Susanne Atanus, a fringe Republican
candidate for Congress, has asked two federal courts to uphold state
bans on gay marriage, arguing that allowing gay and lesbian couples
to marry will anger God.
Atanus is vying to represent the people
of Illinois' 9th District, a solidly blue district.
She submitted a handwritten letter to
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which earlier
this month heard arguments in cases challenging bans in Hawaii,
Nevada and Idaho. The letter ends with a carbon copy to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
“Homosexuality is sin and we are a
nation under God and it is sinful to disobey God's word in the
Bible,” Atanus
said in her 4-page letter. “We have seen the consequences of
sin that is harmful to all mankind: droughts, floods, severe winters,
tornadoes, hurricanes and many diseases, ailments, sickness, cancers,
bacterial infections, etc. Also plagues, arctic vortex, tsunamis,
sink holes, mudslides.”
She argues that society should limit
gays to civil unions because “we don't want to anger or provoke God
for more diseases.”
“In conclusion, we are experiencing
the harmful effects of sin including homosexuality and same sex
marriage with deadly diseases, ailments and many with multiple hip
and knee replacements, cancers, sicknesses, bacterial infections,
including Ebola and severe and catastrophic and deadly weather. And
therefore the Ninth Circuit [Court] of Appeals and other courts
should not lift the same sex marriage ban, because same sex marriage
and homosexuality is sin and the consequences of sin to all mankind
is harmful that causes suffering, sickness and death and severe bad
and extremely cold weather that can cause death, physical destruction
and injury to mankind with catastrophic hurricanes, tornadoes,
floods, mudslides, blizzards, etc.”
Atanus created headlines
in January when she first blamed bad weather on marriage
equality.