Some Illinois GOP state party bosses
are seeking to unseat state chairman Pat Brady over his support for a
gay marriage law.
Brady said in a statement last month
that legalizing the institution for gay and lesbian couples “honors
the best conservative principles. It strengthens and reinforces a
key Republican value – that the law should treat all citizens
equally.”
Party leaders immediately pounced on
Brady; some called for his resignation. But Brady has 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,” he said.
On Friday, Brady told WBEZ that party
bosses have called a March 9 special meeting to discuss his stance on
the issue.
According to WBEZ,
Brady's ouster would require “the weighted vote of three-fifths of
the state central committee.”
State Senator Jim Oberweis, also a
committeeman, said there is sufficient support to fire Brady.
“We'd have exactly the same reaction
if suddenly Pat decided to talk about the merits of Obamacare,”
Oberweis said.