Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno resigned, effective July 1the day after the budget deadline.
Radogno said she had planned to step down regardless if a budget deal was struck, not because of a lack of support for current Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Lawmakers returned to Springfield for a special session as they tried to achieve a budget deal before the state entered a third year without a budget.
Equality Illinois CEO Brian C. Johnson said in a statement that Radogno had a history of supporting LGBT issues. In part, he said, "the Equality Illinois PAC supported Radogno in 1996 when she defeated an anti-LGBTQ incumbent state senator in the Republican primary. From her election in 1996 to the present legislative session, she always welcomed Equality Illinois with an open door."
"Furthermore, Radogno has supported several important bills that advanced justice for LGBTQ Illinoisans. In particular, she voted to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Illinois Human Rights Act in 2005. Ten years later, she was one of just two Republican state senators to vote to protect LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy."
However, Radogno ( who described herself as "socially moderate" to Windy City Times in 2008 ) did not back same-sex marriage, voting against it in 2013. She voted against the bill in committee over concerns that it failed to protect religious institutions, but she expressed hesitancy over that vote and said she saw room for compromise.
Since 1997, Radogno represented the state's 41st District, which includes all or some of the communities of Lemont, Indian Head Park, LaGrange, Western Springs, Homer Glen, Burr Ridge, Darien, Downers Grove, Lisle, Willowbrook, Woodridge, Naperville and Bolingbrook.