Illinois lacks votes on redefining natural marriage to immoral homosexual marriage
The Illinois legislature will adjourn this evening without voting on a bill to redefine marriage, according to sources in Springfield.
A number of well-placed sources say the House will end its session today without further action, because the bill could not pass. Illinois Public Radio’s Amanda Vinicky tweeted, “Sources say SB10 won’t get called. Lacks votes.”
The decision not to push forward is a major setback for homosexual lobbyists, who hoped the Land of Lincoln would become the 13th state to support same-sex “marriage.”
The Bully Pulpit was defeated by the genuine article.
The Democrat-dominated State Senate voted in favor of gaysame-sex “marriage” on February 14, by 34-21 on a mostly party-line vote. Governor Pat Quinn, who is Catholic, supports the bill and has promised to sign it if it passed.
However, the measure encountered strong resistance from the African-American Caucus, spurred by a backlash within the black church.
In this case, the Bully Pulpit was defeated by the genuine article. President Barack Obama weighed in on the bill numerous times, including at a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee held Wednesday night at the home of his friends Bettylu and Paul Saltzman. “I just want to say for the record it’s something that I deeply support,” hesaid. “I am absolutely convinced it is the right thing to do.”
Nonetheless, black pastors appear to have prevailed. “African-American religious leaders may have convinced enough IL Dems to oppose marriage equality,” writes a piqued writer at the Daily Kos, a far-Left website. “It appears that at least 16 Democrats, including Jackson, are opposed to” the bill.
Catholics, too, did their part to oppose the bill. Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria held a “lobby day” at the capitol on February 20.
Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, forecast that state legislators would find better uses of their time in an op-ed entitled, “Illinoisans Don't Want Gay Marriage,”published in the Chicago Tribune.
“If such support is 'barreling ahead,' why hasn’t the House passed Senate Bill 10 by now, three-and-a-half months after Senate passage on Feb. 14?” Gilligan wrote. “Because millions of Illinois residents oppose redefining an institution that underscores the foundation of our society, and have made that opposition known to their state representatives.”
Religious people had reason to be concerned. S.B. 10 – dubbed the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act” – “would make Illinois the most hostile state in the country to the religious freedoms of people of faith," said Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, based in Chicago.
If lawmakers opt not to vote on the bill this evening – the last of the legislative session – they may try again in the fall session.
