With Marriage Equality on the Line, Darren Bailey Won’t Stand Up for LGBTQ+ Illinoisans

HI INDIA NEWS DESK

CHICAGO, IL — Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the Respect for Marriage Act to enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law. The bill passed 267-157, with 47 Republicans joining every Democrat voting in favor of the bill. Three Illinois Republicans, including close Bailey-ally Mary Miller and Darin Lahood who recently endorsed Bailey, voted no. Last night’s vote comes on the heels of Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas saying the Supreme Court should “reconsider” gay marriage.

“Darren Bailey’s silence on his own party’s refusal to support LGBTQ+ Americans tells you exactly where he stands on standing up for all Illinoisans,” said JB for Governor Press Secretary Eliza Glezer. “Our state needs a champion for equality in the face of a dangerously conservative Supreme Court, and Darren Bailey has proven he is nothing more than an extremist with radically out-of-touch views.”

Bailey recently doubled down on his homophobic rhetoric, saying he believed “in biblical marriage between a man and a woman.”

Meanwhile, Governor Pritzker has expanded the Illinois Human Rights Act to include LGBTQ+ residents as a protected class and expanded infertility insurance to cover LGBTQ+ families. From inclusive LGBTQ+ curriculums in schools, to expanded Medicaid coverage for gender affirming surgery, to requiring single occupancy restrooms be designated as gender neutral––Governor Pritzker has ensured Illinois is a state where we not only “say gay” but do so proudly.