currently faces and declares, "IL Pride Connect was created to meet this moment."
