IL Primary Winner Blames Gay Rights for Autism, Tornadoes

It’s unclear what, exactly, was going through the minds of Republican voters in Illinois’ 9th District Tuesday when they chose Susanne Atanus to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky in November. Perhaps they secretly want Schakowsky, who has represented the district comprising much of Chicago since 1990. Or maybe they are just fed up with things like tornadoes and autism and desperate to find a new approach to eradicate them, because the woman who just won the GOP primary believes that such diseases and natural disasters are God’s punishment for gay rights and legalized abortions. “God is angry,” Atanus told The Daily Herald back in January. “We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions. Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it’s in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God.”