In a turn of events that one long-time LGBT rights activist said could be “a harbinger of things to come” in the years ahead, the right-wing Illinois Family Institute (IFI), on Dec. 1, publicly denounced openly gay members of the Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC).
Those IHRC members—Terry Cosgrove, who heads the pro-choice Personal PAC organization, and Duke Alden, an Aon executive who is also board chair for Howard Brown Health—were part of a three-person panel that decided against reviewing a finding against bed and breakfast owner Jim Walder, who had refused to let his place of business be used for a same-sex civil union ceremony in 2011.
In a Dec. 1 statement, IPI said Cosgrove and Alden should have been excluded from that panel since they are gay.
The statement said, “So, after learning a bit more about the commissioners who made the decision on the Wathen’s complaint, can anyone read this statement from the Illinois Human Rights Commission with a straight face: ‘The Commission provides a neutral forum for resolving complaints of discrimination filed under the Illinois Human Rights Act. … Our primary responsibility is to make impartial determinations of whether there has been unlawful discrimination, as defined by the Illinois Human Rights Act.'”
Equality Illinois co-founder Art Johnston said that he feared such actions from the right-wing could be a sign of things to come, since many feel emboldened following the Nov. 2016 election.
“This is a criticism aimed squarely at the gay community,” said Johnston, who likened the criticism of Cosgrove and Alden to Donald Trump’s criticism of Judge Gonzalo Curiel. “They are aggressively targeting us. [IFI] hasn’t raised a question if a commissioner who is a person of color renders a decision on a case involving a person of color. Nobody [from IFI]raises a question then.”
When reached for comment, Cosgrove said Commissioners are prohibited from discussing the Commission’s business publicly.
Note: An earlier version of this story erroneously referred to the Illinois Policy Institute, not the Illinois Family Institute. Windy City Times regrets the error.