Same-Sex Marriage Supporters, Opponents Rally in Fox Valley

Aurora Democrat Stephanie Kifowit's Montgomery Road office was the site of a protest and counter-protest on Saturday, although the representative did not make an appearance.

Same-Sex Marriage Supporters, Opponents Rally in Fox Valley

Aurora Democrat Stephanie Kifowit's Montgomery Road office was the site of a protest and counter-protest on Saturday, although the representative did not make an appearance.

Over a hundred opponents of same-sex marriage gathered Saturday morning outside State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit’s Aurora office, where they also faced off with gay rights activists staging a counter protest. The Defend Marriage rally was organized by the Illinois Family Institute, a conservative non-profit that opposes Senate Bill 10—the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act—which was passed by the Illinois Senate in February and is awaiting a vote by the House. A counter-protest was organized by local pro-LGBTQ group Fox Valley Pride with assistance from Illinois Unites and the Gay Liberation Network, said Jim Lausier, who was the primary organizer for this protest. Lausier said he wishes there was a larger group presence at the rally…

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Kibitzer

7:51 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013

"Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." Proverbs 9:8   more ›

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Protest Planned for Fox Valley

Aurora Democrat Stephanie Kifowit's Montgomery Road office will be the site of the Saturday protest and counter-protest.

Same-sex marriage protests have been breaking out across the area at state representative’s local offices, and the Fox Valley will get its very own Saturday. The nonprofit Illinois Family Institute is organizing the rallies, and will appear at Democratic State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit’s Montgomery Road office at 11 a.m. Saturday. The IFI gathered at the Downers Grove office of State Rep. Ron Sandack last Saturday and the rally drew scores of counter-protesters. A similar “pro-equality” counter-protest is being organized locally by Fox Valley Pride — a “gay-straight alliance for all ages.” "We need to get a group together to make sure that the LGBT community is there to respond," the group wrote on its Facebook page.  The IFI opposes Senate …

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Illinois Pension Reform: How Did Your Representative Vote?

The Illinois House Thursday approved a controversial plan to eliminate the state's $100 billion pension debt.

The Illinois Senate may soon vote on House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform plan that passed the House Thursday. The bill passed by a vote of 62-51 and seeks to eliminate the state’s $100 billion retirement system debt. Illinois ranks dead last in the nation when it comes to funding its public pension plan, according to WBEZ. The bill asks state workers for less in future cost-of-living increases, an increase in the retirement age for workers under the age of 46 and asks for more money to be taken from state employee paychecks. The bill may have difficulty making it through the Senate where Senate Leader John Cullerton supports a different plan that gives workers the option of pay increases or government-funded health care in …

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Kifowit to Represent 84th District in Springfield

Aurora alderman defeats Fee in tough race.

Democratic Aurora Alderman Stephanie Kifowit will take her seat in Springfield, winning her race against Republican Pat Fee Tuesday night. In unofficial totals, Kifowit received 16,544 votes to Fee's 9,648.  The race to represent the 84th State House District was heated at times, with Kifowit — a Democrat, substitute teacher, Aurora alderman and Marine Corps veteran — accusing her Republican opponent of employing dirty tactics and going on the attack early on in the campaign. For her part, Fee, a homemaker and community volunteer, denied what she called "absurd" allegations, which accused her of allowing campaign staffers to harass Kifowit and her family in person and online. Fee, a former member of the Naperville Public Television Board …

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