* From an infamous 2013 essay…
One of the great Houdini achievements of the gay rights campaign has been to take an issue all about sexual behavior and turn it into a discussion about everything but sexual behavior.
The premise, which was not at all new at the time, was to push back on gay rights by injecting the “Yuck Factor” into the debate. Most people, it was believed, saw the physical act of gay sex as yucky. And activists could use that mental image as a wedge between the majority and formalizing civil rights.
* In the end, of course, it didn’t work…
Seventy-one percent of Americans say they support legal same-sex marriage, which exceeds the previous high of 70% recorded in 2021 by one percentage point. […]
When Gallup first polled about same-sex marriage in 1996, barely a quarter of the public (27%) supported legalizing such unions. It would take another 15 years, until 2011, for support to reach the majority level. Then in 2015, just one month before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, public support for legalizing gay marriage cracked the 60% level, and last year it reached the 70% mark for the first time. […]
Rising national support for legal same-sex marriage reflects steady increases among most subgroups of the population, even those who have traditionally been the most resistant to gay marriage. Adults aged 65 and older, for example, became mostly supportive in 2016 — as did Protestants in 2017 and Republicans in 2021.
Americans who report that they attend church weekly remain the primary demographic holdout against gay marriage, with 40% in favor and 58% opposed.
* And all that helps explain this claim by a member of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee…
Ives calls for Wheaton principal to be fired over ’sex tree’ for middle schoolers
Jeanne Ives is calling for the firing of Edison Middle School Principal Rachel Bednar.
The call for Bednar’s termination comes after a “Gay Pride” Christmas tree was spotted on school grounds.
Ives, a former state representative who is now CEO of Breakthrough Ideas, also referenced the school’s poor academic performance in her call to dismiss Bednar.
“If you let this stand, you are just as morally depraved as the principal,” Ives told the Community Unity School District 200 board and Superintendent Jeff Schuler in an email. “Bednar should be fired for destroying the innocence of young children, promoting racist programs, and failing to educate kids.”
Imagine the sort of mind that sees a rainbow-colored Gay Pride tree as a “sex tree.”
It turns out, most normal people aren’t all that interested in what consenting adults do. And they also want their kids to not judge people lest they be judged. And they really don’t like people who cannot separate private, personal matters from overall public issues. That’s the very real “Yuck Factor” in most Americans’ lives these days.
* Meanwhile…
These are who you are ruled by Illinois. Black-power signaling idiots, Is this racist, by the way? I think so.
The…
Posted by Jeanne Ives on Monday, December 5, 2022
Yes, Jeanne, you made a racist claim.
- Chicago Cynic - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:49 am:
Jeanne Ives is a racist homophobe???? Say it ain’t so. You mean the person who brought us that horrific ad during her campaign with the man in a dress is a racist homophobe? I’m shocked.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:50 am:
Hey Cor Strategies, better check in on one of your moderates.
- H-W - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:52 am:
Ives has lost her mind. Sad. She thinks gay people and Black people have no right to be proud of their heritage.
What is her heritage? Does she hate her heritage too?
- Local Person - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:52 am:
Why I am not surprised that it was Jeanne Ives
- Old time Independent - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:52 am:
I only hope that Ives who is a parent has never had or still have some young closeted kids hanging with her kids. Can you imagine how that young person feels being around someone this filled with hate. Wake up Jeannie
- Montrose - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:53 am:
Showing once again that the Republicans learned a lot from the recent election. /s
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:55 am:
Base Jeanne Ives thinking *IS* base GOP thinking.
I base that on… where’s the GOP pushback?
I won’t hold my breath.
- vern - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 10:57 am:
Mainstream Republicans have to learn how to punch to their right. The crazies have gotten to steer the ship for too long. A well functioning party would throw Ives some chin music today.
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:03 am:
Does Jeanne Ives have some sort of job these days?
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:04 am:
“Sex tree” sounds like something out of South Park. That’s how ridiculous you sound, Jeanne Ives.
- Cool Papa Bell - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:06 am:
In 2020 Ives won 70% of the primary vote for Congress.
In 2018 Ives was 22,000 votes shy of beating Rauner in a primary.
Ives is and remains a very popular part of the GOP in Illinois. The election results prove that she is mainstream in the party
- Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:10 am:
This is the same Jeanne Ives that once called gay people weasels.
These are the sorts of people who have infected the Republican Party. They are hatemongers. And their fellow Republicans never call them out for it.
Dear Republicans:
This is just one more reason why the people of Illinois don’t take you seriously.
- Bruce( no not him) - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:12 am:
’sex tree’
The jokes write themselves, but the filter wouldn’t like them.
- low level - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:15 am:
Did anyone watch Ives on election night? She literally wouldn’t shut up and monopolized the conversation amongst the analysts. None of this should surprise us. This is who she is.
- Techie - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:18 am:
I agree with Vern - until more sensible people in the Republican party are willing to publicly and forcefully pushback on the bigotry of their public officials and “thought leaders,” it will continue to be a mainstay of the party. And they will continue to lose elections partly because of it.
- Nagidam - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:19 am:
The hyper link on what former Representative Ives talked about is one of the Proft fake newspapers. How do we ignore them if we keep putting their ridiculousness out there.
- NIU Grad - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:25 am:
I was disappointed to see her as a WGN election-night analyst, with minimal pushback to her rantings.
- Pundent - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:27 am:
The ILGOP should take note. The trend is not your friend. And if you embrace candidates that espouse views that 71% of Americans don’t agree with, it will be very hard to win races of any consequence. From that vantage point condemning Ives’ comments should be a no-brainer.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:27 am:
=== How do we ignore them===
Not my job.
If you want to ignore them, fine. But ignoring them won’t make them go away.
- Big Dipper - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:29 am:
If you imagine most heterosexual people you know engaged in the physical act of sex there is a yuck factor as well. That’s why you don’t do it.
- Dance Band on the Titanic - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:30 am:
A “sex tree” to celebrate a virgin birth? Now I’ve seen everything.
- walker - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:30 am:
I honestly thought Jeannie was smarter than this. Just plain stupid.
- Cool Papa Bell - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:32 am:
@Demoralized =These are the sorts of people who have infected the Republican Party. They are hatemongers. And their fellow Republicans never call them out for it.=
She is a major component of the Republican Party. There isn’t a Republican Party right now without her and people who think like her.
She won 70% of a primary. Ives = GOP.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:33 am:
Programing note, and not for nothing but Ives does not support the 1st Amendment or the constitution she once swore to protect. So, she must hate America.
=ignore=
No, let the light of day hit them. That is a big part of why Bailey lost.
- Rabid - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:41 am:
Sex tree, and I thought mistletoe was fun
- DHS Drone - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:53 am:
Ignoring them sounds nice until they actually go and attempt to violently overthrow an elected government.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:55 am:
Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
If you believe what they stand for is hate, and all that is bad, not only in politics but society…
… shine the hottest light on it.
- Socially DIstant watcher - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 11:56 am:
Well, isn’t that special?
- Scurvydog - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:00 pm:
Wasn’t the last post about voters not interested in the drama and hyperbole?
Jeanne Ives, please see prior post titled - GOP pollster: “The Republican strategy of screaming ‘the sky is falling’ and ‘all is lost’ is clearly not working.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:06 pm:
Miss Jeanne is coming off the rails. When someone shows you who they are…
If Miss Jeanne is so concerned about academic progress in the school system, lace up the teacher shoes and become part of the solution. Become a classroom teacher. But, that would be torture for the students.
Deeds not words, Miss Jeanne.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:08 pm:
–Imagine the sort of mind that sees a rainbow-colored Gay Pride tree as a “sex tree.”–
Repressed minds do fairly predictable things when trying to bridge the gap between private thoughts and public statements.
- Baloneymous - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:12 pm:
From the pollster in the previous post:
“The voters in this state aren’t hyper-partisans or idealogues.”
Based on the “sex tree” remark, someone isn’t learning or paying attention already.
- OneMan - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:20 pm:
I have about a dozen jokes here that might not get me banned but will get me in trouble.
So instead, I will type a sentence that likely has never been written in English.
Swing voters don’t care about the Sex Tree(TM).
- Commissar Gritty - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:22 pm:
I remember hearing a standup comedian talk about how society is kind of like a train. In the front, we have progressives trying to advance along the track, and pull our society along to greater equality for all. Most of the people are just passengers along for the ride who don’t pay much attention to how the train gets there.
Then you have evangelicals, who are in the back kicking and screaming, pulling the emergency break and hoping the train not only stops but goes backwards. The good news is that they are fighting a losing battle, and reactionaries like Ives will be fighting battles in 20 years for things that seem too progressive now. But despite that, they will still be screaming in all our ears until we finally learn to tune them out.
They are a loud and hateful minority, but as the last 3 elections have proven, they are thankfully a shrinking minority.
And yes Jeanne, that comment was racist.
- Commissar Gritty - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:25 pm:
Also agreed with NIU Grad, I was surprised to see her given a microphone again. Shame on WGN for platforming her, the rest of us are eager to forget.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:33 pm:
“Sex tree”
I guess you could say the same thing about the Heterosexual Community. Why is Jennie forcing her lifestyle choice on children? Shouldn’t the parents be making decisions about their own children?
- Friendly Bob Adams - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:35 pm:
Just imagine- grade school kids are now being taught to respect their fellow human beings regardless of perceived differences. Fire everybody now….
- Jerry - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:36 pm:
Sorry, that was me at 12:33pm.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:37 pm:
Spinal Tap had “Stonehenge”, Jeanne Ives…
What is so sickening is that the reason the comedic angle is so visible to how ridiculous Ives is here, it’s because hate, in all forms, attracts ridicule… like the absurd…
For the record, yes, Ives, it was a racist claim.
- Curious citizen - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 12:57 pm:
I can’t understand why the ILGOP continues to be the minority party in our state…
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:08 pm:
Is Miss Jeanne morphing into Sister Mary Alfonso with her trusty 18” wooden ruler by her side?
With sensible shoes, of course.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:16 pm:
–Is Miss Jeanne morphing into Sister Mary Alfonso–
She’s more of a Father Coughlin.
- Give Us Barabbas - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:27 pm:
Ives is one of those inflated dancing tube things with the flailing arms. They don’t do anything but call for attention as they spastically twitch and dance… while going nowhere.
- Steve Rogers - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 1:40 pm:
I’m trying to figure out how a sex tree even works. So, if two random homosexuals see this tree, they’ll be overcome with a desire to have sex under this tree?
I’ve heard some really bizarre things come out of Ives’ mouth, but this one moves to the top of the list.
- watchful eye - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 2:01 pm:
The same day the gay marriage legislation passes in U.S. Senate. Hate loses Jeanne. You lose Jeanne. A horrible human being.
- Dirty Red - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 2:16 pm:
Let’s be fair to the bigot from Wheaton: Her concern centers around the Sex Tree’s OnlyFans account, which enables their promiscuous birth control lifestyle.
= I’m trying to figure out how a sex tree even works. =
There is a subreddit. Use a burner, and not on state time.
- JoanP - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 2:26 pm:
= Swing voters don’t care about the Sex Tree(TM). =
Swinger voters, on the other hand . . .
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 2:55 pm:
Actually Sex Tree would fit right in on a Spinal Tap album, Willy… Picture David St. Hubbins dressed like the Stanford Tree.
Sex Tree by Spinal Tap, kinda.
I’m the king of the forest pines
Tall and mighty, I want you to be mine
I’m firmly planted, here in the ground
Push me over, find out if I make a sound
Because I’m a Sex Tree
I have bark and I bite
I’m a Sex Tree
I stay up all night
I’m a Sex Tree
Come make me your own
I’m a Sex Tree
Watch out for my cones
- ste_with a v_en - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 2:59 pm:
I used to enjoy Beyond the Beltway, but now she is the host. Yuck.
- AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 3:09 pm:
Lot of talk of the Bigot from Wheaton (credit) “losing her mind” and going off the rails” as if she ever had one or were on them.
- Call me Maya - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 3:26 pm:
LGBTQ kids exist
They exist in Grade, middle and high Schools. We as adults should be helping them thrive. Its really sad to watch adults bully children.
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 6:09 pm:
Sex Tree… woulda made a great punk band name.
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Dec 8, 22 @ 6:12 pm:
Jeanne Ives is the voice of ILGOP…until someone says different?