State Rep. Dwight Kay filed an anti-gay bill, HB3774, with the Illinois House May 11 that would amend the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act.
The measure calls for “a child welfare agency that is religiously based or owned by, operated by, or affiliated with a bona fide religious organization [to] opt out of fulfilling a request for services, including an adoption or foster family home application, including any licensure and placement, which would constitute a violation of the organization’s sincerely held religious doctrines or beliefs.”
The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), an Illinois statewide civil-rights advocacy organization, issued a statement in response to the development. “The sad reality is that equal rights are a threat to institutions that “traditionally” believe in discrimination,” said Anthony Martinez, executive director of TCRA.
“The Catholics are foaming at the mouth and they will not be satiated until they are allowed to discriminate by law. We have defeated this legislation in the Senate and now we will work to defeat this in the Illinois House of Representatives. We will continue to fend off this attack and will work tirelessly until this and all further attacks on the civil-union legislation are defeated.”
“We have been expecting this legislation to be filed in the House and we have a strategy in place,” stated Lowell Jaffe, TCRA’s political director. “We are on the ground in Springfield working with our partners to address this specific attack. As TCRA usually does, as news develops and the opposition’s strategy is revealed, we will be informing the community of a specific action they should take to ensure this is defeated.”