IFI Condemns Passage of SB 3186, “Gay/Transgender” Bill That Tramples Freedoms of Conscience, Religion and Association.

GLEN ELLYN, Ill.-Peter LaBarbera, Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute, condemned the passage of SB 3186 by the House and Senate, saying legislators have passed a bill that will trample on the freedoms of others, especially people of faith opposed to homosexuality and gender confusion. 

IFI is urging concerned citizens to ask Governor Rod Blagojevich to veto the bill, which passed 30-27-1 in the Senate and 65-51 in the House. 

“SB 3186 opens a Pandora’s Box for the homosexual, bisexual and transsexual agendas in Illinois,” LaBarbera said. “Under the guise of ‘equality,’ legislators have passed a bill that undermines the rights of anyone opposed to homosexual behavior to live out their beliefs. 

LaBarbera said SB 3186’s “religious exemption” is “so big you could drive a semi through it” and said the bill “sets a dangerous precedent by creating civil rights based on homosexual and transgender behavior. He predicted it would lead to legal challenges to churches and groups like the Boy Scouts that oppose homosexuality. 

LaBarbera said SB 3186 would: 

1. create special legal protections for cross-dressers and transsexuals, because its definition of “sexual orientation” includes “gender-related identity.” (“Transgenders” identify as members of the opposite sex.); 

2. be used later by pro-homosexual lawyers and liberal judges to argue for the legalization of homosexual “marriage” or “civil unions” in Illinois (as occurred in Massachusetts); 

3. make it easier for “GLBT” (gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans) teachers to promote the acceptance of their lifestyles in schools, by appealing to the bill’s “nondiscrimination” provisions; 

4. invite lawsuits against private businesses and even churches and religious institutions by “gay” or “trans” activists who could claim they are victims of “discrimination.” 

LaBarbera said Illinois GOP conservatives are furious at the Republican Party leadership’s weak resistance to the homosexual bill (with notable exceptions like Senators Roskam and Lauzen). He said Democrats in the Chicagoland area are the polar opposites of southern Illinois Democrats “who still recognize that homosexuality is not a civil right.” 

“The Chicagoland Democrats’ pro-gay and pro-abortion agendas will continue to push southern Democrats out of the party,” he said. “Ultimately, this trend threatens the Democrats’ control over the General Assembly.” 

IFI is a non-profit group that defends marriage, family and the sanctity of life in Illinois.