Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady has
rejected calls to resign after he urged state lawmakers to approve a
gay marriage bill.
Last week, Brady said in a statement
that legalizing the institution for gay couples “honors the best
conservative principles. It strengthens and reinforces a key
Republican value – that the law should treat all citizens equally.”
Party leaders pounced on Brady, some
calling for his resignation.
“I was shocked,” state Senator Jim
Oberweis, a GOP party committeeman, told WBEZ.
“Very surprised. Did not expect that and didn't know why he would
have done that.”
“His role as chairman should be to
concentrate on uniting the party, and not dividing the party,” said
state Senator Dave Syverson, who sits on the Republican State Central
Committee.
Brady, however, stood by his remarks:
“If people want to throw me out because I took on an issue of
discrimination [as] the chairman of the Republican Party, the party
founded by Abraham Lincoln, then that's – that's up to them and
they're free to do it. But I'm not backing down.”
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk backed
Brady, saying in a statement that he has full confidence in his
leadership.
The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) has pledged to spend $250,000 to oust any Republican lawmaker
who votes to make Illinois the 10th state to legalize
marriage equality.