In condemning passage of a gay marriage bill in Illinois, Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) compared same-sex marriage to slavery and Hitler's reign of terror.

The IFI is part of the Coalition to Protect Children and Marriage, the coalition formed to lobby lawmakers against allowing gay couples to marry in Illinois.

In an op-ed titled Random Thoughts on Tragic Marriage Vote, Higgins called lawmakers “cowardly” and “ignorant.”

“In so doing, they have expanded the role of government in the lives of Americans, diminished religious liberty, rendered inevitable the legalization of plural unions, and harmed children in incalculable ways. … And they have assured that public schools will teach about sexual perversion in positive ways to children from kindergarten on up,” Higgins wrote.

She concluded: “Far too many religious leaders claim the church should not be involved in 'political issues.' But what if political issues are first biblical issues? During the slave era, should churches have remained silent as Scripture was twisted to justify slave-holding (just as it is twisted today to justify same-sex pseudo-marriage)? Was it right that so many Christians refused to stand for truth during Hitler's reign of terror? Should Christians have refrained from participating in the Civil Rights marches in the 1960s?”