Culture wars alive and well in GA
Friday, Apr 11, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I have no idea why she called this bill yesterday when 20 members were absent from the chambers…
A bid to block therapists from engaging in “conversion therapy” with gay, bisexual and transgender youth in order to make them heterosexual failed Thursday in the Illinois House.
The measure, proposed by Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, lost on a 44-51 roll call despite her plea to colleagues to stop gay, bisexual and transgender teens 17 and under from being “horribly and humiliatingly abused.”
“This treatment plan causes depression, causes suicidal actions and is incredibly harmful to children,” said Cassidy, who is openly lesbian and one of the lead architects of Illinois’ same-sex marriage law.
“The practice of conversion therapy is dismissed by every major scientific organization and should not be utilized. There’s not a single scientific basis for one’s sex orientation being a disorder,” she said. “We need to protect our children.”
* The Illinois Family Institute was overjoyed…
In an article last month on this issue, IFI’s Laurie Higgins pointed out that the “ultimate motivation behind this legislation is to promote the Leftist assumptions of adult homosexuals who seek to wipe disapproval of homosexual acts from the face of the planet even if doing requires deception, harms children, undermines parental rights, and corrodes fundamental First Amendment speech and religious liberty.”
In a remarkable display of rhetorical excess, Cassidy argued that minors who desire to change their unwanted same-sex attraction through counseling are “horribly and humiliatingly abused.” It boggles the mind that Cassidy would expect her colleagues to believe that every counselor who helps minors with unwanted same-sex attraction “horribly and humiliatingly” abuses their young clients. Further, Cassidy expected her colleagues to believe her without any conclusive studies to support such an outlandish claim.
It defies logic that “progressives” believe that gender-confused minors should be able to receive treatment to change their unwanted “gender identity” but not their unwanted sexual preferences.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Cassidy did pass a bill yesterday recommended by Illinois’ Bullying Prevention Task Force. Illinois Review’s take…
Rep. Cassidy said that the ban on bullying was needed because of students with disabilities being “tortured” and biracial students being “attacked.” Cassidy said, as she called for the House floor vote, that she was bullied as a student, not because of being a gay student, but because she held strong religious convictions.
“The fact that the bill’s sponsors and the ACLU have refused to ensure the rights of students and school employees to opt-out of ‘programming’ and ‘training’ that promote ideas that conflict with their personal and/or religious beliefs reveals the real goal,” Illinois Family Institute said in a statement issued after the bill passed.
That goal, IFI says, is to use public education to promote unproven, non-factual beliefs about the nature and morality of homosexuality and “transgenderism.”
* And quite a large number of pro-life legislators opposed a bill that would increase protections for pregnant mothers in the workplace…
The bill, which moves now to the Senate, requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees, if so requested, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the business’ ordinary operation.
Also, it would be considered a civil rights violation if an employer denies employment opportunities or benefits to a pregnant woman, or takes adverse action against an otherwise qualified job applicant or employee. The employers may not require an employee or job applicant to accept an accommodation offered or force that employee to take leave.
State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) said that she was pregnant twice while serving in the military, was provided numerous considerations while expecting and understood the need to make accommodations for pregnancy. However, the mother of five was concerned about a possible rise in litigation the bill would fuel.
* More…
Flowers’ bill would make employers permit frequent bathroom breaks, water breaks, seating, assistance with manual labor, less physically demanding duties, adjustment of the work schedule, time off to recover from childbirth, leave and break space for breast feeding. […]
Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove, who voted against the legislation, said “no one’s against pregnant women” but said the bill goes too far.
“It’s problematic because it expands rights beyond what’s already provided in federal law,” he said. “It has many undefined terms that could be abused.” […]
But Flowers said litigation didn’t erupt in California after it enacted a similar law.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 10:23 am:
“The Heather Steans, ‘Vote Countula Forum’, will begin when a proper head count of the attendees is verified, or is shown to be a vote off or two.”
“The Greg Harris, ‘This Bill Is Ripe - Voting Your Bills To Win’ will begin once every single verified attendee is seated and has all the information needed to get them to understand the process.”
Sometimes understanding the “Buliding”, the “Process”, and having “Institutional Knowledge” is NOT overrated.
- Confused - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 10:27 am:
Laurie Higgins is a piece of work. IFI’s relationship with her calls into question their legitimacy. Well, that and a whole encyclopedia of other unacceptable behaviors.
- Upon Further Review - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 10:31 am:
Representative Kelly Cassidy could learn a few lessons from Representative Greg Harris about passing legislation.
- Demoralized - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 10:47 am:
==ultimate motivation behind this legislation is to promote the Leftist assumptions of adult homosexuals who seek to wipe disapproval of homosexual acts from the face of the planet even if doing requires deception, harms children, undermines parental rights, and corrodes fundamental First Amendment speech and religious liberty.”==
No, what they seek is to overcome hate groups like you who want to wipe homosexuals off the face of the earth.
Oh, and your “religious freedom” doesn’t mean you get to stamp out anything that offends you.
IFI, taking hate to new levels.
- David Ormsby - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 10:53 am:
Uh, perhaps a little more scrutiny of those “no” votes backing the whack jobs at the Illinois Family Institute, rather than Cassidy’s timing, seems to be in order.
- Walker - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 10:57 am:
Major fail on Cassidy’s part.
Protection against this sort of “conversion therapy” is critical to protect our young people. Psychologists and Psychiatrists have come to agree it is useless at best, and often seriously harmful. Why do religious amateurs, like IFI, think they know better?
- Johnson's Corner - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:01 am:
It should be between the patient and the doctor when no other life’s are involved. Stay out of the patient and doctor relationship.
- Walker - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:03 am:
So the IFI now claims that harming children, if self-justified religiously, is protected “Free Speech?”
They really are despicable.
I’ve ever heard them support anything that actually supports families, in the general sense.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:04 am:
- David Ormsby -,
First and foremost, much respect, I enjoy reading your points of view, even the times we may differ, but much respect.
To your Post,
I get the “take” on it, and there is a real good reason to scrutinize the “no” votes, but in reality, had Cassidy not pulled a “Vote Countula”, it had a better chance to pass, and the talk of who voted “no” would be less important.
That is why I dinged her, for lackig the understanding of voting a Bill “ripe”. I understsand calanders too, I do. I just felt the idea of lining up your “yes” votes seemed more lacking than going after the “no” votes who in theory, could have possibly been made irrelevent with the Bill’s passage.
I will look at the “no” votes as you suggest, to give me a different perspective.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:11 am:
===Uh, perhaps a little more scrutiny of those “no” votes backing the whack jobs at the Illinois Family Institute, rather than Cassidy’s timing, seems to be in order. ===
Uh, don’t you have your own blog?
- shore - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:18 am:
I’m fine if some nonprofit group wants to spend millions of dollars encouraging people not to bully others-especially kids but this focus by government seems more like a hair braid or other type of dumb over governing situation. Not every situation in society requires government action.
- shore - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:20 am:
It’s also disgusting there are 44 legislators who believe in conversion therapy. I’ll never be considered a lefty, but that’s horrible. Like sending a young person who wants to change religions to a shrink to tell them they should be one instead of another.
- Namaste - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:44 am:
LOL @ Rich 11:11
- In 630 - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 11:57 am:
I doubt a large number of the no votes really buy into conversion therapy as a thing. They’re probably mostly scared of voting for a “pro-gay” bill, regardless of the reasonableness.
- Jaded - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 12:16 pm:
In general, a 10 page bill with 7.5 pages of legislative findings deserves to fail.
- Johnson's Corner - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 12:17 pm:
They are probablly not scared. They might just believe that the Government should not intrude in this area. They might believe that the Government is too involved in people’s life’s already and are against too much Government intrusion.
- Archiesmom - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 12:34 pm:
Okay, I can’t take it anymore. Johnson’s Corner, the plural of life is lives, not life’s.
- Johnson's Corner - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 12:52 pm:
Sorry, you are correct.
- Justin - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 1:20 pm:
I am really upset that the conversion therapy ban bill didn’t pass.
Hopefully we’ll get it passed in 2015-2016.
It’s sad when the IFI’s celebrating.
- wordslinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 1:34 pm:
I don’t know why Cassidy called the bill, but I’m surprised there were 51 votes in support of quackery such as “conversion therapy.”
Personally, I don’t recall ever making a choice to be heterosexual. Could I have been converted to gay, with the right head-shrinker?
I don’t think so.
Seriously, you didn’t have friends and relatives that you knew were gay at an early age, even though they had to keep it on the down-low?
- Just Me - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 1:42 pm:
I’m loving the conservatives who argue this is a private matter between a doctor and a patient. Oh, the irony.
But I also feel the need to mention that this conversion therapy is not sanctioned by the medical community, but also the decision to go to “therapy” is usually forced upon the minor by their parent.
Still is 100% to blame on Cassidy for not counting votes.
- So. ILL - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:22 pm:
Quinn landing hammer blow after hammer blow. He’s really in his element debating Rauner, which surprises me. Wish he’d be this fired up when it comes to everything else about leadership.
- So. ILL - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:22 pm:
oops wrong feed
- Johnson's Corner - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:25 pm:
Just me
It is not just the conservatives making that argument and it is not irony. Abortion involves another person, the baby.
I would not classify myself as a conservative since I grew up as a liberal Democrat.
I am not a libertarian but agree with them on many issues and libertarians are split on the abortion issue.
- Jacob S - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:29 pm:
I agree but question all of the anger out there.