Tag Archives: Illinois

Via Equality Illinois: “Ending conversion therapy is our top priority in the legislature right now. Trying to change the unchangeable, our innate sexual orientation and gender identity, should not be attempted because it risks the health of LGBT youth,” said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. “We thank Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the chief House sponsor of HB217, for protecting the …

On Memorial Day the nation’s first-ever federally approved monument to LGBT veterans will be unveiled at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery near Chicago. Via the Windy City Times: The monument, which was spearheaded by Stanley J. Jenczyk, junior board member of the Chicago chapter of the American Veteran’s for Equal Rights ( AVER ), was approved late last year by …

Longtime LGBT rights foe Cardinal Francis George has died of cancer at the age of 78. Via USA Today: In recent years, his reputation was that of a conservative battling to stem the tide of secularism that witnessed millions of Catholics leaving the faith. One obituary even labeled him as “the American Ratzinger,” referring to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the reactionary …

Via the Daily Beast: A former donor to disgraced ex-Rep. Aaron Schock will file a class action lawsuit against him Wednesday morning, in hopes of preventing the Illinois Republican from using campaign funds for his legal defense. Howard Foster, a Chicago lawyer and former donor to the congressman, will be the lead—and so far, only—plaintiff in the case against Schock, …

Homocon Kevin DuJan and creationist loon Megan Fox have won a $55K settlement from a Chicago-area library over their FOIA complaints that porn was being viewed on its computers. The Chicago Tribune reports: Orland Park Public Library officials have approved a settlement with two patrons who sued the library over alleged transparency law violations in an ongoing dispute over the …

Thanks in part to his own Instagram account, Rep. Aaron Schock is facing more questions about his spending on travel and personal expenses. Via the Chicago Tribune: Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, a rising Republican star already facing an ethics inquiry, has spent taxpayer and campaign funds on flights aboard private planes owned by some of his key donors, The Associated …

Via the Chicago Tribune: Several thousand people were evacuated from a Hyatt hotel in suburban Rosemont when an “intentional” chlorine gas leak at a convention led to 19 people being hospitalized early Sunday morning. The incident happened around 12:40 a.m. at the Hyatt, at 9300 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in Rosemont, according to a statement from the Rosemont Public Safety …

Demented homocon horcrux Kevin DuJan and creationist loon Megan Fox are being sued for defamation by a Chicago-area library staffer. Via Raw Story: Fox, a blogger for PJ Media and YouTube commentator, has aggressively campaigned for more than a year to change library policies in Orland Park after she and an associate claimed they saw men viewing porn at the …

Freshman House Rep. Brad Schneider is facing former GOP House Rep. Bob Dold, who had one term in office before losing to Schneider in 2012.

Hundreds of Catholic parishioners yesterday attended an “emotionally charged” meeting about their former music director, who was fired after using social media to announce his engagement to a man. Many of the roughly 700 people who attended appeared to support Colin Collette, who received a standing ovation when he entered the sanctuary. Members of the media were not allowed to …

Details.

Members of an SPLC-certified hate group have sued a Chicago-area community college, alleging that their First Amendment right to be bigoted douchebags has been violated. Wayne Lela and John McCartney, members of Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment, allege they were not allowed to pass fliers out to students on one of Waubonsee’s campuses even though they did not violate …

Via Huffington Post: Though Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner is not planning to attend Sunday’s massive Gay Pride Parade in Chicago, his presence will still very much be felt — thanks to a giant banner erected by LGBT advocates. Equality Illinois and a number of associated community members and elected officials on Thursday unveiled a two-story banner featuring a …

“Holding hands beneath thousands of soapy floating bubbles, forty couples locked lips during a group wedding ceremony in Rogers Park to celebrate the first day of marriage equality in Illinois.”

Same-sex couples have been able to marry in more than a dozen Illinois counties following a February ruling that initially applied only to Cook County. The rest of the state’s counties will follow at the end of this week when SB10 formally goes into effect statewide on June 1st. Via the Windy City Times: Representatives from Champaign, Christian, Crawford and …

A Catholic priest who strongly opposes same-sex marriage has been arrested for exposing himself at an Illinois gas station. From the Chicago Tribune: Monsignor Aaron R. Brodeski, 44, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of public indecency stemming from an incident on March 27 at the Road Ranger Gas Station, 4980 S. Main St., said Winnebego County Sheriff Deputy Chief …

Liberty Counsel is ever so pissed that all those anti-gay GOP committee members lost their seats in Illinois. (Tipped by JMG reader Gustav)

The Illinois Family Institute, an SPLC-certified hate group and the former home of Peter LaBarbera, is responding to supporters who are angry that they posted an old “loathsome video” of Dan Savage. From IFI head Laurie Higgins: Why view photos from Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen? Why view photos of lynchings? Why view photos of aborted babies? Why view the photo of …