The fall session of the Illinois General Assembly was largely uneventful, with several issues still left up in the air. Among the topics put on hold was voting on Senate Bill 101 (SB0101), the anti-discrimination initiative for the GLBT community.
However, this setback has not stopped the bill’s advocates and opponents from seeing light at the end of the legislative tunnel. Rick Garcia, political director of Equality Illinois, told the State Journal Register that ‘ [w] e have moved this legislation farther than it’s even been. We think it will pass Jan. 10.’ However, Peter LaBarbera, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, said that ‘the momentum is going our way.’ In an e-mailed statement, Garcia promised to ‘send a comprehensive analysis of what we did and what our next steps are.’
The bill amends the Human Rights Act. It provides, among other things, that no employer, employment agency, or labor organization can give preferential treatment or special rights or implement affirmative action policies or programs based on sexual orientation. The bill also states that discrimination against a person because of his or her sexual orientation constitutes unlawful discrimination.