link:
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/44864.asp
The IL state senate has passed legislation that amends the IL Human Rights Act in order to prohibit disrimination based on sexual orientation.
Lawmakers approved Senate Bill 3186 by a 30-27 vote, with one member voting "present." The vote count hit the exact mark needed for passage.
Similar legislation has been passed by the House in previous years but had never been called for a vote in the Senate before Monday night.
"It's really time for the Senate to stand up and take a position here," said Sen. Carol Ronen, D-Chicago, who sponsored the legislation.
"We in Illinois are saying no to discrimination," she said.
Ronen said she expects the House to pass the measure today with more than the needed 60 votes and more Republican support than she garnered in the Senate.
Wingnut reaction after the cut
Floor debate on the highly contentious issue took a mere 15 minutes, with Republican opponents charging that the bill's passage would lead Illinois down the same path as Massachusetts, eventually resulting in same-sex marriages.
"Your vote is a much, much, much bigger agenda than (human rights)," warned Sen. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton.
However, the Rev. Robert Vanden Bosch of the Concerned Christian Americans told members of the House Judiciary Committee the proposal would lead to such behavior as cross-dressers using public bathrooms of the opposite sex.
"While there's many times that people like I are called intolerant, we're called bigots, the reality of it is that there are firm religious convictions that we hold," Vanden Bosch said.
Just because you don't allow people to dicriminate gays...