Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady has been the target of his party's ire since January when he said:
"Giving gay and lesbian couples the freedom to get married honors the best conservative principles. It strengthens families and reinforces a key Republican value – that the law should treat all citizens equally."
In March, Republican leaders had planned a meeting in which they were going to discuss firing Brady for his remarks but the meeting was canceled because of dissonance within the party.
The meeting finally happened on Saturday, and Brady came out alive, the AP reports:
About 50 Republican Party members attended Saturday's meeting in Tinley Park of the party's State Central Committee to ask that Brady step down or that the committee fire him.
After a tense, hourslong session, Brady remained as the party's chairman. He said the committee did not take a vote on whether to fire him during a closed-door meeting Saturday.
“I think there are people in the party who don't necessarily agree with me, but the point is …. we're a party that welcomes all ideas,” Brady said. “You don't have to be exactly a platform Republican to be welcome in the party, and that's the direction we're taking the party.”
This is the atmosphere Republicans have fostered with their anti-equality stance:
At one point, people gathered in a hallway outside the meeting began yelling and chanting, “Throw him out.”
