CHICAGO With Illinois's equal marriage rights bill running out of time in the current fall veto session, gay activists will picket the lead sponsor of the bill, gay Rep. Greg Harris, Saturday, Oct 26 as the veto session reaches its half-way point.
The main demand: a party-line vote in favor of the bill by the Democratic Caucus, which holds a super-majority in Illinois's House of Representatives.
The protest, sponsored by the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network ( GLN ), will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26 in front of Harris's district office, 1967 W. Montrose Avenue, Chicago.
GLN has been unique in publicly targeting the Democratic caucus, and especially House Speaker Mike Madigan ( D-Chicago ), for the failure of the bill, SB10, during the spring session and its uncertain fate in the current session.
"Because Speaker Madigan is so powerful, controlling access to jobs and contracts, most organizations are afraid to take him on and bluntly place blame where it's due," said GLN co-founder Andy Thayer. "Madigan controls the House as surely as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel controls the City Council. When Madigan has wanted a party-line vote for far less popular measures, like gifts to the wealthy and well-connected, he's had no problem ramming them through the House. Like it or not, and mostly not, that's the way that politics works in this state."
GLN stated: "Unlike pension 'reform' and subsidies to already wealthy businesses that pay few, if any taxes, legislation favoring equal marriage rights in Illinois is overwhelmingly popular, with proponents outnumbering opponents by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, according to a February Crain's Chicago Business poll." [http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130219/BLOGS02/130219779/]
On Tuesday, shortly after the end of the several thousand-strong pro-equal marriage rights demonstration in Springfield, GLN did a banner drop dramatizing their demands in front of Speaker Madigan's office in the Capitol Building rotunda. GLN's Thayer was also a speaker at the main rally. Video of the banner drop can be seen here. [www.youtube.com/watch;