SPOTLIGHT: Springfield Rundown

Written by John Biver

Laurie Higgins joins Monte Larrick and Dave Smith to discuss the Illinois Senate’s approval of the ERA, and they also discuss the LGBTQIA history curriculum legislation currently in consideration in the Illinois General Assembly.

Can the ERA be stopped in Illinois now that it has passed the state senate? “Yes,” Laurie Higgins said, because the “ERA actually says nothing about women.” The language of the proposed amendment does signal, however, that it will eradicate abortion restrictions and it will end sex differentiation in private spaces.… Continue Reading

LGBTQ Roots in Legal Weed Campaign Run Deep

Written by Pat Hickey

During the Illinois Primary, I wrote about the people behind the Marijuana Legalization Campaign:

Democrats Dan Biss and JB Pritzker want Illinois more than one toke over the line, and Chris Kennedy and Bruce Rauner want others to tell us if it is safe and fun.

Like the lottery and casino gambling, recreational pot will also free Illinois from want, debt and care.  Dope will make our kids smarter and turn selfish people into Jimmy Kimmel.

Transgressing the Diversity Dictate

Written by Robert Knight

“All I know is what I read in the papers,” Will Rogers used to say when opening his vaudeville act. In that spirit, here are two items in the news that shed light on our current culture.

In a full-page newspaper ad that ran during the Winter Olympics, Edward W. Stack, chairman of DICK’s Sporting Goods, basically paraphrased Rodney King’s admonition to the Los Angeles rioters in 1992:  “Can we all get along?”

Headlined “United in Sport,” the ad deplores that “our world, our country, even our communities are as divided as they have ever been.”  Yes, but we did get through the Civil War, World Wars I and II and the Cold War.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: LGBTQQAP Plans for Illinois Schools

Laurie Higgins and John Biver join this week’s podcast with David Smith. They discuss the ongoing push in Springfield to pass a bill which would celebrate the LGBT movement in school curricula K-12, the Delaware proposal where students “may self-identify their race or gender identity at school, and, there will be no requirement that parents be notified if the child communicates to the school that their parent would be not supportive.” (Read more HERE.)

They also discuss the champion female wrestler in Texas who is transitioning to a male taking cross sex hormones and steroids, and the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). … Continue Reading

Southern Poverty Law Center Is a Hate Group

Written by Josh Goldstein

Like many leftist organizations, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, started out with good intentions. It was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joseph Levin and is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.  The Southern Poverty Law Center rightly condemned, as did conservatives such as the great William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan, the American Nazi Party and the Democrat-affiliated Ku Klux Klan.

A favorite SPLC tactic was suing Klan affiliated organizations for their crimes and then distributing the money to the victims.  … Continue Reading

Any Given Sunday: Identity Politics and the Illinois Republican Race for Governor

Written by John Biver

Here is one definition of the expression “any given Sunday”:

It comes from American professional football, which is played (mainly) on Sunday. The full adage goes “on any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team,” meaning that a weaker team still has a chance against a stronger opponent. A related sports phrase is “you have to play the games (to determine the outcome).”

The IFI series on Identity Politics and Paraphilias continues to highlight one of the many the opportunities that the American political left has given the American political right.… Continue Reading

Is It Okay to Be Angry with Leftists Promoting Transgenderism?

Written by John Biver

In this week’s Spotlight, is Laurie Higgins, the Cultural Affairs Writer for the Illinois Family Institute.

They converse on the Masterpiece Cakeshop case before the U.S. Supreme Court, something called the Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) which Laurie asserts is similar to the transgender movement, the government’s role in the institution of marriage, and the role of Anger in the Christian Church.

Higgins emphasizes that it’s important to use proper analogies when writing about what the LGBTQIA letters truly represent.… Continue Reading

Gay Cakes Are Not a Constitutional Right

Written by Daniel John Sobieski

One wonders what would have happened if the Sweet Cakes by Melissa case involved not the owners refusing to be coerced to violate their religious conscience by providing a cake not to two same-sex people celebrating their union and calling it a marriage, but rather a Muslim bakery being forced to bake a cake decorated with a cartoon picture of the prophet Muhammad covered with bacon sprinkles.

Would the bakery in that scenario be forced to pay a heavy business-killing fine for actually believing that the Founding Fathers meant freedom of religion when they enshrined it in the First Amendment? … Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Things You Don’t Hear About Gender Dysphoria

Written by John Biver

Laurie Higgins joins David Smith on this edition of Illinois Family Spotlight. Laurie is the Illinois Family Institute’s Cultural Affairs Writer.

They discuss transgender issues and gender dysphoria, including the requirements to be a transgender person; co-ed restrooms and locker rooms; the emotional toll taken on kids who witness transgender children in their schools; people who have been sexually molested, and transgender birth certificates. Also, one of Laurie’s recent articles.

Some conservatives are buying into “transgenderism,” but as Laurie Higgins points out: “Being castrated doesn’t turn a man into a woman.

Laurier University and the Transsexual Pronoun War

Written by Ben Cohen

Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd, never anticipated she would be at the center of a media firestorm. Earlier this year, Shepherd showed her class an excerpt of a panel discussion on gender neutral pronouns and Canadian anti-discrimination law. The panel featured five guests, including Canadian psychologist Jordan B. Peterson.

After one or more students complained, the university reprimanded Shepherd for creating a toxic environment. When Shepherd leaked secretly recorded audio of two professors and an administrator reprimanding her, the university faced widespread condemnation and apologized to Shepherd.… Continue Reading