Chris Nybo Illustrates Why Americans Distrust Lawmakers


Nybo interview

Written by Laurie Higgins

There are many reasons for the disapproval and even contempt Americans have for their elected representatives. These include lawmakers’ penchant for corruption and collusion in the service of their self-interests, chief of which may be their undying devotion to perpetual re-election.

Another reason for the subterranean reputation of many of our lawmakers is their commitment to dissembling. In a recent Facebook fit of pique over a short article written by IFI Executive Director David Smith that summarized State Senator Chris Nybo’s (R-24th*) distinctly unconservative votes, Nybo rebuked Smith for failing to publicly acknowledge that he, Nybo, had “refused to support” SB 1564. Nybo wrote this snarky comment:

Dave, no comment on how I refused to support 1564 when it came back for concurrence in the Senate? Seems a little deceptive on your part. I know it might be hard for you, but how about we stick to facts?

Smith’s article was centrally about Nybo’s vote in favor of Senate Resolution 1752, which is the presumptuous, self-righteous public scolding of the good people of Mississippi and North Carolina by Democrats in the failing state of Illinois for daring to say that restrooms in public facilities should not be co-ed.

Yes, Illinois lawmakers who ran Illinois into the ground and can’t dig us out took time to do what they do best: undermine sexual sanity and morality. And when this toxic cloud of a resolution floated past Nybo, he became the only Republican in the state to vote for it.

Clearly then, Nybo will not support Representative Tom Morrison’s bi-partisan Pupil Physical Privacy Act—if or when it ever gets out of committee—which would require that public school restrooms and locker rooms correspond to objective, immutable sex. In other words, Nybo likely supports de-sexed, co-ed restrooms and locker rooms in government schools.

You may be wondering why Nybo publicly accused Smith of deception. What facts did Smith leave out to justify Nybo’s allegation?  Is this a case of pot vs. kettle—or something else? Hmmm….

The bill Nybo refers to in his Facebook indictment of Smith is SB 1564, which amends the Health Care Right of Conscience law to rob medical professionals who oppose abortion, abortifacients, certain end-of-life protocols, and artificial contraception of their right of conscience. In reality, it’s the End of Right of Conscience Act.

When SB 1564 first came up for a vote in the Illinois Senate on April 22, 2015, Nybo voted with “progressives” in favor of it. It then moved to the Illinois House where it passed on May 25, 2016.  After “concurrence,” during which the two legislative bodies resolved differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill, it returned to the Senate for a vote.

Now here’s where that tricksy jackanapes Nybo gets rhetorically tricksy. When SB 1564 came up for its final vote on the last day of regular session (May 21, 2016), Nybo did not vote. Nybo has embarrassed himself by suggesting in a lawyerly fashion that by not voting at all, he “refused to support” SB 1564. Here’s a radical suggestion for attorney Nybo: How about refusing to support bad bills by voting NO.

By misconstruing his absence of a vote (i.e., his “no vote” [NV]) as a “refusal to support” a bill, Nybo attempts to conflate not voting with voting “NO.” This is the kind of weaselly rhetoric that gives lawmakers (and lawyers) a deservedly bad name.

Another queer vote of Nybo’s that merits a query from his constituents and a response from him is his vote in favor of banning therapy for minors who experience unwanted same-sex attraction (HB 217). He should be asked the following questions:

  1. Why did you vote to prohibit minors from accessing medical help in constructing an identity that doesn’t include the affirmation of unwanted same-sex attraction, which necessarily prevents minors whose unwanted same-sex attraction may have resulted from molestation?
  2. When you voted for HB 217 did you ask to see conclusive research proving that all forms of counseling are harmful?
  3. Did you know that the Illinois Human Rights Act does something unusual: It states that “sexual orientation” includes “gender identity”? This means that the law you voted for also prohibits parents of gender-dysphoric children from accessing medical services to help their children accept their objective, immutable physical embodiment as male or female?
  4. Did you know that even liberal sex and “gender” researchers oppose legislation that bans counseling to help gender-dysphoric children accept their sex?
  5. Does it trouble you that now minors are prohibited from getting medical help in rejecting their unwanted “sexual orientation” but are permitted to get medical get help in rejecting their unwanted sex?
  6. Did you know that even homosexual scholars say that “sexual orientation” is fluid, and did you know that all scientists say sex is immutable?
  7. Do you bear any moral culpability for harm done to minors and their parents by your feckless vote—which is to say, a vote uninformed by knowledge?

Here are yet more troubling Nybo votes:

  • SB 57: Allows one spouse to file for divorce after a 6 month separation even if the other spouse does not want the divorce. This is worse than no fault divorce. This bill would also eliminate the ability of jilted spouses to sue for alienation of affection and makes provisions for visitation rights by non-relatives, over-riding parental rights.  It’s now law. (Read more HERE.)
  • SB 2228 and HB 218: bills that decriminalize the possession of marijuana.  Makes the possession of ten grams of marijuana a $100 to $200 ticket and a petty offense with no limit to the number of offenses. SB 2228 is on the governor’s desk. (Read more HERE.)
  • HB 1531: This bill severs the biological definition of “parent” from the legal definition of “parent.” Instead of recognizing parental rights as naturally emanating from the mother and father who conceived the child. The bill creates parental rights in persons with no genetic link to the child and with no adoption proceeding. It’s now law. (Read more HERE.)

It’s time for the voters in the 24th District to find someone better, and by better, I mean, someone who will stand boldly, reliably, and with conviction for conservatism.


*The 24th Senate District includes all or parts of Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Lisle, Lombard, Oak Brook, Oak Brook Terrace, Westmont, Wheaton, Western Springs and Willowbrook in DuPage and Cook counties.


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