State Party Considers Firing Chairman for Embracing Gay Marriage

And this comes as NO surprise,,,

The state Republican Party’s central committee will meet Saturday to consider firing chairman Pat Brady, largely because he spoke out in favor of a bill to end Illinois’ ban on gay marriage. And the only Republican state senator to vote in favor of same-sex marriage, Sen. Jason Barickman, has been chastised by his colleagues and a national organization opposing the measure.

Brady and Barickman say they’ve heard from hundreds of people since taking their positions earlier this year — some were thankful, others excoriated them. A conservative organization even posted Brady’s cellphone number online and his voicemail quickly filled up while on vacation with words he said he “didn’t know were in the Bible.”

“This issue is not about me. It’s about the direction of the party going forward,” Brady said. “It just plays into a national narrative of the GOP as closed-minded.”

After a poor showing at the polls in November, national Republican party leaders vowed to work harder to attract more young, moderate and minority voters — those who may be on board with the party fiscally speaking, but are turned off by the conservative views on social issues, such as immigration and gay rights.

[,,,]  “We’re a party that prides itself and often talks about having a big tent approach. And if we’re going to be a party that grows … we need to acknowledge that … we’re not always going to agree with each other 100 percent,” Cross said. “To me, you can be for (gay marriage), or you can be against it. But we ought to say to ‘You have a place in this party.’”

[,,,]  An Associated Press analysis conducted last month shows Illinois isn’t the only place where Republicans are seeing that their gay marriage votes have consequences. Just 47 Republicans over eight state Legislatures have voted for gay marriage, the analysis found, and many said they paid for it — including losses in primary and general elections.

[,,,]  That organization made a similar pledge against Illinois Republicans who votes yes, and has posted a link on its website for gay marriage opponents to email state GOP committeemen and tell them to fire Brady.

“Brady has betrayed his party, misrepresented ‘key Republican values,’ and insulted conservative voters in Illinois and across America,” the website states.

State Party Considers Firing Chairman for Embracing Gay Marriage