THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

"Let us each be clear: this is not the time for a generic 'we all condemn violence' with a wink and a nudge." Cassidy said. "This is the time for full-throated rejection of terrorists who use violence as a political tool and the leaders who use incendiary rhetoric like some kind of terrorist bat signal."

Cassidy spoke on the House floor Thursday in response to several recent incidents including one over the weekend in Danville where a man drove a car reportedly filled with containers of gasoline into a building where an abortion clinic was slated to open. Repeated acts by the Danville City Council to illegally block the construction and opening of the clinic preceded last week's situation. The council went against the advice of legal experts in adopting an unlawful ordinance aimed at stopping that clinic from opening, in direct violation of the Reproductive Health Act which the state passed in 2019 to safeguard access to reproductive health care in Illinois.

"When one of our Senate colleagues last week threatened to kick the piss out of anyone he thought shouldn't be in a bathroom with his daughter, to whoops and cheers from his Republican colleagues, it's no wonder the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning that the LBGTQ community is at substantial risk of violence right now. Not only that, I got a mention on my social media recently saying I am not human. This is unacceptable language and a direct result of our failure to say, in a firm and resolving manner, that we do not accept this." Cassidy said.

"Every member of this house should denounce those who break the law and risk the lives of others to attack health care clinics and the LGBTQ community because of political differences. No one in this chamber can support violence. As we gather for the final days of this session, let us stand together — abortion rights supporters and opponents — as leaders in our state to publicly reject acts of violence aimed at health care clinics and the LGBTQ community and the words and actions of political leaders who fan the flames of hatred. Let's make it clear that we settle disagreements with words, not violence."