Illinois gay activists are alarmed by a New York Times story predicting wins for Republicans Bill Brandy and Mark Kirk in the fall.

Statistician Nate Silver is predicting an 87 percent chance that Illinois State Senator Brandy will defeat incumbent Governor Patrick J. Quinn to take the governor's mansion, and a 54 percent chance that Congressman Kirk will claim victory in the fall over his rival, Democrat Alexi Gianoulias, in the race to represent the people of Illinois in the U.S. Senate.

“Brady is no friend of the gay community,” Rick Garcia, public policy director for Equality Illinois, the state's largest gay rights advocate, told gay website ChicagoPride.com, which collaborated with On Top Magazine on this story. “He is a hard right wing opponent of our basic rights.”

Brady, a former real estate developer from downstate Bloomington, Illinois, opposes any government recognition of gay couples, including civil unions and marriage, and favors placing an amendment in the Illinois Constitution banning gay marriage.

In March, Brady authored a bill that would exempt religious groups from a gay protections law.

Brady's bill, which the Legislature rejected, sought to carve out exceptions to the Illinois Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for religious groups, effectively allowing any church-affiliated group to discriminate against gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. The bill's exceptions would only apply to workplace protections.

“Stop this guy, he is dangerous,” Illinois State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, a Democrat from Chicago, said during a rally for Quinn last month. “He [Brady] will hurt this community,” she added, referring to the gay community.

The Illinois Legislature has considered several bills that recognize gay unions, including civil unions and marriage.

Governor Quinn has said he would sign the civil unions bill.

“Bill Brady doesn't bode well for LGBT issues or any progressive issues,” openly gay Illinois State Rep. Greg Harris, a Democrat who authored the gay marriage bill, said.

“The LGBT community ought to be concerned as hell,” he added.

Garcia echoed a similar sentiment, saying that a Brady win would set back gay rights in Illinois.

“We cannot afford a Brady win,” Garcia said. “It is no understatement that the gains our community has made would be jeopardized under him and moving forward would be almost impossible.”

Gay groups are also concerned about Illinois Congressman Kirk, who voted against repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the law that forbids gay troops from serving openly, in May, and opposes marriage equality.

Illinois Treasurer Giannoulias, on the other hand, is seen as an ally of the gay community. In June, the 34-year-old Giannoulias signed an executive order that extended family-leave benefits to gay treasurer office employees, and he supports gay marriage.

Kirk has denied allegations by his GOP primary opponent, Andy Martin, that he is gay.