Does renegade, pro-homosexual Illinois Republican politician have a conflict of interest?

“Do you agree that [your constituents] have a right to know if there is a special interest in your life that affects your voting record? From an integrity standpoint, I think the axiom is true: honesty is the best policy.” — Peter LaBarbera to then-St. Sen. Dan Rutherford (Republican-Pontiac, IL), 11/18/2004                                                    

                                                    *       *       *

IL GOP gubernatorial candidate and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford–widely rumored to be homosexual by activists in the GOP–cast two key votes as State Senator for pro-homosexual legislation. Rutherford is now being sued for sexual harassment by a male aide who says he was groped by the politician.

Homosexual newspaper Windy City Times to Dan Rutherford: “Is the Republican Party changing? Should it?”
Rutherford: “I think the party should change. I think the party should evolve. I think it’s going to take people like myself to help the party evolve. When I voted for the [pro-homosexual/pro-transgender] human rights bill in the early 90s, there was only a few of us. And when we moved forward to eventually pass it, there was more of us. And as we moved into consideration of the civil unions bill, there were some of us.

“Equality Illinois [the state’s leading homosexual activist group] was one of the hosts at the Republican National Convention for one of the receptions.”  — WCT interview with Rutherford, 8-6-13

_________________________________

Dear AFTAH Readers,

With reports that Illinois GOP gubernatorial candidate and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford is being sued for sexual harassment by a male aide, I thought it important to reprint the two articles below–which originally appeared on the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) website in 2005–and which I wrote as then-Executive Director of IFI. The article (like many other older pieces) fell off the current IFI website following a overhaul of the site, and currently is not on the IFI site.

Since these articles were written, then-State Sen. Rutherford, having already helped the Democrats pass a homosexual “nondiscrimination” bill, went on to cast a second key Republican vote for a bill legalizing homosexual “civil unions.” The latter was a precursor to legalized homosexual “marriage” in the Land of Lincoln (the state “gay marriage” law takes effect June 1, 2014). Rutherford, who went on to become Illinois State Treasurer in 2011, never answered this writer’s query about alleged homosexuality–something which most men, especially those falsely accused like myself, find very easy to do. But he has offered curt and carefully-worded denials to others about being homosexual. This includes responding “No” to an oddly-worded “non-question” alluding to his alleged “gayness” in an interview with conservative Illinois Review editor Fran Eaton. (I’m afraid Eaton’s overly deferential, walking-on-eggshells approach–Rutherford answered “No” to “The Question” without her defining it–revealed more about the uncomfortableness surrounding homosexuality than it did about Rutherford’s past or present sexual lifestyle.)

Most recently in an interview last August with the Chicago homosexual newspaper, Windy City Times, Rutherford had this exchange with a reporter:

WCT: Your support for the LGBT has put you in the spotlight. Conservative bloggers have speculated you are gay. How do you define your sexual orientation?

Dan Rutherford: I’m not gay.

To which Chicago homosexual activist Robert Castillo responded: “Thanks for asking if he’s gay. You should have also asked if he is bisexual.”

Note that on every occasion of Rutherford being “questioned” about homosexuality, there are no follow-up questions (e.g., have you ever been in a homosexual relationship?)–and no probing into the meaning of words. (Many men who engage(d) in homosexual or bisexual behavior do not claim to be “gay”; there is even a term for it: men on the “down low.”) Also note that Rutherford’s continued advocacy of homosexuality in the Republican Party sets him apart from a person who may have engaged in homosexual behavior in the past but abandoned it–i.e., a repentant or recovered former homosexual. (Christians believe in the power of God through Christ to help people overcome that behaviorial sin pattern.)

On the conservative side, activists like Republican Chicago attorney and Republican News Watch founder Doug Ibendahl have long maintained that whether Rutherford ever admits it publicly or not, he is “gay.”

Encounter with Rutherford’s “partner”

Of course, there is the very real possibility that Rutherford–a politician, after all–is lying and dissembling about his aberrant sexual past and/or present so as not to hurt his prospects running in a Republican primary for governor.

A couple of years ago–long after my attempt at IFI to get Rutherford to clarify his sexuality–I had an interesting discussion with a veteran Illinois Republican activist, who told of meeting Rutherford “and his [male] partner” a number of years ago while travelling abroad. The man who accompanied Rutherford was clearly his partner, the activist said matter-of-factly. The activist source had no special animus toward Rutherford and worked with him as a GOP supporter, as with other ILGOP leaders.

Why should we care?

Why is any of this important? Because the people have a right to know if their public servant has a conflict of interest–and because honesty, morality and integrity matter. If Dan Rutherford has practiced a homosexual lifestyle–while advancing “gay” public policy goals in his role as a legislator (in defiance of the ILGOP and national Republican Party Platforms), it says something about his character. (As you can see, I am not a liberal.) And if he then lied and continues to lie or mislead about the matter, it says even more about his character.