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national
Illinois governor’s race pits two moderates on gay rights issues
Democratic governor and his GOP challenger oppose both same-sex marriage and a constitutional amendment to ban it
Published Thursday, 22-Jun-2006 in issue 965
CHICAGO (AP) – While some Washington politicians want to use same-sex marriage to divide the electorate in November, Illinois voters are choosing between two candidates for governor who are regular crowd favorites at this city’s Pride parade.
Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his GOP challenger, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, are nearly identical in their support for gay rights.
Both say a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is unnecessary, and Topinka supports the state law signed by Blagojevich protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination.
“As gay voters we have good choices,” said Rick Garcia, political director for the gay rights group Equality Illinois.
Conservative Republicans are not so giddy.
“We got nobody,” said Peter LaBarbera, executive director of a conservative group pushing to get a measure on Illinois ballots this fall that would ask voters whether the state constitution should be amended to ban same-sex marriage.
In Washington, the Senate earlier this month soundly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Some Republicans hope the issue will rally GOP voters for the November elections.
Topinka opposes same-sex marriage but says there’s no need to rewrite the state constitution because Illinois law already prohibits same-sex marriage. Blagojevich, too, opposes a constitutional amendment and has said he considers marriage to be between a man and a woman. Both politicians support civil unions.
When it comes to gay rights, where Blagojevich and Topinka diverge is in offering health benefits to partners of the nonunion gay and lesbian employees under their control. Thousands of unionized state employees already were entitled to them.
Blagojevich issued an administrative order in May extending the benefits as of July 1 to the employees he oversees and encouraged the state’s other constitutional officers to do the same. They all have except for Topinka, said Department of Central Management Services spokesperson Justin DeJong.
Topinka said the state can’t afford the benefits or “anything else right now.” The Blagojevich campaign hopes that shows how the two are different.
It does, says Kara Borden, a gay 29-year-old graduate student from Chicago.
“That’s actually something, an action that has been taken,” said Borden, who doesn’t identify with either party and votes solely based on a candidate’s platform.
Gay voters – who Garcia says could number at least 1 million in Illinois – are a voting bloc the Blagojevich campaign actively courts.
A conservative Web site, www.stoptopinka.com, lambastes Topinka for her past participation in the Pride parade and warns voters that Topinka “holds extremely liberal values that are contrary to those embraced by the vast majority of Illinois Republicans.”
LaBarbera has said the Web site is his personal undertaking and not affiliated with his job as executive director of the Illinois Family Institute.
Despite the criticism from conservatives, Topinka said she won’t distance herself from gay voters.
“I am not a hater,” she said. “I am not going to demonize any group.”
She said her campaign will reach out to gay voters, just like it does other groups.
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