As Illinois faces a growing political divide over the issue of trans athletes in girls' sports, the state's lawmakers addressed the topic in a heated back-and-forth on the floor of the state capital on Wednesday. 

The state's General Assembly members broke out into aggressive arguments over the issue during the session. One Democrat member even made the unsubstantiated argument that laws to keep trans athletes out of girls' sports would result in genital inspections of children. That argument was initially used by U.S. House Democrats who voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in January. 

The Illinois lawmaker to repeat the unsubstantiated claim was Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, who accused GOP colleagues of being "obsessed with children's genitalia." 

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"My colleagues on the other side of the aisle feel the need to share their obsession with children's genitalia once again," Cassidy said. "We are grown adults, and we are picking on kids because you are obsessed with children's genitalia." 

Cassidy's statement was then pushed back upon by Republican Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Southern Illinois. Wilhour called out the state's Democrats as a whole for supporting gender transitions for minors and pointed out a recent track meet in Naperville, Illinois, that sparked national outrage after a biological male won a girls' race. 

"These folks up here accuse people of being obsessed with kids' genitalia because they have the audacity to believe that boys should not be competing in girls' sports. But I just want to point out here that there is only one party, the Democrat Party, that is supporting and encouraging minor children to use life-altering and often unreversable hormone blockers," Wilhour said. 

"What we've seen in Naperville, that's not fair competition. Not only that, it's abusive to these young girls and it's a clear violation of Title IX." 

The recent Naperville incident has put the community and state under a national microscope in recent days. The controversy even prompted a series of heated debates, which went viral on social media, at the Naperville 203 Community School District Board meeting on Monday. 

Democrat state Rep. Anna Stava-Murray, who represents Naperville, defended the trans student who won the race. 

"I find it disgusting when adults try to bully children, and that's what's happening right now," Stava-Murray said. 

"We have adults, including adults on the House floor, who want to take a moment that that child trained for and use it as a political talking point, that's disgusting, you should be ashamed of yourselves. That child did not ask to be in national media. That child's parents didn't consent to that." 

ILLINOIS TRANS ATHLETE CONFLICT GROWS AFTER TENSE TRACK MEET AS STATE REPUBLICANS CALL FOR TRUMP'S HELP

Republican state Rep. Adam Niemerg then chimed in to condemn the Democrats for allowing the issue to continue in Illinois, warning of potential cuts to federal funding by President Donald Trump's administration for defying an executive order to keep trans athletes out of girls' sports. 

"To think parents and kids still have to be dealing with this astounds me, after all, there is an executive order banning this kind of thing from happening. Folks, this nonsense has to stop. This insanity is leaving a trail of tears heartache and oppression of girls and women everywhere," Niemberg said. 

"You want federal dollars? Then stop embracing policies that 90 or 95% of the people oppose! Stop letting boys compete in girls' sports! What is so hard about that to understand? I will not stay silent on this issue and neither will parents." 

Niemerg also called out the mainstream media over coverage of the issue. 

"The media needs to do their job and stop acting like this is not happening. Ask the governor directly, press him on this issue, do your jobs, and stop lying about what is going on here in Illinois," he said. 

MAINE TEENS BATTLING STATE DEMOCRATS ON GIRLS' SPORTS BILL AFTER ENDURING TRANS ATHLETE CHAOS IN HIGH SCHOOL

Tension over the issue in Illinois has mounted in recent months before coming to a head in the aftermath of the Naperville incident over the last week. 

There is already one federal Title IX probe in Illinois regarding transgenders impeding on female spaces, but it is only against one school, that was launched back in March. 

Deerfield Public Schools District 109 is facing a probe by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights after middle school girls were allegedly forced by school administrators to change in front of a trans student in the girls' locker room. 

Back in April, the the Illinois High School Association announced in a public letter that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois Department of Human Rights have declared that state law requires that transgender athletes be allowed to participate based on gender identity. So it is continuing to allow biological males to compete with girls, as it has since 2006. 

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., has addressed two letters to the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice asking for federal intervention into the issue. Miller previously sent a letter in April and is now doubling-down on her pleas for the Trump administration to step in.

Miller's latest letter asks U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Education Secretary Linda McMahon to specifically look into the Naperville incident and consider pulling federal funding from the state, as seen in a copy obtained by Fox News Digital.

Even Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher has spoken out on the issue while his home state is ravaged by controversy.

"It's just different because we are men, there are certain things we do better than women, and it's just, number one, it's not fair, and if I had a daughter who had to be forced to play against a man, I would not be okay with it and I would raise hell about it," Urlacher said during an interview on the "Global View" podcast on May 9. "I just don't get it, it's a common sense thing, I just don't see how you can push this and make someone thing they're a different sex."

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• BYD sold more electric cars than Tesla in Europe for the first time in April.
• Sales of the Chinese brand jumped as Tesla grapples with backlash over Elon Musk's politics.
• Tesla's European sales collapsed this year, despite Musk insisting it doesn't have a demand problem.

BYD just scored a major win against Tesla in one of its biggest markets.

The Chinese electric vehicle giant outsold Tesla in Europe for the first time last month, as Elon Musk's automaker saw its sales collapse amid furious backlash over its CEO's politics.

BYD sold 7,230 battery-electric vehicles in April, compared to 7,165 for Tesla, according to JATO Dynamics data.

It's a major milestone for the Chinese brand, and suggests BYD has taken advantage of Tesla's alarming decline in Europe.

New Tesla registrations dropped nearly 50% in April compared to the same month last year, while BYD sales surged 169% over the same period, per JATO Dynamics data.

BYD outsold Tesla without even taking hybrid sales into account. Unlike its rival, Tesla only makes battery-powered EVs.

Tesla has taken a battering this year in Europe, its third-largest market after the US and China. The automaker's European sales were down 30% in the first three months of 2025, according to JATO Dynamics, despite EV sales rising overall.

The automaker has faced a wave of backlash over CEO Musk's role in the Trump administration and endorsement of German far-right party AfD.

In an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk denied Tesla was facing a sales slump. That was despite Tesla reporting its weakest quarter for deliveries since 2022 last month as it retooled factories for the launch of its updated Model Y.

"Europe is our weakest market. We're strong everywhere else. Sales are doing well at this point, we don't anticipate any meaningful sales shortfall," said Musk.

By contrast, BYD is racing to launch new models as it seeks to capitalize on its explosive growth in Europe.

The Chinese brand unveiled the Dolphin Surf, the European version of its cheap Seagull EV, on Wednesday.

The compact hatchback will go on sale in 15 European markets in June, with prices starting at 23,000 euros ($26,000) — about $19,000 less than Tesla's cheapest model.

Having crushed Tesla in China, BYD is eyeing aggressive expansion overseas. The EV giant sold 79,000 vehicles outside China last month, nearly double the total in April 2024.

Golf legend John Daly renewed his longstanding relationship with Hooters for two years, demonstrating his endless commitment to the brand.

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Count John Mulaney among the many who are curious about how Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively’s legal battle will end.

Mulaney, 42, referenced the ongoing drama in a comic bit on the Wednesday, May 21 edition of Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney. 

Actor Peter Gallagher made a cameo as Mulaney’s future self, joking, “John, I came here from the year 2055 to warn you not to fight those three 14-year-old boys. Things get very, very bad for us when that happens.”

“Oh no, do I fall off the wagon?” Mulaney wondered, to which Gallagher, 69, replies, “A few times.”

Taylor Swift Subpoenaed in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Lawsuit

“Wait, you’re from the future,” the Netflix host continued. “What happens in that Justin Baldoni case?”

“I don’t remember,” said Gallagher, prompting Mulaney to complain, “But you’re from the future.”

Gallagher said that “doesn’t mean that I remember everything.”

“Well, did Blake really tell Taylor, ‘Hey, you gotta stick up for me?'” Mulaney asked.

How Taylor Swift Was Pulled Into Blake Lively's Justin Baldoni Legal Drama

“You’re asking me too much,” Gallagher said. “I can’t recall conversations that I wasn’t present for.”

“That’s fair. It’s not like my memory was gonna get better with age, especially with all the cocaine we did in our 20s and 30s,” Mulaney said, to which Gallagher added: “And our 50s.”

 Baldoni, 41, and Lively, 37, have been at odds since December 2024, when Lively sued her It Ends With Us costar and director and accused him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign against her.

Baldoni denied the allegations and subsequently filed his own lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane. In the $400 million lawsuit, Baldoni accused the couple of civil extortion, defamation, false light invasion of privacy and more. Lively and Reynolds have denied the allegations. (A trial is scheduled for March 9, 2026.)

Blake Lively’s Lawyers Seeking Justin Baldoni’s Financial Records

As the back and forth continues, Taylor Swift was dragged into the fight after she was subpoenaed earlier this month.

“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film,” Swift’s rep shared in a statement to Us Weekly on May 9. “She did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.”

The statement continued: “The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, ‘My Tears Ricochet.’ Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”

With Swift’s name coming up in reference to the lawsuit, fans have wondered what that means for the singer’s friendship with Lively. (Swift is the godmother to three of Lively and Reynolds’ four kids: James, Inez, Betty and Olin.)

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