(UPDATED) Bill Brady's Anti-LGBT Disappearing Act

By Joseph Erbentraut in News on Jul 30, 2010 5:20PM

UPDATE: The folks over at Progress Illinois have since updated the original story (based on research done by Capitol Fax) which showed, "the State Senate never includes the original sponsor’s name in the 'Bill Action' section of resolutions, which would include constitutional amendments." So while Brady has indeed done some back-tracking on issues during the campaign season (as well as some strange alleged Wikipedia shenanigans), as outlined in the original post, this is not an example to be lumped in with the others. The post as originally published remains below.

***

With just over three months to go until election time, it would appear someone with access to editing the Illinois General Assembly's website is working to hide an important piece of Sen. Bill Brady's not-so-progressive legislative history on LGBT issues. Earlier this year, Brady filed a state constitutional amendment (SJRCA 95) which, if passed, would have banned same-sex unions of any and all stripes - be them marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships - in Illinois. And while his name remains listed at the top of the bill's full text, his name has apparently been scrubbed from the legislation's bill status. The inconsistency was first addressed in a letter written by Mark Wojcik, a John Marshall law professor, and published Wednesday by the Windy City Times.

Following up on the allegations, Progress Illinois reports officials from neither Illinois Legislative Information Services or the Senate Journal, which controls the website, knew how the error had happened, though one Information Services official reportedly exclaimed: "Oh my, that should not be."

If foul play allegations are true, this would not be the first time Brady has attempted to distance himself from self-penned anti-LGBT legislation, not to mention other unpopular proposals, during his gubernatorial campaign. In February, his name was removed as chief sponsor of the unsuccessful SB 3447, a bill which would have amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to allow certain non-profit religion-based organizations to discriminate against prospective LGBT employees.

Many activists see Brady's potential election as governor as a danger to the LGBT community, creating yet another obstacle for civil union legislation that has failed to gain much traction in the six years since it was first introduced. Phil Reese, a columnist at The Bilerico Project, wrote his election "would be the single worst set-back for LGBT Illinoisans' rights in a long time."

"Lost not only would be the possibility of having our relationships recognized; up to the chopping block would be gender identity and sexual orientation employment and accommodation protections, now law in Illinois," Reese continued. "[W]e've played the game and followed the orders for a decade, and now we are about to lose it all."