After a tight and heated primary, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-24th District, conceded the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination March 5 to fellow senator Bill Brady, R-44th District. Since then, LGBT Republicans in Illinois have been coming to terms with the choices that await them Nov. 2: Don't vote, vote Democratic or vote for a candidate who might try to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.
Born Roman Catholic and self-deemed a "common-sense conservative," Brady, a Bloomington senator since 2002 and legislator since 1993, has a rigid pro-life and anti-gay voting record. He is so polarizing on social issues that political writers and experts question whether he can get the moderate votes needed to defeat Gov. Pat Quinn.
Gay Republicans could be the most alienated of all Brady's potential voters. In 2005, Brady voted against the gay-rights act that gave LGBTs equal rights in housing, public accommodations and employment. In February, he told the Chicago Sun-Times he would amend the constitution to ban both gay marriage and civil unions saying, "I'm trying to give the government back to the people."
Most recently, Brady was the chief sponsor of an Illinois Senate bill that would have amended the Human Rights Act to allow non-secular and religion-affiliated institutions the ability to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in their hiring practices. The chief sponsor of the bill was later changed to state Sen. John O. Jones, but Brady did not escape further public scrutiny.
"His attacking gay people's rights seems to be the place of value and priority," said Equality Illinois Public Policy Director Rick Garcia in the days after Springfield's LGBT-rights lobby killed the bill in committee earlier this month.
But even with an apparently anti-gay track record, the decision of how to vote among politically active LGBTs who align themselves with Republican economic values is all but cut and dry.
Michael Carr, president of LGBT Republicans group Log Cabin Republicans ( LCR ) Illinois, said that his organization had difficulty supporting any single candidate for the GOP nomination. They chose not to endorse one, he said, but after much debate they did come to an agreement that Dillard would be the easiest to talk to about their issues and the most likely to develop a relationship with their organization. The conclusion was rendered irrelevant with Dillard's concession.
"A lot of us were certainly disappointed," Carr said of Brady becoming the official GOP candidate. "If anything, we will not be formally endorsing Bill Brady for governor."
Despite the lack of endorsement, Carr suspects his members will not go so far as to vote for Quinn instead of Brady.
"The interesting thing about LCR is we're not a group of single-issue voters; taxes and job growth are really important to us," he said. "It's hard to make ethical decisions on voting from time to time. … I expect our membership might withhold voting but I highly doubt any will cross party lines and vote for Pat Quinn."
LCR member Brian Aker, however, said there's still a line when it comes to gay-rights issues that if Brady crossed would either lose him his vote or possibly sway him to vote for Quinn.
Aker said he could support a candidate opposed to certain gay rights if the candidate's opposition was more out of ignorance than willfulness, but if the candidate were blatantly anti-gay, he could not support that person. Brady's proposal of banning gay marriage and civil unions attempts to cross that line.
"If Brady backs off the [ expletive ] about defending marriage and really left the issue alone, I could swallow that," Aker said. "Economically he's headed in the right direction … I'm not a one-issue voter, but that particular issue—when that candidate is actively trying to restrict what I consider my civil rights—gives me serious consideration to cross party lines in that situation."
Carr said he is concerned that if Brady makes no effort to ease on gay-rights issues that it could hurt the Republican ticket, which has a number of candidates for other offices that the organization proudly supports.
"One of the things I want [ Brady ] to work on is minimizing negative rhetoric," Carr said. "We're just fearful that if candidate Brady keeps introducing legislation that marginalizes Illinois families that people aren't going to want to see the Republican ticket win."
Adam Robinson, a GOP candidate for state senator in the 7th District opposite incumbent Sen. Heather Steans, takes the seemingly paradoxical stance of supporting both marriage equality and Brady.
Robinson said that he respectfully disagrees with the senator's stance on certain social issues, but believes Brady will be an inclusive governor and that he and potentially other pro-gay Republican candidates can serve as effective liaisons to Brady on LGBT issues.
"If I, as state senator, can become a mouthpiece for LGBT residents in the state of Illinois and work with Gov. Brady to explain why these issues need to move forward, Gov. Brady will listen if people want to be heard," Robinson said. "It will be possible to move forward on these issues."
Robinson also said he understands that Brady's approach to LGBT issues may not sit well with LGBT voters, but he hopes they will give more priority to economic issues, where Brady has a strong voting record, particularly given the state of the economy.
"It would be a shame if LGBT voters simply looked at [ social ] issues," he said. "If we want the state to head in the right direction fiscally and tax-wise, Brady is clearly the right choice."
One thing that Brady has not done to create the trust necessary to believe he would become more moderate if elected, is reach out to the LGBT community. Even the search bar on his Web site, www.bradyforllinois.com, renders no results for marriage, civil unions or even abortion.
Aker said he would feel more comfortable voting for Brady if he made some attempt at outreach, such as a speaking engagement before an LGBT panel.
Carr said despite Log Cabin Republicans Illinois' growing relationship with the GOP, Brady has never been in touch with the organization.
"We have a decent relationship with [ Illinois Republican Party Chairman ] Pat Brady and other Republican coalitions," Carr said. "We're a little disappointed that Bill Brady's people have not reached out to us. We've not heard anything back from his campaign."
Windy City Times e-mailed Brady's campaign in hopes of an interview. His office wrote back saying they could not meet our deadline for the story. That deadline was extended one week but his office did not respond to e-mails regarding that extension.
