THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

The statement follows an Oct. 31 Crain's Business article by Greg Hinz reporting that fliers and robo-calls paid for by the Illinois Republican Party attack Libertarian candidate Chad Grimm for, among other charges, supporting gay marriage being pro-choice. The flier's headline proclaims Grimm to be "a Democrat agent."

As the election has heated up, Rauner has been reiterating that he would not foreground a social agenda should he be elected, and his camp denies a connection with the ad. A campaign spokesman told Hinz, "This is not a Bruce Rauner mail piece. Bruce doesn't have a social agenda—he's pro-choice, comfortable with the existing marriage law and doesn't seek to change it."

But Hinz suggested that Rauner's campaign would have had to sign off on the ad, and reported that the candidate was largely responsible for both a $4.5 million infusion of cash to the state party in the last quarter, as well as the selection of Tim Schneider as its new chairman.

In the statement, Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov said, "This is just the latest evidence of Bruce Rauner showing his true conservative social agenda and his opposition to marriage equality for same-sex couples. It is condemnable and unsurprising at the same time."

Equality Illinois PAC has for much of this year been working to debunk Rauner's assertions that he has no social agenda, pointing to comments the candidate made in late 2013 that marriage equality should have been determined by a voter's referendum. They also have called attention to anti-marriage equality remarks made by his running mate, Evelyn Sanguinetti, and donations he has accepted from the DeVos family of Michigan, who have given large contributions to the National Organization for Marriage.

The Crain's article can be found at: bit.ly/1zS46yu .