Illinois Lawmakers Pass Bill Adding Sexual Orientation to Discrimination Law

by Ed Thomas
January 13, 2005

(AgapePress) - Conservatives in Illinois suffered a major setback Tuesday when liberals in the House of the Illinois General Assembly garnered enough votes to send a bill giving special protection to homosexuals on to the desk of Democrat Governor Rod R. Blagojevich to be signed into law.

Senate Bill 3186 needed 30 votes in the Senate and 60 in the House to pass, and it got them, with five votes to spare in the House. Some conservative pundits are chalking the bill's passage up to effective strategy from supporters of the legislation and a lack of action from pro-family politicians that might have opposed it.

David Smith, Senior Policy Analyst for the Illinois Family Institute, says he is disappointed that pro-family leaders did not vocalize their opposition and act strongly enough to resist the bill, which was strategically presented in the General Assembly on the last day of the legislative session. Now, because pro-family forces failed to act decisively, he points out, "the words 'sexual orientation' have now been added to the Illinois Human Rights Act, equating that -- sexual behavior or sexual orientation -- with race, ethnicity and gender."

Smith is one of many Illinois conservatives who are concerned that the new measure could eventually be used to strip the freedoms of religious organizations and other groups that speak out in favor traditional, biblical values. He says that objective -- along with increasing the ability of homosexuals to enter into every cultural arena of mainstream America -- was the intention of the bill's co-sponsors all along.

The IFI spokesman says the supporters of SB 3186 contend it is right of homosexuals "to practice and get hired anywhere, even in the Church." Apparently, he adds, proponents of the legislation feel that special protection for homosexuals is perfectly legitimate and "should trump religious freedom of the Church to be able to practice and associate the way it should."

Now that the General Assembly has passed the bill, Smith says SB 3186 could be extended beyond its original areas of concern -- housing and job opportunities -- to be applied to such issues as cross-gender public facilities and same-sex marriage rights. Worse yet, the pro-family leader warns, the legislation could be used in attempts to control churches and their hiring policies -- something he says the bill's co-sponsors made it clear they were pursuing.

Blagojevich has already expressed his public support for SB 3186. Smith says the Democratic governor will most likely sign the bill at a media event within the next week, making Illinois the 14th U.S. state to codify special protection for homosexuals by making sexual orientation part of its anti-discrimination law.