What Pat Brady's resignation in Illinois means for gay marriage and the GOP
The state's outgoing GOP chair faced a backlash for supporting a bill to legalize same-sex marriage
In a widely expected move, embattled Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady resigned on Tuesday. Brady said he wanted to spend more time with his family as his wife fights cancer, but social conservatives have been calling for Brady's head for months. They're angry over his support for a gay marriage bill floated in the state legislature this year — the latest in a series of similar measures taken up across the country. The GOP's drubbing in the November election, which gave Illinois Democrats veto-proof majorities in the state House and Senate, didn't help.
No matter how Brady's departure is spun, the takeaway is that the Illinois GOP is doubling down on its opposition to gay marriage. Though "it's pretty clear that support for marriage equality is what forced [Brady] out of office," says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. After he came out for the marriage bill, 50 conservatives called for his resignation at a meeting in April. "On some level, I suppose one can understand that a political party would want it's leader to reflect the positions that the party takes, or at least not to openly disagree with part of the party's platform," says Mataconis. Still, "this is just another sign that the GOP remains behind the times" on marriage equality. It's likely to become the law of the land in Illinois this year, so the GOP is needlessly damaging itself with this "pointless war," he adds.
But does this infighting have national implications? Erick Erickson at RedState argued nearly two months ago that Brady had to go, but that the reason was his failure to raise money and otherwise run things well — not his stand on one hot-button issue. "Brady's resignation marks the latest trouble for a political party that had held Illinois' governorship for nearly a quarter century until then-Gov. George Ryan's tenure as secretary of state led to indictment and imprisonment," says Rick Pearson at the Chicago Tribune. Brady argued, however, that the big losses in November signaled that the GOP needed to be more inclusive because it couldn't hope to attract new voters by coming off "as mean-spirited or angry or too dogmatic."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is just another piece of "evidence that genuine reform is not in the cards" for the GOP on gay rights, says Jamelle Bouie at The Washington Post. This didn't happen in a vacuum. While Illinois Republicans were going after Brady, members of the party have been rising to oppose extending automatic green card privileges to the partners of LGBT Americans, Bouie says:
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Are 'judge shopping' rules a blow to Republicans?
Today's Big Question How the abortion pill case got to the Supreme Court
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
'A great culture will be lost if the EV brigade gets its way'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published