Folks, this is a wake-up call to stop “civil unions” in Illinois. Call your state representative and senator today or tomorrow morning (find your lawmakers at www.congress.org). Homosexual lobbyist Rick Garcia (left) predicts passage of faux “gay marriage” (“civil unions”) in our state, but Garcia could be bluffing. And he’s hardly a truth-teller: some years ago he lied to told the Daily Herald that he didn’t know what goes on in the 24/7 homosexual bathhouse down the street from his office in “Boystown,” Chicago. (He called it a “health club” — good one, Rick.)  Kudos to Illinois Family Institute for its battle against “civil unions” and all the fine work it has done in the Land of Lincoln opposing the campaign to turn aberrant sexual behavior into a “civil right.” — Peter LaBarbera

P.S. What is the “AIDS Foundation” doing lobbying for homosexual “civil unions”?

IFI writes:

__________________________________

Homosexual Lobbyists More Determined Than Ever To Pass “Civil Unions”

By Kathy Valente, Policy Analyst, Illinois Family Institute

Take ACTION: Contact your state representative (www.congress.org) to preserve natural marriage in Illinois!!  [Call the Capitol Switchboard in Springfield at 217-782-2000; you can find all of your state and federal representatives by plugging in your 9-digit zip code or address at www.congress.org.]

Rick Garcia, gay lobbyist for Equality Illinois, said yesterday that he “absolutely” foresees both the House and Senate passing HB 2234, the civil union bill, as early as next Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s no secret that Governor Pat Quinn supports the bill and is likely to sign it into law.

If Garcia is right, Illinois will soon bestow its blessing upon homosexual couples, extending to them the same benefits as marriage, only under a different name.

According to CapitolFaxBlog.com, “Equality Illinois has nine lobbyists working as either full-time staffers or contractors to encourage lawmakers to vote in favor of civil unions. Other groups assisting in passing the measure include the American Civil Liberties Union, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Service Employees International Union…” (Emphasis added.)

Take ACTION: Please look up your state representative HERE and then call your state representative to ask him/her to please vote ‘NO’ on HB 2234 and, instead, pass a constitutional amendment to preserve marriage and its unique benefits for one man and one woman.

If they receive dozens of calls from their constituents, they might tell their leadership not to allow the bill to be called. This would be a public record of their vote to be used against them. They fear losing their next race.

We don’t want to cry wolf, but we also don’t want to take for granted that the bill won’t pass. It’s a tug-of-war. There are far too many unethical lawmakers who lack a strong moral compass and who too easily bow to the powers that fill their coffers.

Additional Action:

1. Forward this email to everyone on your Illinois email list.

2. Print and make copies of this half-sheet flyer to pass out at your church, school, among friends and neighbors, etc.

This bill can be stopped, but only if you will make the 2 calls to your state representative and state senator AND if you will pass this information to others. It’s our responsibility to tell those who represent us how we want them to vote. This is still a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

The only difference between marriage and “civil unions” is in name. The rights and privileges would be the same.

Below is an excellent column by Joel Belz, founder of WORLD magazine, answering some of the current Christian gibberish critical of believers who fight for Truth in the public square. (Click HERE for the full column in WORLD.) While we’re at it, here are 20 more good reasons why Christians (or anyone) should never feel guilty about a single-minded focus in countering the homosexual/transsexual activist and pro-abortion lobbies:

1. Human Rights Campaign (largest pro-homosexual PAC);
2. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force;
3. Lambda Legal;
4. NARAL Pro-Choice American (formerly National Abortion Rights Action League, which cruelly defends even later-term abortions).
5. GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation;
6. GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network);
7. NOW (they manage to promote both lesbianism and abortion-on-demand);
8. MTV (obnoxious in its one-sided promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality, etc.);
9. Soulforce and other Bible-twisting, “queer theology”-promoting groups;
10. Radical, reason-challenged, pro-homosexual websites like young Jeremy Hooper’s Good As You blog, Wayne (“Anything But Straight”) Besen’s ‘ex-gay’-hating Truth Wins Out, and lesbian Pam (“Jeebus”) Spaulding’s Pam’s House Blend;
11. National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association;
12. EMILY’s List (a pro-abortion PAC)
13. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (working to open up the military to homosexuals);
14. ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project;
15. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)
16. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
17. Tim Gill (homosexual money-man)
18. Pro-homosexual activist groups like Equality Illinois fighting in all 50 states for radical legislation that undermines marriage;
19. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
20. PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians & Gays), a radical pro-homosexual group.

_______________________________

Belz writes for WORLD:

Stop Apologizing!
It’s not always wrong to be a “single-issue” advocate

It’s become an increasingly frequent reminder to us evangelical Christians not to let our cultural identity be framed by “single issues.”

It was a reminder implicitly included in the “Evangelical Manifesto,” a document whose basic content we at WORLD have applauded but whose political direction I questioned in our last issue. Why are the Manifesto’s backers so ready to join the cultural left in suggesting a guilt trip for those evangelicals who have been preoccupied with the evils of abortion and same-sex marriage?

And if some argue that the rising generation of younger evangelicals is a bit embarrassed by what they think is an out-of-balance focus by their elders, and thinks it’s time to get equally exercised over issues like racism, economic justice, and the environment—well, if that’s the case with our twentysomethings and our teenagers, then maybe we need to go to work and do a better job of explaining to them why we’ve put the emphasis where we have for the last generation and why we believe that it’s time not to lower our voices.

Evangelicals shouldn’t be embarrassed to say boldly and clearly: Abortion and same-sex marriage are uniquely heinous sins. They rattle the foundations of a civilized society. They take a culture in a dreadful direction. We haven’t been wrong to say so. We aren’t fanatics.

Click HERE to read Belz’ entire column in WORLD

By Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH Exclusive

Steamworks, a 24/7 Chicago homosexual bathhouse where men go for anonymous sex with other men — one man said it is “like the Disneyland of gay sex” — is one of the sponsors of a “Queer Prom” tomorrow night for Latino homosexual youth.

A link for the bathhouse is found in web articles promoting the “Queer Prom,” which, ominously, is also open to adults to attend.

The item below in the Chicago homosexual newspaper Windy City Times (May 14, 2008) points to the problem of “gay youth” events, which too often expose impressionable and already sexually confused young people to the hyper-sexualized, adult (male) homosexual culture; note that the event is open to adults:

Queer Prom approaches

Get out your suits and dresses, because Queer Prom 2008 is May 23.

The dance for LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning] youth and friends will take place at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1952 W. 19th, at 6:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by Radio Arte, the National Museum of Mexican Art, CALOR, Steamworks, the Association of Latino Men for Action, the Young Women’s Empowerment, Amigas Latinas, Latinos Progresando, Project Vida and Lambda Legal.

There is a $10 suggested donation for youth, and a $25 suggested donation for adults, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds….

One click away

As you can see by viewing THIS LINK advertising the event, youth are a mere click away from the web page for Steamworks, which caters to men 18 years and older. It appears as if the bathhouse owners are doing smart public relations to attract future clients to their sex business.

Here is a description of Steamworks bathhouse from its website (a photo from the site is at left; emphasis added below):

“STEAMWORKS has been providing men 18 years & older with a clean, comfortable and stylish place to meet other men, relax, workout and play 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 30 years….

“With over 800 lockers and over 230 private rooms, combined with over 10,300 gallons of water in our hot tubs and almost 44,000 square feet of club space… as soon as you walk into any of our clubs, you are grabbed by that inescapable Steamworks sexual energy. Whether you are here hanging out, working out or making out, think of Steamworks as your free space on the game of life - a place where man2man interaction is not only accepted, but encouraged!”

On a homosexual, pornographic website dedicated to helping men find public sites across the country where they can anonymously “cruise for sex” with other men, a satisfied out-of-town customer happily described his sodomitic encounters (he lost track of how many) and said: “I recently traveled to Chicago and before going I came to [the homosexual "cruising" website] as I was looking for some hot experiences. Man! Steamworks is like the Disneyland for gay sex.”

Steamworks, located in Boystown, the Chicago “gay” neighborhood north of downtown, is part of a chain of homosexual bathhouses (the others are in Toronto, Seattle and Berkeley, California, near San Francisco). Although Illinois’ best-known homosexual activist, Rick Garcia, claimed in the media not to know what goes on at Steamworks (located down N. Halsted Street from his offices at Equality Illinois), bathhouses and sex clubs are fixtures of big cities with large homosexual populations. (See this blog post about bathhouses by homosexual activist Keith Boykin, and the interesting comments that follow.)

One big problem with bathhouses — and one of the reasons why Americans For Truth About Homosexuality supports the permanent closure of all bathhouses and commercial sex clubs — is that many men who do not identify as “gay” use them. Places like Steamworks make it easy for bisexuals or men with girlfriends or wives to secretly engage in perversions, thus putting their spouses at risk.

The following description of the “Queer Prom” is found on the website Think Pink Radio (where there is also a web link to the Steamworks website):

Chicago’s only queer prom for youth who want a chance to go to a fancy party as themselves (with a real date) is looking for volunteers. No need to go in a group or with a friend, this is a safe space for anyone in high school or college that identifies as some form of queer. Presented by Homofrecuencia and WRTE Radio Arte, this annual gala will take place at The National Museum of Mexican Art on Friday, May 23, 2008. Interested volunteers can go here and fill out the form. If you are young and just looking to party, tickets are (suggested donation) $10 for youth and $25 for adults. Queer Prom 2008: “Todos Me Miran” will be super fun and filled with tears of joy, as always. … –Stinky Pinky

Mario Diaz, a Hispanic American pro-family advocate and policy director for legal issues for Concerned Women for America, said, “It’s bad enough that there’s a prom which celebrates deviant and unhealthy sexual behavior. But the fact that it’s sponsored by an adult homosexual bathhouse where men meet for anonymous sex is appalling.

“This goes against everything that the Latino community stands for,” Diaz said. “Latino organizations should be working for a better future for Hispanic youth, not encouraging them to celebrate self-destructive behaviors and a lifestyle that God opposes.

“This is another reason why parents need to be involved in the lives of their children,” Diaz said. “Not one Hispanic family I’ve ever known would approve of their children being involved in this kind of activity.”

AFTAH Board Member Matt Barber, also with CWA, said, “I want to know what business adult homosexuals have co-mingling with impressionable youth at an event centered around sexuality. What are their intentions with these teenagers?”

Perhaps since this is an event open to adults, parents and concerned members of the community should attend to monitor the event and ensure that minors are protected.

TAKE ACTION: Today is Homosexuals Re-defining Marriage Lobby Day in Springfield (at least that’s what we’re calling it). Homosexual activists are targeting Illinois — with the goal of turning us into the “Massachusetts of the Midwest” — and we need your help to stop their radical agenda. If you are an Illinois resident:

1) Call your State Representative and your State Senator at 217-782-2000 and urge them to oppose HB 1826, the House homosexual “civil unions” bill, and SB 2436, the Senate version. While you’re at it, ask your legislators to oppose the pro-homosexual “domestic partnership” bill, HB 4731, which would expand the definition of spouse for some Chicago teachers’ benefits to include homosexual “partners.” Illinois (and every state) needs to reward and provide incentives for real marriage and the natural family, not destructive and immoral homosexual behavior. If you don’t know the names of your representative and state senator, call Illinois Family Institute at 630-790-8370 or go to this IFI web page: http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=728&APP=GAC&screen=Address&.

2) Join Protect Marriage Illinois‘ (PMI) effort to defend marriage in Illinois! Go to PMI’s website, www.protectmarriageillinois.org, and download a pro-marriage petition sheet for the county you live in. PMI is working to get signatures to place an Advisory Marriage Protection referendum on the ballot to call on Illinois legislators to pass a constitutional amendment to preserve the sacred institution of marriage as between a man and a woman. The deadline is very near — April 30th — to get the necessary 269,000 signatures on the ballot, so please act now and encourage YOUR CHURCH to do a petition drive. All petitions must be notarized. Call PMI’s Acting Director Joetta Deutch at 217-377-6017 or email her at info@protectmarriageillinois.org for more information and for help in doing a petition drive at your church. More details on PMI below.

____________________________

1) Background on Homosexual Activists’ “Redefining Marriage” Lobby Day

Here is some background from our friends at the Illinois Family Institute:

Homosexual activists with Equality Illinois, Stonewall Democrats, Illinois Log Cabin Republicans, and the ACLU of Illinois are going to the Capitol on Wednesday, April 9th to lobby for the passage of counterfeit marriage legislation — HB 1826.

This bill would extend legal recognition and benefits of civil marriage to homosexual couples. The only difference between marriage and the governmental recognition this bill would grant is in name.

TAKE ACTION: Click HERE to email your State Representative today and ask him/her to vote ‘NO’ to the “Civil Unions” bill — HB 1826. Politely tell your lawmaker that Illinois’ government should not officially recognize immoral, unhealthy, and changeable homosexual behavior. (Be assured, your calls and emails are very important; legislators take very seriously the letters and the numbers of letters they receive.)

Email your state representative now by clicking HERE, or you can call the Capitol switchboard at 217-782-2000.

______________________________

2) Background on Chicago Teachers’ Homosexual Partners bill, HB 4371:

See White Paper by IFI Executive Director Dave Smith: http://www.illinoisfamily.org/content/img/f33761/IFI_HB_4731_2.pdf. This bill is sponsored by homosexual activist legislator Gregg Harris. Smith writes:

“While Illinois does not even recognized common-law marriage, this bill is moving to recognize same-sex domestic partners to be the same as married spouses for purposes of survivor and death benefits under Illinois law….

“HB 4731 would set a new precedent and public policy in Illinois as the first legislative vote explicitly establishing governmental benefits for unmarried “partners.” Previously, unmarried partners secured “DP” benefits — e.g., at the University of Illinois — but there was no vote in the Assembly creating these misguided benefits.”

More info on other bills of concern to Illinois families can be found here: http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=33786

______________________________

3) Background on Protect Marriage Illinois (www.protectmarriageillinois.org) Petition Drive:

TAKE ACTION: Download your PMI petition for YOUR COUNTRY at www.protectmarriageillinois.org. Call PMI Acting Director Joetta Deutch at 217-377-6017 or email her at info@protectmarriageillinois.org for help or information on the petition drive. The deadline for turning your NOTARIZED petitions in is April 30th, so you must act fast.

PMI, which nearly succeeded in getting a Marriage Protection referendum on the Illinois ballot in 2006, is trying again, after some big changes to the organization that have temporarily slowed our effort down. You can read the petition language at www.protectmarriageillinois.org. PMI is no longer affiliated with Illinois Family Institute, which is focusing instead on legislation in Springfield. PMI is now a stand-alone, all-volunteer effort (Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera is on the PMI Board of Directors), which retains the same goal as always: passing a binding, constitutional amendment to preserve the age-old definition of marriage in the Land of Lincoln.

The good news is that despite the changeover and the totally volunteer nature of the new PMI campaign, Protect Marriage Illinois has gathered over 100,000 signatures! Obviously, there is tremendous support in Illinois and the heartland in general for preserving marriage against the homosexual activists’ relentless campaign to re-define it to accommodate their immoral lifestyles.

The “bad” news is that the deadline for turning the required 269,000 signatures is the end of this month, April 30th. It will take a huge influx of petitions in these last three weeks to cross the threshold. This often happens in petition drives, so do what you can to help and get YOUR CHURCH involved! Set a goal of, say, 100, (notarized) signatures and send them to PMI by April 30th; the address to turn in the petitions is:

PMI
P.O. Box 6017
Taylorville, IL 62568

Whether we make it or not, PMI will not rest until a binding constitutional amendment is on the books protecting marriage in Illinois from being radically re-defined. Again, you can contact PMI’s Joetta Deutch at 217-377-6017 or at info@protectmarriageillinois.org.

_________________________________

The Homosexual Lobby Has Lots of $$$$, but AFTAH Needs Your Help!

How come the forces FOR homosexuality are bolder than those opposing their immoral agenda? Help us defend your liberties — and the next generation — by regularly praying for and financially supporting Americans For Truth. To make a donation online to Americans For Truth, click on our online donation page (you can use PayPal or your own credit card): www.americansfortruth.com/donate.

We are grateful for those of you who have signed up as monthly “Truth Team” givers by pledging a donation on of at least $20/month to AFTAH. We think this is a good investment in your children’s and their children’s future!

Our goal is to sign up 1,000 monthly AFTAH ‘Truth Team’ givers to put us on healthy financial footing.

You can also send your tax-deductible donation via regular mail to:

Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522

By Peter LaBarbera 

Many homosexual activists love verbally bashing Bible-believing Christians who oppose “gay rights” – calling them various names and insulting them by comparing them to racists and, in the case below, white supremacists. Of course, they rarely use the latter technique against African-American Christians like Harry Jackson, who are increasingly vocal in speaking out against the homosexual activist agenda.

Frank Kameny, the homosexual activist icon who was fired by the federal government in the 50′s and who is currently being honored by the Smithsonian Museum as an American ”civil rights” pioneer, coined the term “Christianofascists” to describe groups like Americans For Truth and Concerned Women for America that oppose homosexual activism. Something tells me that Kameny’s anti-Christian smear will not be found in the new Smithsonian’s exhibit about his life – since the academic world, like so many in the media, protects homosexual activists by hiding their more radical associations and beliefs.

(Kameny once addressed a meeting of NAMBLA – North American Man/Boy Love Association, the notorious pederasty group. Another American “gay” founding father, Harry Hay, enthusiastically defended NAMBLA’s right to march in “gay pride” parades.)

Here in Chicago, we have our very own accomplished Christian-bashers — Equality Illinois’ Rick Garcia — who called his own Catholic Cardinal (Francis George) a “bigot” — and, to a greater degree, the Gay Liberation Network, whose Bob Schwartz has a talent for name-calling like few on the Left. 

The easy thing to do would be to dismiss Schwartz and the GLN as part of the vast left-wing network of Christian-haters, and that they are. But as you read this latest rant from Bob, keep in mind that Schwartz’s virulent anti-Christianism is only stating forcefully what many homosexual activists and their allies believe.

Moreover, under government-sponsored pro-homosexuality (“sexual orientation”) laws, those who oppose homosexuality ARE treated as “bigots,” which is why “sexual orientation” legislation like ENDA (the Employment Nondiscrimination Act) is so dangerous. In Western tradition, the law was intended to punish wrongdoers, not people agreeing with God and acting in defense of natural law and time-tested religious and moral beliefs. Does “gay liberation” equate to oppression of religion?

My responses to Schwartz’s comments are in blue:

Poor, beleaguered Peter LaBarbarian. [cute, Bob] Not long after being denied space in a Naperville Holiday Inn for his banquet of bigots [more name-calling -- falsely equating pro-family Americans who oppose homosexuality with rank bigotry], the “Americans For Truth About Homosexuality” leader, the would-be il duce of the hard core antigay right-wing, has taken another hit.  Organizers of a diversity in the workplace panel have disinvited the homo hater [disagreement is not hate, Bob], after three other panelists said they would not participate if LaBarbera did.
 

It is good to hear that HRC’s Daryl Herrschaft and others will not appear with hate mongers [more name-calling] who don’t believe we have a right to even exist [Gay Martyr Syndrome: looks like Bob and friends are "existing" quite fine; we simply don't believe that people are defined by aberrant sexual behaviors, and of course we believe that homosexuals can change and abandon the lifestyle, as so many, like our Oct. 5 banquet speaker, Charlene Cothran, have], much less enjoy equal rights with other Americans ["equal rights" based on what? How you have sex? That's not in the Constitution]. 
 

People like LaBarbera ought to be treated in the same way as those preaching white supremacy or that Jews are Christ killers who need to convert to Christianity. [Another misleading and hateful statement by Bob and GLN, laced with a profound bigotry against sincere Christians and all people -- religious or otherwise -- who believe homosexual behavior is wrong. Here he resurrects past societal injustices to justify his own errant lifestyle. I hate anti-Semitism and racism as much as Bob or anyone else; those issues have nothing to do with Americans' views on the moral questions surrounding homosexuality and gender confusion.]
 

LaBarbera rails against “anti-Christian bigotry.”  This is a sham, a cover for hate hiding behind stained glass windows.  Many religious people held fervent beliefs that Jews and African Americans just didn’t rank up there with the better people, the chosen of god. People who believe and advocate for these things today are shunned as bigots. [Once again, Bob erects his twin straw men of racism and anti-Semitism, knowing full well that we at Americans For Truth abhor both these ills. The practice of homosexuality is shameful, and its celebration more so. Disagreeing with homosexual behavior is nothing more than agreeing with God.]

Click HERE to listen to the interview online.

You can also download the interview by going to the CWA site.

Homosexual Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) pushes counterfeit “marriage.”

Well, we’ve been warning you that the homosexual movement wants to make Illinois the “Massachusetts of the Midwest.” Now it’s official. The state’s only “openly gay” representative, Greg Harris (D-Chicago), has submitted a bill to legalize “same-sex marriage” in the Land of Lincoln. Harris sneakily calls his bill the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act” –– despite evidence from Massachusetts that legal “gay marriage” leads to stepped-up discrimination against religious institutions opposed to homosexuality.

TAKE ACTION: If you are an Illinois resident, call your state representative and state senator and politely urge them to:

• OPPOSE HB 1615, the radical redefinition of marriage proposed by new homosexual State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago); click HERE to find your legislators (the page works best if you know your 9-digit zip), and click HERE to view the bill, which would strip out the common-sense prohibition in Illinois law against marriages “between two individuals of the same sex.” You can call the Illinois Capitol Switchboard at 217-782-2000.
• SUPPORT HJRCA 1, the pro-traditional-marriage constitutional amendment offered by State Rep. Dave Reis (R) –– which has languished in the IL General Assembly for years due to the Democrats’ subservience to the state’s powerful “gay” lobby. (In Illinois, a constitutional amendment requires a three-fifths vote by the legislature, followed by a three-fifths popular vote.)

Also, please consider making a financial gift to Protect Marriage Illinois (PMI). We don’t normally solicit funds for other organizations, but PMI urgently needs your help as it gears up for another petition drive to place a pro-traditional marriage advisory question on the 2008 Illinois ballot. PMI’s ballot measure would enable Illinois voters to call on the General Assembly to pass a constitutional Marriage Protection Amendment (like Reis’ amendment above). Make your check out to Protect Marriage Illinois and send it to: PMI, PO Box 419, Wheaton, IL 60189; or go to PMI’s website and click the “Make a Donation” button. (Gifts to PMI are not tax-deductible.)

Background
Homosexual activists, being mostly on the Left, know how politics works: they will strive to gradually build support for legalizing “gay marriage” in Illinois even if it takes decades. This is what they did before finally passing a pro-homosexual “sexual orientation” bill (which also covers the gender-confused) in Illinois in 2005.

Conservatives and people of faith, too, have to learn to think long-term. We must retain the goal of repealing all “sexual orientation” laws –– in Illinois and across the nation –– since they are incompatible with the basic American freedoms of religion, conscience and association. And we must act to protect marriage as between a man and a woman at the state and federal constitutional levels.

In his odd legislative biography, Rep. Harris –– who replaced another homosexual Chicago Democrat –– states, almost proudly, that he is the “only openly gay member of the Legislature and openly a person with AIDS.” (Please read this interesting first-hand testimonial about Harris’ sad life and pray for him if you are so moved.)

Indeed, behavior that runs contrary to nature carries a heavy physical price. When “gay” activists talk about “marriage equality,” we should answer: same-sex relationships do not deserve to be treated as “equal” to marriage because they are not — far from it. True marriage serves society and mankind by ordering the sexes and producing future generations and providing stable, mother-father homes for children.

Conversely, society has no stake in legalizing “gay marriage,” which would reward unhealthy and changeable behavior and have such ill side-effects as facilitating intentionally fatherless or motherless homosexual adoptions.

Giving immoral homosexual relationships all the rights and benefits of marriage also sends a terrible message to young people, and certainly will lead to Christians and religious people being punished for “anti-gay” discrimination. A homosexual “marriage” or “civil union” law would be a huge stepping stone toward forcing small businesses –– even religiously-owned ones such as day care centers –– to provide marital-type benefits to homosexual employees even if they oppose subsidizing that lifestyle.

And how long will it be before a church or pastor is sued for refusing to perform a marriage ceremony for a homosexual couple — HB 1615′s title notwithstanding?

We must do all we can to shore up real marriage by encouraging citizens to value it more and by making divorces tougher to get. Radically redefining marriage to include homosexuality would only erode this great institution further.

Then contact your own representative and ask them to OPPOSE this bill.
You can find your legislator’s contact information HERE.

——————————–

Excerpted from Lawmaker: Legalize Gay Marriages, by Doug Finke, published Feb 22, 2007, by PJ Star:

State Rep. plans to introduce bill aiming to equalize rights

A Chicago Democrat wants Illinois to be the second state to legalize gay marriages.

State Rep. Greg Harris (pictured left) plans to introduce legislation today to permit same-sex couples to get married. Although four states recognize civil unions among gays, only Massachusetts provides for gay marriages.

“It would extend the same rights and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples in Illinois as are previously enjoyed, or not enjoyed, by heterosexual couples,” Harris said. “If you look at recent polls … people of Illinois very thoroughly understand that same-sex couples deserve the same rights and benefits” as heterosexual couples.

David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, disagreed…

Harris, who is gay and represents a district with a large homosexual population, acknowledged that pushing for legalized gay marriages rather than civil unions will be controversial.

“It is undoubtedly true that the word marriage is a very emotionally charged term, so there may have to be some negotiations on that,” he said. “From my community, we believe we should have the full, equal rights as our heterosexual siblings to marry who we choose, and we should call it marriage. We should not call it civil union.”

Continue reading at PJ Star…

]]> http://americansfortruth.com/2007/02/22/illinois-homosexual-legislator-introduces-gay-marriage-bill-today/feed/ 0 http://americansfortruth.com/2006/10/25/il-gay-activist-rick-garcia-calls-bathhouse-a-health-club-and-warns-of-judgment-day-for-labarbera/ http://americansfortruth.com/2006/10/25/il-gay-activist-rick-garcia-calls-bathhouse-a-health-club-and-warns-of-judgment-day-for-labarbera/#comments Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:45:11 +0000 Sonja Dalton http://americansfortruth.com/news/il-gay-activist-rick-garcia-calls-bathhouse-a-health-club-and-warns-of-judgment-day-for-labarbera.html Homosexual activist Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois is losing it. Garcia, who I learned from this piece is not a native of Illinois but moved here from St. Louis to promote homosexual “rights,” called a Chicago sex club (bathhouse) where men go for anonymous sexual encounters with other men a “health club.” (Rick says he doesn’t know what goes on in there–right.) He also called me a sex-obsessed “freak” who will get a “tongue lashing” on judgment day.

Suffice it to say that Garcia’s health standards are wanting, and that as a practicing homosexual who calls himself a Catholic yet wars against the sexual teachings of his own Church (he called Chicago Cardinal Francis George a “bigot”), he might want to contemplate his own coming judgment day rather than worry about mine. — Peter LaBarbera, Naperville, Illinois

The following is excerpted the article by Paige Winfield entitled Their Only Common Ground: Strong Opinions, published October 22, 2006, in The Naperville Sun:

…LaBarbera, director of Naperville-based Americans for Truth, says that homosexuality is unnatural, dangerous and changeable. Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois, says it is natural, safe and unchangeable.

According to Garcia, all LaBarbera does is “attack and spread lies about gay people” as he “distorts the message of Christianity.”

But LaBarbera says he rejects all hatred and violence against homosexuals while maintaining his belief that homosexual behavior is immoral. “Rick is saying we are all about hate,” LaBarbera said. “It’s just a disagreement about behavior. What he can’t understand is that we are opposed to the behavior, and we believe Rick is a little bit obsessed about having everybody accept the behavior.”

…LaBarbera criticizes Garcia for accepting money donated to Equality Illinois by Steamworks – a private men’s bathhouse in Chicago – which he says is a place filled with unsafe sexual behavior.

“Those are the places where people contract dangerous diseases,” LaBarbera said. “I think if Rick really cared about gay men, he would want to close that place down.”

Calling LaBarbera a “freak obsessed with sex,” Garcia said Steamworks is just one of many businesses from which Equality Illinois accepts money and said he does not know what goes on inside the club. He said it is more dangerous for gays to remain closeted out of fear than for them to spend time in bathhouses like Steamworks.

“I find it amazing that (Peter) is so concerned about a private health club,” Garcia said. “He is certainly no one to criticize, when he opposes distribution of condoms and safe-sex education in schools.”

…Garcia thinks he knows what awaits LaBarbera.

“I can hardly wait for judgment day to come for Peter LaBarbera, because he’s going to get a tongue-lashing like never before,” Garcia said.

Continue reading in The Naperville Sun…

Illinois Family Institute has been warning you for a long time that pro-homosexual forces in the state would be pushing hard to legalize counterfeit “marriage”–even as they disingenuously argue that a statewide marriage amendment is not necessary because “Illinois already has a marriage law on the books.”

Well, now they have formally begun their dubious crusade to overturn that law: a coalition of pro-homosexual activist groups, including Equality Illinois, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU of Illinois, will soon be launching a statewide campaign under the name “Equal Marriage Illinois” project–a misguided rip-off of Protect Marriage Illinois.

Equal Marriage Illinois (EMI) “has been building alliances in communities statewide, and has received terrific pro bono creative work from ad agency Young & Rubicam,” according to an e-newsletter from the homosexual lobby group Equality Illinois. (To give feedback to Young & Rubicam for their promotion of counterfeit “marriage,” call their Chicago branch office at 312-596-3000.)

The campaign is a statewide “public information and dialogue campaign focusing attention on the core issues of justice and family at the center of the marriage equality debate,” according to Equality Illinois.

In other words, you’re about to be hit with a slick PR campaign to radically twist the age-old definition of marriage, in the nice-sounding name of “equality.” This latest move by the state’s rich and powerful (yet tiny in numbers) homosexual lobby only proves our point: we MUST enact a Marriage Protection Amendment, as 20 states already have, and seven more likely will this fall.

Continue reading at IFI…