Illinois Republican Party Chair Backs Same-Sex Marriage

January 2, 2013

Comments

The head of Illinois’ Republican Party has come out in support of efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in the Land of Lincoln:

On Wednesday, Pat Brady, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said he was putting his “full support” behind marriage equality legislation pending in Springfield.

“More and more Americans understand that if two people want to make a lifelong commitment to each other, government should not stand in their way,” Brady said. “Giving gay and lesbian couples the freedom to get married honors the best conservative principles. It strengthens families and reinforces a key Republican value – that the law should treat all citizens equally.”

“Importantly, the pending legislation would protect the freedom of religion,” Brady added. “No church or religious organization would ever be required to perform a union with which it disagrees.”

The times they are a changin’

35 responses to “Illinois Republican Party Chair Backs Same-Sex Marriage”

Ron Beasley

January 2, 2013 at 6:47 pm

It would appear that the radical Christians are losing there grasp on the Republican Party.
swbarnes2

January 2, 2013 at 8:05 pm

Brady said he was making the calls as a citizen, outside of his official role with the Illinois Republican Party.

A letter from 1,700 state religious leaders also was sent to every Illinois lawmaker deriding claims that the proposal wouldn’t interfere with religious freedom. .

I’ll believe that Republicans will go against their chosen platform when it happens, and not a moment sooner. Standing athwart history and yelling “Stop!”, remember?
anjin-san

January 2, 2013 at 8:19 pm

Good News!
An Interested Party

January 2, 2013 at 10:14 pm

It would appear that the radical Christians are losing there grasp on the Republican Party.

Oh? Let’s see when the Republican Party chairman in, say, Mississippi or Kansas or Idaho does the same thing as Brady…
superdestroyer

January 3, 2013 at 6:45 am

It is amazing how naive many moderate Republicans are when it comes to the political power of homosexuals. When a Republican says something so incredibly stupid as “No church or religious organization would ever be required to perform a union with which it disagrees” when what he really means is that No church or religious organization will be required to perform a union with which it disagrees until the homosexuals have enough political power to force them to”

With people this stupid in charge of the Republican Party in Illinois, it makes sense that the Repubicans are a minority party in a state that is riddled with corruption and graft. I wonder if Mr. Brady understand that homosexuals are one of the most liberal groups in the U.S. and that no matter how much Republicans pander to them, homosexuals will always be overwhelming backers of the Democratic Party.
Herb

January 3, 2013 at 8:04 am

@superdestroyer: I always wonder how messages from your alternate universe somehow reach ours. How are you doing that? Are you using some kind of special machine?
superdestroyer

January 3, 2013 at 8:43 am

@Herb:

You may want to go ask Scott Brown how pandering to homosexuals worked out in the last election. Any Repubican who believes that pander to some of the most liberal groups in the U.S. will help anyone who actually votes for the Republican Party is an idiot.
Ben

January 3, 2013 at 9:22 am

@superdestroyer:

Who cares if homosexuals will keep voting Democrat? What does that have to do with supporting or not supporting this legislation? Must every action a politician takes be “pandering” to an interest group in order to get votes? Can’t any officeholder ever just do something because it’s the right thing to do?
Timothy Watson

January 3, 2013 at 9:25 am

@Herb: I’ve seen such a machine on Fringe but it linked to a more advanced United States.
lankyloo

January 3, 2013 at 9:41 am

One of the great things about living in the Land of Lincoln is that most of our Republicans, especially those in leadership, are perfectly sane people who want to govern responsibly. Even though I disagree with a lot of their proposals and policies, they are not ideologues or nihilists. We still have those as well, but the only occasionally pop up to try and screw the country (remember Alan West for Senate?). In this light, I’m glad that Mark Kirk is coming back to the Senate, because he is exactly the kind of Republican that our country needs more of at the national level.
Herb

January 3, 2013 at 10:01 am

@superdestroyer:

“Any Repubican who believes that pander to some of the most liberal groups in the U.S. will help anyone who actually votes for the Republican Party is an idiot. “

It’s simple: Being attracted to someone of the same sex does not make one liberal.

But having a “conservative” political party dedicated to messing up one’s life might.

Plenty of gay people vote Republican. Plenty more would in the future if they dropped their anti-gay stance.
Timothy Watson

January 3, 2013 at 10:02 am

@lankyloo: Don’t forget George Ryan and however many deaths he’s indirectly responsible for.
Gromitt Gunn

January 3, 2013 at 10:25 am

@superdestroyer: Exactly how many non-Catholics has the Catholic Church in the US been forced by the government to marry? When was the last time an Orthodox rabbi was forced to marry two non-Orthodox Jews in this country?

(Hint: a) None. b) Never.)
Sejanus

January 3, 2013 at 10:39 am

@Gromitt Gunn: “When was the last time an Orthodox rabbi was forced to marry two non-Orthodox Jews in this country?”

I predict that superdestoroyer’s reply to this sentence will be some kind of a ZOG conspiracy theory.
Rob in CT

January 3, 2013 at 11:13 am

Hell, even if Supe was right about teh gays never voting GOP (I too dispute this: if neither party seemed out to get them, I think you’d see a much more even split*), they’re what, 2-3% of the population?

But add in lots of straight people who think the (old/current) GOP stance (and fairly recent Dem stance) is bigotry, and now you’re looking at more significant numbers.

The big question for the GOP, politically, is if they can hang on to their religious fundies if they moderate on Teh Gay. If they pick up more socially liberal/fiscal conservative voters but lose even more fundies, they lose.

* – it’s really hard to separate the liberalism of gay Americans from the way they have been treated (not just by Rs, but also by Ds – especially back when Republican didn’t automatically mean Conservative and Democrat didn’t automatically mean liberal).
Rob in CT

January 3, 2013 at 11:15 am

@Timothy Watson:

Well, to be fair, it was also a quasi-fascist USA. And it had Walternate. Pass. 😉
legion

January 3, 2013 at 12:06 pm

@superdestroyer: Here’s what bigots like you always fail to grasp – most people don’t actually feel the same way you do. Just do the math – no matter _how_ lock-step the “gay” vote is, there’s still just not that many of them. In order for _any_ of the things you hate to happen, a whole lot of _straight_ people who just happen to not hate gays have to vote for them also. _You’re_ the minority now, SD. Sucks, don’t it?
JohnMcC

January 3, 2013 at 12:21 pm

@superdestroyer: “Any repubican who believes that pander to some of the most liberal groups … is an idiot.” Priceless!

Mr Destroyer, is it too late to sue your elementary school for malpractice?
Kylopod

January 3, 2013 at 12:35 pm

I predict that superdestoroyer’s reply to this sentence will be some kind of a ZOG conspiracy theory.

Well, it dovetails quite nicely with his HOG theory.
stonetools

January 3, 2013 at 1:21 pm

I blame Obama for this Republican’s lapse into heresy. This RINO should be cast out of the Republican Party, till he repent and affirm the one true gospel that homosexuals need to forsake their wicked ways and stop endangering heterosexual marriage. / snark.
lankyloo

January 3, 2013 at 2:43 pm

@Timothy Watson: George Ryan was corrupt and I think that is what you are talking about with the illegal CDL’s, but corruption’s par for the course in Illinois. Though I think you are being very unfair to him, since he is also directly responsible for saving a lot of lives by essentially getting rid of the death penalty in Illinois.
superdestroyer

January 4, 2013 at 5:35 am

@Herb:

However, the dominant homosexual culture is one of liberal politics and attacks any homosexual who happens to be conservative. Just like black culture does not tolerate conservative blacks, homosexual culture in the U.S. does not tolerate conservative homosexuals.
superdestroyer

January 4, 2013 at 5:44 am

@Gromitt Gunn:

If you actually read what I wrote, i stated that as homosexuals gain more political power in the future, they will use force to make churches conduct homosexual marriages. It should be easy to see that the government will eventually go after the tax exempt status of churches that are not politically correct.. Since homosexuals are a very affluent group of educated urban dwellers, it should be easy to see that they will use their political power in the future to bully everyone who does not follow the PC line.

Also, you should look up how Denmark has already forced the Luthern Church to conduct homosexual marriages.
Sejanus

January 4, 2013 at 7:08 am

@superdestroyer: “Also, you should look up how Denmark has already forced the Luthern Church to conduct homosexual marriages.”

1) This is not an argument against same-sex marriage but an argument against the way marriage equality is being implemented in Denmark. Religious people who disapprove of same-sex marriage should strive to amend the law as to exempt clergymen from officiating same-sex couple.
2) This won’t happen in America. The US constitution has a free exercise clause which makes unconstitutional any attempt to force a member of the clergy to perform marriage ceremonies which he does not approve. As someone else already pointed out, American clergymen of all creeds refuse to officiate marriages they disapprove without any kind of legal repercussion. For that matter, there are pastors who refuse to officiate interracial marriages and yet none of them have landed in jail.
legion

January 4, 2013 at 11:32 am

@superdestroyer:

Just like black culture does not tolerate conservative blacks, homosexual culture in the U.S. does not tolerate conservative homosexuals.

Nobody ever said straight white men were the _only_ people capable of bigotry. But straight white men have the freedom to act on their bigotry that other groups do not. This leads directly to another important point:

it should be easy to see that they will use their political power in the future to bully everyone who does not follow the PC line.

You assume that gays with power would treat non-gays just as shabbily as you would happily treat gays now. Not everyone feels that being in a position of power grants the moral authority to treat anyone not in power like crap. You are a bigot, SD – you believe people not exactly like you don’t deserve the same rights you have, and you would not hesitate to take them away. But not everyone _is_ a bigot. People who _want_ the same rights you have don’t necessarily want to take _anything_ away from _you_.

they will use force to make churches conduct homosexual marriages.

I understand that you worry about this, but as @Sejanus already mentioned, that’s not Constitutionally possible in the US – it’s like being afraid of bears suddenly leaping out of your computer monitor and mauling you – it’s not a realistic or rational thing to worry about.
Rob in CT

January 4, 2013 at 11:47 am

Also note that as a tiny minority, Teh Gays can only accomplish things politically if they have large numbers of straight allies. Attempting to force churches to conduct marriage ceremonies by force of law would alienate those allies such that they wouldn’t have the required support.

Such an effort would have me, an atheist with a generally dim view of religion, defending the churches.
Sejanus

January 4, 2013 at 4:24 pm

@superdestroyer: In regards to Brown, he was hardly “pandering to homosexuals” as a Senator. The only positive thing he did for the LGBT community was to help end the filibuster against the DADT repeal act and then vote in favor of the bill. Other than that he’s no different from his fellow party members. He supports DOMA, meaning that he’s OK with the federal government denying benefits to married couples from his state.
Laurence Bachmann

January 4, 2013 at 7:00 pm

@super destroyer…..You figured us out, you sly puss! The King of the Homos is going to force you to marry a man. A Cardinal and Orhodox Rabbi will perform the marriage at gunpoint and the consummation will be televised on Fox News. If only America had listened to prophets like you…and that old bigot in the Vatican.
Sejanus

January 5, 2013 at 7:31 am

@Sejanus: Four more things I’d like to add to my post:

1) As HRC note on their website, Brown “voted to suspend the issuance of marriage licenses in Washington, D.C., after the city council granted marriage equality. ”
2) His ideal judge is Antonin Scalia.
3) Susan Collins, another Republican who’s moderate on LGBT rights issues, has won her reelection bid this year, suggesting that “pandering to gays” did little to hurt her.
4) Look up Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, probably the most pro-gay currently serving Republican representative. “Pandering to homosexuals” sure didn’t hurt her in the polls.
superdestroyer

January 6, 2013 at 8:07 am

@Rob in CT:

I doubt if mocking religion and forcing protestant church will do anything to discourage progressives from giving homosexuals whatever they want. Did Act Up really hurt homosexuals?

In the end, progressives will support the groups that have the most political power and includes homosexuals in the U.S.
superdestroyer

January 6, 2013 at 8:09 am

@Laurence Bachmann:

I have always found it odd that progressives resort to snark so much. Do you really think that snark will convince anyone that homosexuals are not one of the most powerful special interest groups in the U.S.

When was the last time homosexuals did not get what they want? When was the last time homosexuals could not circumvent referendums or legislation by using the courts?
superdestroyer

January 6, 2013 at 8:15 am

@Sejanus:

I guess Brown that Senator Brown of Mass. was not vigorous enough in his support of homosexuals, so that created an excuse for 100% of homosexuals to hate him vote against him, and donate money to his opponent..

You are just making my point that no matter what conservatives do to pander to homosexuals, those homosexuals will always find an excuse to support the most liberal Democrats.

As I stated before and you are proving, being a liberal is just part of the gay culture of the U.S. and there is nothing that conservatives can do to change it.
superdestroyer

January 6, 2013 at 8:18 am

@legion:

I guess you have already forgotten that in California and in Colorado, liberal judges ruled that state constitutional amendments approved by a majority of voters were unconstitutional.

The message has been very clear for years: homosexuals can get whatever they want and there is nothing that conservatives can do about it. Passing laws, having votes, etcs have had no effect in limiting the political power of homosexuals. And homosexuals have been very clear in that they will destroy the professional and personal lives on anyone who gets in their way.
legion

January 6, 2013 at 5:00 pm

@superdestroyer:

I guess you have already forgotten that in California and in Colorado, liberal judges ruled that state constitutional amendments approved by a majority of voters were unconstitutional.

I have not forgotten it, SD, because it actually proves _my_ point, not _yours_. In both states, a significant number of voters chose to try and enact unconstitutional and discriminatory acts. In both states, the courts ruled that this was not allowed. If a mind-controlled majority of voters chose to create laws that forced churches to perform gay marriages, those laws would also be unconstitutional and would be overturned just as readily as the others.

In fact, the things you worry about would be even more blatantly unallowable by American Constitutional government than the anti-gay laws were. You know why? SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. It works both ways, SD. Or do you only favor laws when they protect _your_ interests and nobody else’s?

Additionally, before you start typing that judges would simply cave in to the overwhelming political power of the Ghey Mafia, I would remind you that federal judges are appointed for life, specifically to insulate them from the caprices of daily politics.

Additionally,

The message has been very clear for years: homosexuals can get whatever they want and there is nothing that conservatives can do about it. Passing laws, having votes, etcs have had no effect in limiting the political power of homosexuals. And homosexuals have been very clear in that they will destroy the professional and personal lives on anyone who gets in their way.

Do you not remember that DOMA is _still_ the law of the land? That there are still many states (including the one I currently live in) where employees can be fired for “being gay”, and there’s no legal recourse whatsoever? You are a gullible, paranoid lunatic, SD. Your fears are unrealistic and irrational. You are the living dictionary definition of “homophobia”.
legion

January 6, 2013 at 8:10 pm

@superdestroyer: And on further reflection,

And homosexuals have been very clear in that they will destroy the professional and personal lives on anyone who gets in their way.

Yes, homosexuals will reveal bigots for their bigotry, and this may have detrimental professional consequences. If that seems unfair, I would point out that homophobes will LITERALLY MURDER gay people and those who support them. So f*ck right off.