Lanetta M. Thomas, candidate for the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education District 9, said schools should not hide students’ gender identity decisions from parents and that taxpayers should not have to fund what she called “cosmetic surgery” for sex organ changes.
“When you came out, you had either one or the other," said Thomas on the Lake Forest podcast. “That's the truth of it. So, to be in this world now where you're telling kids that they can't, outside of their parents, because the school does not have to tell their parents that they want—that Leonardo wants to be Leonard now.”
“To say that we have to, as taxpayers, pay for gender identity, to suppress their puberty, they're making marketing fails to suppress puberty, that the school will allow them to take and to get to have their sexual reproductive organs changed," said Thomas. “And we have to pay for it. I don't believe that taxpayers should have to pay for people to change their sex organs. That's a cosmetic surgery.”
This full episode is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
This episode of the Lake Forest Podcast features Zoe Leigh, co-founder of Chicago Flips Red, and Lanetta M. Thomas, candidate for the Chicago Board of Education, discussing issues such as eminent domain, CPS politics, crime, financial accountability, and the broader impact of Chicago’s decisions on Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. The conversation highlights how Chicago’s policies on taxes, schools, and safety create ripple effects across the North Shore, directly influencing local communities. Both guests share their backgrounds, political involvement, and perspectives on why Chicago’s future direction matters beyond city limits.
The Lake Forest podcast is hosted by Pete Jansons, an entrepreneur with a background in neuroscience; Rick Lesser, an attorney and former village trustee; and Joe Weiss, who has experience in multiple government and public service positions. The podcast covers topics and politics impacting the area around the city of Lake Forest, according to the Lake Forest podcast website.
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