(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Human Rights Commission has allowed charges to move forward against two downstate Walmart stores accused of denying service to a transgender man.
Skyler Hyatt filed a complaint against Walmart after a supervisor refused to cash a money order for him back in 2021.
“He presented his ID along with the money order, the name on the ID, his appearance on the ID, and the money order were all consistent,” said Ed Yohnka, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “And yet, the clerk at the store, you know, made a disparaging face [and] refused to catch the money order.”
Hyatt then tried going to another store but found that the order had been red flagged.
Yohnka said commission members found there is substantial evidence of discrimination Walmart displayed by denying services to Hyatt. The decision will allow Hyatt to move forward with charges.
"It really does demonstrate that the protections that we put in place across the state of Illinois, to protect the rights and the ability of people who are transgender, to use public accommodations in a full and complete way, is enforced all across the state,” said Yohnka. “We aren't going to have pockets of areas where discrimination continues to be allowed."
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