Illinois GOP Still Doesn't Want To Support Rights Of Women, Same-Sex Couples
By aaroncynic in News on May 23, 2016 8:03PM
Illinois governor Bruce Rauner last February in Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Illinois GOP chose to rally behind terrible ideas at their convention in Peoria over the weekend. For starters, state Republicans voted to reaffirm their refusal to accept same-sex marriage, as the Daily Herald reports.
"Are you prepared to remove the notion that … Republicans may have a diversity of views on this issue?" asked Ryan Higgins, head of the Schaumburg Township Republican Organization. "And if so, are you prepared to defend that exclusion to fellow Republicans?"
Higgins was booed, shouted down and told to go home for proposing the party accept any definition of marriage that is other than the union of one man and one woman. Though same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states, the party feels the need to put its energy towards setting the clock back on civil rights.
“There’s no groundswell out there amongst Republicans to change the definition of marriage,” State Rep. Peter Breen told the State Journal-Register. "It’s a core Republican principle across the country.”
State Rep. Terri Bryant argued that reaffirming the notion that some people shouldn’t have the same civil rights as others based on their sexual orientation was key to winning against Democrats in 2016.
“If there’s no distinguishing factor between the Democrats and us, how do I win? How do the downstate Republicans win?” she asked, according to WBEZ. “We have to have a distinction. I implore you, I implore you, so we can pick up the extra seats we need in the House.”
The offical party platform reads that the “ideal environment for children is within a two-parent family based on the principle of marriage between one man and one woman.”
In keeping with the Grand Ole Party’s tradition of marching backwards in lockstep, a committee also recommended restating a call to overturn Roe V. Wade. The recommendation came after a debate on whether or not to allow support for abortion in unspecified circumstances. "You give an eighth of an inch, the game is over," said committee member Dave Carrabotta, according to the Tribune.
Meanwhile, the Illinois GOP also rallied around supporting presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. While some where enthusiastic about supporting a fascist carnival barker’s quest for the White House, others treated him more like Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series, refusing to say his name. “What we can’t do is have Hillary get in the White House,” said Gov. Bruce Rauner. “No way Hillary’s getting in the White House. No way. No way.”
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, who supported Marco Rubio, swallowed what was probably a bitter pill as well. “The people have spoken, and that’s what they want,” said LaHood, the AP reports. “When we think about uniting, our worst candidate is better than the alternative any day of the week.”