FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 4, 2013
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)
Defeat of Bill Strengthens Pro-Family Efforts to Preserve Marriage in Next Legislature
Washington, D.C. — The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today praised the Illinois Legislature for refusing to agree to redefine marriage in the waning days of the lame duck session. NOM said that a bipartisan cadre of legislators stood for principle against political pressure.
"We commend the Illinois Legislature for resisting the push of political activists to redefine marriage and to impose a same-sex 'marriage' scheme on the people of Illinois," said Brian Brown. "The entire Senate Republican Caucus stood firm against redefining marriage, and there were several stalwart and principled Democrats who stood firm as well. We are proud of these legislators for doing the right thing and upholding the value of marriage and the concept that children deserve a mother and a father."
Gay activist groups led by Equality Illinois had pledged to push same-sex 'marriage' through the lame duck session of the Legislature, claiming "inevitable" momentum to do so. However, despite enlisting David Axelrod's former firm and reportedly enlisting President Obama to make personal lobbying calls to legislators, they were unable to get the votes to pass it out of the Senate.
"This is a tremendous victory for the grassroots in Illinois," said Brown. "Thousands of people of faith telephoned, emailed and wrote to Senators to oppose the redefinition of marriage. They overcome the machine that so often rules in Illinois politics, and they showed that nothing is inevitable about same-sex 'marriage.' We realize that the fight isn't over and that the battle in the next Legislature will be even more difficult than this one, but we've shown that when people of faith take action, as they did in the lame duck session, Democrats and Republicans can come together to preserve something that is profoundly good for society — true marriage. We will continue to work with pro-family groups to preserve marriage in Illinois, and are strengthened by our victory today."
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To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Jen Campbell (x145), [email protected], at 703-683-5004.
Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).
That's what the liberal Chicago Defender just called the vote—"Too close to call."
Not. Enough. Votes. That's what a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton told The Associated Press late Thursday: "There aren't currently enough votes to pass it on the floor."
What a difference 48 hours makes!
Not 'Inevitable' After All
Listen, we always knew this January would be full of tough, tough battles, with gay marriage advocates pushing gay marriage legislation deep in one-party blue states, like Illinois.
Just a few weeks ago, after the November elections, Equality Illinois was promising to "ride this momentum [for gay marriage] to its inevitable victory in Illinois."
But a funny thing happened on the way to "inevitability"—YOU!
You—and thousands of other decent, loving, law-abiding Americans—spoke up for God's truth about marriage! And yesterday the Illinois Senate adjourned without a vote on the gay marriage bill. The state senate was expected to meet on Friday to vote for gay marriage; but instead, they've unexpectedly cancelled Friday's session and adjourned for the weekend.
"The fate of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage has been called into question," the Windy City Media group reports. "Repeated foibles have raised serious question about whether the vote can pass by January 9."
The AP reports: "Expectations were high that Cullerton's Democrats would approve a gay marriage bill. A committee OK'd the measure Thursday, but backers are uncertain when they'll call it for a floor vote after the proposal hit several unexpected snags."
Heather Steans, the sponsor of the gay marriage bill, told the gay publication The Chicago Phoenix late Thursday that she plans to move the bill on Tuesday... if she can "account for the 30 'yes' votes necessary to pass the bill."
"Right now, we are missing some of our 'yes' votes as I think some of you know," Steans told the Pheonix. "So I think we are likely to be back down here again. Things are very fluid down here as you know."
'Very fluid'... let me translate: she doesn't yet have the votes.
A poll of Illinois voters by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling late last year found only a minority of Illinois voters support gay marriage (47 percent). A poll in September by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, which offered voters the option of civil unions, found just 43.6 percent of Illinois residents approve of gay marriage, with 31.8 percent preferring the current law of civil unions and 20.2 percent saying there should be no legal recognition of such unions.
But despite ongoing public opposition, Pat Brady—chairman of the Illinois Republican Party—on Wednesday threw his "full support" behind the gay marriage bill, calling it "the best conservative principles."
He also claimed religious freedom would be protected.
Right, we heard those promises about Illinois' civil unions bill!
The civil unions bill (passed just 18 months ago) also had the Orwellian title, "The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act." Equality Illinois promised that the bill would protect religious liberty. In fact, they promised that "[the] act would... not impact faith-based adoption agencies or adoption procedures" [emphasis added].
The bill's sponsor, State Senator David Koehler (D-Peoria), also promised on the floor that the bill would not affect Christian adoption agencies. But before the ink was dry, homosexual activists were charging Catholic Charities, Evangelical Child and Family Services and other Christian adoption agencies with "discrimination"—and they succeeded in shutting down these caring Christian services for abused and abandoned children.
Here's the eyewitness testimony of three families who adopted children through Evangelical Children and Family Services, one of the adoption agencies driven from the public square because they honor traditional Christian views on marriage and family:
Is this what Pat Brady considers a 'conservative value'?
David Cameron tried it in Great Britain: by pushing gay marriage, he's instigated what one newspaper called the "biggest rebellion" against his so-called Conservative party in a generation.
Four Republicans in the New York state senate also tried it and cast their votes for gay marriage.
The whole political establishment showered these turncoats with cash and lionized their "courage" for betraying the values of the people who put them in office. But with your help, NOM made sure at election time voters knew about this betrayal of their constituents' core values, and in the end the voters had the last word.
Even the New York Times eventually had to concede, "As four Republican state senators, one by one, agreed to break with their party and cast a politically risky vote to legalize same-sex marriage last year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and gay-rights advocates vowed to do everything in their power to protect them against political retribution. But when the Legislature returns to Albany next month, only one of those four senators will be among those sworn into office."
Coalition Continues To Build In Illinois
Gay marriage was supposed to be a done deal in the Land of Lincoln. But then you and thousands of Illinoisans swung into action. Thank you!
Of course, NOM is only one part of a broad coalition that continues to grow. We are so grateful to the Illinois Family Institute, among many others.
After NOM took the lead, more Illinois conservative voices are standing up to Pat Brady's betrayal, conservative leaders in Illinois have begun speaking up against Pat Brady's betrayal of the Illinois Replublicans.
McLean County GOP chairman John Parrot is quoted by the Illinois Review stating his strong opinion on this matter: "You can put me on the record that I want Pat Brady to step down due to his actions of supporting Gay Marriage, which is against the Illinois Republican Party Platform."
Karen Hayes, another platform committee member, said it more strongly still: "Pat Brady needs to step down now. Sadly, he has embarrassed himself and the Illinois Republican Party."
Republican Party figures in the state are planning a press conference on the steps of the capitol to fight back against Brady's mischaracterization of gay marriage as a "conservative value."
Meanwhile, the voices of more than 1,700 faith communities from all different religious traditions—from Missouri-Synod Lutherans to Mormons to Muslims—swelled into a chorus in a recent joint statement, urging: don't do this; don't redefine marriage. Marriage, these religious leaders wrote, "is the natural order embracing the complementary physical, emotional and spiritual design of men and women."
Cardinal George and the other Illinois Catholic bishops sent a powerful letter to priests urging them to urge their flock to call legislators: "Civil laws that establish 'same-sex marriage' create a legal fiction," George and the bishops contended. "The state has no power to create something that nature itself tells us is impossible."
Meanwhile, late in the week, NBC Chicago's blog was reminiscing about the so-called "first same-sex wedding in Illinois" which took place on Dec. 12, 1995, in the small town of Lanford, which lies between Rockford and Elgin:
Leon Carp, the co-owner of a diner called the Lanford Lunchbox, married his boyfriend Scott at the Lanford Women's Club, in a ceremony that featured Judy Garland impersonators, male strippers, Michelangelo's David wearing a pink feather boa, and a red heart reading GAY LOVE, GAY POWER.
It was a Hollywood fiction, an episode of the comedy show Roseanne. Hollywood came back to Illinois this week, full circle, when the star of TV's Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, appeared to lobby legislators. He sported a special custom bow tie that he is selling to raise money for gay marriage—not a feather boa, but the message that Hollywood supports gay marriage was unmistakably clear.
Hollywood will not have the last word, though, I promise you.
Finally, I owe a word of thanks to Bishop Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, who sent his own letter to be read in parishes this Sunday. He writes powerfully:
Our state's elected lawmakers will soon consider a bill called "The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act." A more fraudulent title for this dangerous measure could not be imagined. The proposed law is, in truth, a grave assault on both religious liberty and marriage. [...]
[N]either two men nor two women can possibly form a marriage. Our law would be lying if it said that they could. The basic structure of marriage as the exclusive and lasting relationship of a man and a woman, committed to a life which is fulfilled by having children, is given to us in human nature, and thus by nature's God. [...]
This so-called "religious freedom" bill would not stop the state from obligating the Knights of Columbus to make their halls available for same-sex "weddings". It would not stop the state from requiring Catholic grade schools to hire teachers who are legally "married" to someone of the same sex. Nor would it protect me, the Bishop of Springfield, if I refused to employ someone in a same-sex "marriage." [...]
Why should we expect it to be otherwise? After all, we would be people who, according to the thinking behind the bill, hold onto an "unfair" view of marriage. The state would have equated our view with bigotry—which it uses the law to marginalize in every way short of criminal punishment."
He ends by calling all people of good will, but especially the faithful Catholics under his care, to "defeat this perilous proposal."
Amen!
Nature and nature's God both teach us that marriage is the union of husband and wife for a reason.
Listen: these are hard tough, fights; I am not going to lie to you. Nothing is certain—except this: we will be there standing as your voice for your values; they knock us down, we get back up, and we will continue to fight for what is right and true and good about marriage.
And, with your help, we are making a huge difference!
The message we need to repeat again and again is this: a unified Republican party allied with conservative Democrats can form a winning coalition to protect marriage -- even in deep blue states like Illinois:
Fox News political editor Mike Flannery just tweeted that Senate President John Cullerton's spokesman says even though the Democrats have a healthy majority in the Senate, without Republican votes, they're unable to get gay marriage or assault weapon ban passed.
Is it possible that Downstate Democrats end up defeating the Chicago Liberals' plans? (Illinois Review)
We are not out of the woods yet, of course -- not by a long shot. That is why it is so important for you to continue your calls and emails.
Illinois GOP State Chairman Pat Brady is getting more and more push back for his choice to betray marriage and core Republican principles:
More conservative leaders within the Illinois Republican Party are voicing their dismay with party Chairman Pat Brady's phone calls to Republican senators urging them to vote in support of legalizing same sex marriage.
"You can put me on the record that I want Pat Brady to step down due to his actions of supporting Gay Marriage, which is against the Illinois Republican Party Platform," McLean County GOP Chairman John Parrot told IR. "How can he be a leader when he doesn’t any longer believe in what our Party stands for? I also question his position with his Church, which is outspoken against gay marriage. He has failed his belief of his Church’s teaching and he has failed his Party."
“Mr. Brady, I ask you on behalf of our Party and for all Conservatives within our Party and the Families of our Party, it’s time for your to resign as our leader," Parrott said Wednesday night.
Parrott is on the County Chairman’s Executive Committee, and serves as Party Chairman of McLean County Republican Party, (Bloomington/Normal). He also served on the 2012 IL GOP Platform Committee.
Karen Hayes, another platform committee member representing the 1st Congressional District in Worth Township, spoke out in defense of the 2012 platform:
... "Pat Brady needs to step down now. Sadly, he has embarrassed himself and the Illinois Republican Party." (Illinois Review)
Please take a moment right now to call the Illinois Republican Party and demand the resignation of Pat Brady. Call them at (217) 525-0011. Let them know it is simply unacceptable to have a party chairman who so openly flauts values central to the party and its platform.
A unified Republican party and conservative Democrats have foiled (for now) the "momentum" to redefine marriage -- please continue to keep up your grassroots lobbying!
With the limited time remaining in the lame duck session, advocates said Thursday night that there isn't enough time to pass the full Illinois marriage equality bill in the lame duck session, so they will focus instead on work in the next general assembly, which begins Jan. 9.Despite passing as an amendment to another bill in the Senate executive committee Thursday evening, advocates decided to regroup and present a new bill in the Senate and House starting next week, the start of the 98 General Assembly.
"There is no way for us to pass the bill in one house and continue in the other house in next assembly," said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, one of several groups pushing for marriage equality in the state. "With just a handful of days remaining in the current lame duck session, time to move the bill through both chambers is not on our side." (Windy City Media Group)
[This post has been updated to reflect the latest information we are receiving from Illinois. -ed]
Even though we scored a victory in Illinois by preventing SSM from passing the full Senate today, our opponents haven’t given up and neither can we.
As expected, proponents of gay marriage passed the bill through the Senate executive committee tonight, allowing a possible floor vote as early as next week. This means we need to redouble our efforts.
Please contact your state senators in Springfield ASAP!
If we keep up the pressure, we have a real chance of stopping this lame-duck movement to impose SSM. This fight won’t be over until the session has been gaveled to a close!
Stay faithful and please contact your legislators.
We've just received word that Illinois Democrats have canceled plans to vote on same-sex marriage this week, unable to secure enough support to guarantee passage. Publicly, they're saying that it's just because some of their supporters are out of town, but we are hearing that your pressure is part of the reason legislators don't want to vote on this issue.
There's a long way to go, but suddenly same-sex marriage in Illinois isn't as inevitable as everyone said.
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Meanwhile, there's plenty of work still to be done, and I need your help right now to keep the pressure on.
You may have already seen the headlines: "Illinois GOP Chair Backs Same-Sex Marriage."
Yesterday, Pat Brady, head of the Illinois Republican Party, endorsed the same-sex marriage legislation pending in Springfield, in prominent opposition to the state and national Republican party platforms. Republican activists and pro-family voters from every corner of Illinois are outraged and calling on Pat Brady to resign as leader of the party.
Marriage and family are central, not just to the Republican Party platform, but to the votes and values of Republicans across the nation. NOM joins with voices from across the state in demanding that Pat Brady step down or be removed as leader of the party.
We are calling on all GOP donors to immediately stop funding to the Illinois GOP, and to let the party know that you will be withholding any future donations as long as Pat Brady is head of the party.
Instead, I would urge you to take those dollars that you would normally give to the Republican Party, and give them to NOM, or to one of the wonderful pro-family groups in Illinois fighting to defend marriage.
In addition to calling on Pat Brady to resign, NOM today pledged to form a brand new PAC, funded with $250,000 to defeat any Republican lawmakers who vote for same-sex marriage. Any Republican in Illinois who betrays the cause of marriage will be casting a career-ending vote and will be held accountable to their constituents.
We will spend whatever it takes — hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary — to remove them from office, just as we did three of the four turncoat Republican state Senators in New York who were responsible for gay 'marriage' passing there. We will not hesitate to support pro-family Democrats to replace them, as our record in New York proves.
Please take a moment right now to call the Illinois Republican Party and demand the resignation of Pat Brady. Call them at (217) 525-0011. Let them know it is simply unacceptable to have a party chairman who so openly flauts values central to the party and its platform.
Also, if you live in Illinois, please make a phone call to your state senator and representative. We have won a major battle today, but the war continues on, as gay marriage activists work to organize support for a vote very soon.
Finally — and this is crucial, especially for those of you outside of Illinois — please keep forwarding this information to your friends and family who live in Illinois. We need every voice engaged in this fight.
The spokesman for the Illinois senate president admits they do not have the votes currently for gay marriage -- and the Republicans stand united in opposition to it. These are more encouraging signs that we can score a big surprise win here if we keep making calls and lobbying the politicians in Springfield:
Illinois Senate Democrats are delaying a vote on a plan that would make the state the 10th in the nation to legalize gay marriage.
Senate President John Cullerton's spokesperson Rakeesha Phelon said the proposal to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples will get a committee hearing Thursday but there aren't currently enough votes to pass it on the floor.
"It is clear that we will need bipartisan support in order to take floor votes on gun safety and marriage equality this week," Phelon said. "We will take some time to work on these important issues to advance them in the near future."
Phelon says she doesn't know how many votes there are for the plan or when it might be called. Some Democrats were not in attendance Thursday. Phelon says no Republicans supported it. (AP)
Proponents of redefining marriage had hoped to ram through this bill as soon as possible. Today they failed to get the votes needed to get the bill to the floor.
The fate of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage has been called into question after Senate Democrats reported that the bill will not come to a vote this week.
Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda, confirmed that Senate Democrats have stated that the vote will not come to pass Jan. 3 or 4.
Repeated foibles have raised serious questions about whether the vote can pass by Jan. 9, when new lawmakers are sworn in.
Senate Democrats had hoped for a vote on Thursday, but they failed to secure the votes to waive a 24-hour rule on the posting of the original marriage bill. Democrats then tacked marriage equality onto an unrelated bill in an attempt to push it through faster.
... The repeated delays have dampened enthusiasm in Springfield, with questions being raised about whether or not the bill will come to a vote this session at all. The House is seen as a greater hurdle than the Senate, and repeated hiccups in the Senate have raised concerns about support for the measure. (Windy City Media Group)
Contact: Elizabeth Ray or Jen Campbell (703-683-5004)
NOM Demands that State GOP Chair Pat Brady Resign or Be Removed
Washington, D.C. — The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today pledged to form an Illinois state PAC and spend $250,000 defeating Republican legislators who vote in support of same-sex 'marriage' in Illinois, just like the group successfully did in New York. The group also called on state Republican Chairman Pat Brady to resign or be removed from office for violating the national GOP platform and urging state Republicans to redefine marriage.
"Any Republican in Illinois who betrays the cause of marriage will be casting a career-ending vote and will be held accountable to their constituents," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "We will spend whatever it takes — hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary — to remove them from office, just as we did three of the four turncoat Republican state Senators in New York who were responsible for gay 'marriage' passing there. We will not hesitate to support pro-family Democrats to replace them, as our record in New York proves."
In New York, same-sex marriage narrowly passed the state senate after four Republicans and two Democrats changed their votes in response to promises of campaign cash from gay marriage activists. NOM targeted all seven for defeat, and was successful in removing five of them, replacing them in 2012 with pro-family Senators. As numerous media have reported, including the New York Times, "As four Republican state senators, one by one, agreed to break with their party and cast a politically risky vote to legalize same-sex marriage last year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and gay-rights advocates vowed to do everything in their power to protect them against political retribution. But when the Legislature returns to Albany next month, only one of those four senators will be among those sworn into office." ("Costly Toll for Republicans Who Voted for Gay Marriage")
In addition to supporting challengers to the four Republicans, NOM also supported pro-family Democrats, helping to re-elect Senator Ruben Diaz and electing a pro-marriage Democrat to unseat Senator Shirley Huntley in the Democratic primary. "Marriage is not a partisan issue," Brown said. "We will stand with pro-family legislators regardless of party affiliation when they stand up for true marriage."
NOM also demanded that state GOP Chairman Pat Brady resign his position, or be removed by Republican delegates as Brady called on GOP legislators to redefine marriage. Brady's position violates the strong pro-marriage plank of the Republican National Committee Platform, and is contrary to the position of every major GOP candidate for president in 2012.
"Pat Brady is unfit to continue as Chair of the state Republican Party and should immediately resign or be removed from office," Brown said. "We urge all donors to cease supporting the Republican Party in Illinois until Brady is removed from his position. His betrayal of Republican principles is unforgiveable and violates the trust of Illinois Republicans. Moreover, it will directly lead to the defeat of any GOP officeholder who follows his lead, as the experience in New York showed."
NOM called on GOP donors to instead direct their financial support to NOM or to other pro-family groups in Illinois.
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To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Elizabeth Ray (x130), [email protected], or Jen Campbell (x145), [email protected], at 703-683-5004.
Paid for by The National Organization for Marriage, Brian Brown, president. 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. New § 68A.405(1)(f) & (h).
An extraordinary show of support for true marriage by a wide spectrum of faith communities in Illinois:
Pastoral leaders representing more than 1,700 faith communities in Illinois – parishes, congregations, churches and Friday prayer locations and Masjids – have signed a letter sent to Illinois lawmakers, urging them to safeguard both marriage and religious freedom by rejecting any legislative efforts to redefine marriage
The faith leaders note that traditional marriage “is the natural order embracing the complementary physical, emotional and spiritual design of men and women.”
They also warn that simply not being forced to preside over same-sex marriages does nothing to protect religious freedom as guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The proposed legislation falls far short of protecting the rights of churches and individuals to freely exercise their religious beliefs and abide their consciences, they note.
“If marriage is redefined in civil law, individuals and religious organizations – regardless of deeply held beliefs – will be compelled to treat same-sex unions as the equivalent of marriage in their lives, ministries and operations,” they write.
All 177 state lawmakers will receive a copy of the letter personally addressed to him/her. Read the entire letter here.
The signees of the letter represent a diversity of faiths, including the Anglican Church in North America, the Catholic Church, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, as well as individual Baptist and Evangelical churches. (ILCatholic)
Not only is gay marriage being pushed during the lame duck session, it is being pushed as an amendment to a totally unrelated bill:
Illinois Senators may be voting on marriage equality as early as this morning, after backers of bill changed course and tacked marriage equality onto another bill already scheduled for vote.Illinois Senators will no longer be voting on the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, a bill that LGBT leaders had been working for months to gain support on. Instead, the legalization of gay marriage had been added as a Senate amendment to HB4963, a bill that deals with automobile rentals and the Collateral Recovery Act, according to Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov.
The move comes after Senate Democrats failed to secure enough votes to waive a 24-hour rule on the posting of the bill Wednesday night. That could have delayed a vote on marriage a day or more.
The amendment will allow the Senate to vote on the bill as early as 11 a.m. this morning.
"Everything can change at a moment's notice," said Cherkasov. "It's still absolutely crucial that people contact their lawmakers." (Windy City Media Group)
Redefined marriage is not a done deal in Illinois! This news is a good reminder that all of our hard work is required to protect marriage:
A bid to legalize gay marriage in Illinois suffered an unexpected setback Wednesday when supporters fell two votes shy of getting the legislative hearing they wanted, meaning no Senate vote on the measure until Thursday at the earliest.
The 28-24 procedural vote showed the razor-thin margins surrounding the contentious issue and clearly caught backers off-guard, thwarting their plan to advance the measure to the Senate floor Wednesday night.
"It's a little bit too soon to conclude it was a fatal blow," said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago).
Late Wednesday, Phelon said the measure would be voted on by the Senate Executive Committee early Thursday.
Earlier in the day, supporters moved to waive a six-day waiting period set out in Senate rules to get the measure heard in committee Wednesday night, but key absences among Democratic supporters and unified GOP opposition torpedoed the effort. -- Chicago Sun Times
As the legislature returns to Springfield, powerful elites—from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to President Obama himself—are pressing lawmakers to approve a measure that would redefine marriage and jeopardize the rights of religious believers across the state.
While most citizens in the Land of Lincoln have been celebrating the Christmas and New Year holidays, gay marriage activists have been busy contacting legislators and lobbying in support of SSM.
The bill is now scheduled for a Senate committee vote as early as this evening.
Have you contacted your state senator and representative yet?
Even better would be a phone call, if you have the time to spare. Letting your voice be heard by your elected legislators is the best way to ensure that they get the marriage loud and clear: the people of Illinois do not want marriage redefined!
So, even if you have already sent your email message (thank you!), please take a moment to make two short phone calls today as well.
The Democratic leadership in Springfield is trying to railroad this bill through during the lame duck session. Our best chance to stop this measure is to get the word out, prompting a massive groundswell of opposition from every corner of the state.
So please call your legislators right now, and then help us spread the word, using the buttons below to post this email to Facebook and Twitter, and forward it to all of your friends and family across the state. Together, we can resist this radical legislative action and all of the disastrous consequences it would entail—but only if we act right away!
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George and his six auxiliary bishops officially entered Illinois' gay marriage fray Tuesday, issuing a letter that urges parishioners to contact state legislators and voice opposition to a legalization bill that could face a vote this week.
"Civil laws that establish 'same-sex marriage' create a legal fiction," George and the bishops wrote in a letter sent to priests Tuesday. "The state has no power to create something that nature itself tells us is impossible."
... While traditional marriage advocates have cited Scripture as the basis of their objections to civil unions and gay marriage, Roman Catholic leaders have been highlighting their belief that same-sex relationships violate natural law.
According to the tradition of natural law, every human being must seek a fundamental "good" that corresponds to the natural order to flourish. Natural-law proponents say heterosexual intercourse between a married man and a woman serves two intertwined good purposes: to procreate and to express a deep, abiding love. For that reason, they say, homosexual relationships are not equal to heterosexual ones.
You can take action and contact your lawmakers here.
With the limited time remaining in the lame duck session, advocates said Thursday night that there isn't enough time to pass the full Illinois marriage equality bill in the lame duck session, so they will focus instead on work in the next general assembly, which begins Jan. 9.Despite passing as an amendment to another bill in the Senate executive committee Thursday evening, advocates decided to regroup and present a new bill in the Senate and House starting next week, the start of the 98 General Assembly.
The spokesman for the Illinois senate president admits they do not have the votes currently for gay marriage -- and the Republicans stand united in opposition to it. These are more encouraging signs that we can score a big surprise win here if we 
A bid to legalize gay marriage in Illinois suffered an unexpected setback Wednesday when supporters fell two votes shy of getting the legislative hearing they wanted, meaning no Senate vote on the measure until Thursday at the earliest.
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George and his six auxiliary bishops officially entered Illinois' gay marriage fray Tuesday, issuing a letter that urges parishioners to contact state legislators and voice opposition to a legalization bill that could face a vote this week.
