Illinois Republican: Do civil unions mean 'somebody can get married to their dog?'

Illinois State Rep. John Cabello (R-Rockford) reportedly told a tea party group earlier this month that he's not clear whether his state's civil union law applies to humans, or if "somebody can get married to their dog" as well.

The comments were made during the Rockford Tea Party forum on October 6, according to a Wednesday report by Kate Sosin at Windy City Times. Video of Cabello's speech was published to YouTube, but the paper said that access to the footage was revoked after they called the tea party group for comment.

Reached by Raw Story, Cabello's aides had no comment, explaining they hadn't seen the report. No calls were returned after a copy of the report was forwarded to both his district office and his office at the capital, and a message left with his campaign went unanswered.

His opponent's campaign, however, was happy to talk.

"It's highly offensive that Mr. Cabello would compare homosexual relationships with bestiality," Steve Spagnolo, campaign manager for Carl Wasco (D), told Raw Story. "It's nonsensical at least and has no place in the realm of public officials saying such outrageously offensive things. More than one out of every 200 Rockford city households have a member that is a lesbian or gay individual and to so blatantly offend those individuals is outrageous."

He added that Wasco "stands with the LGBT community" on "equal rights" for all Americans. Pressed on whether that meant Wasco supports civil unions or full marriage equality, Stagnolo answered: "Should full marriage equality be brought to the floor of the assembly, Carl would vote yes."

Cabello, a police officer, was in the headlines earlier this week for losing the endorsement of the Rockford Police labor union, of which he's a member. The Police Benevolent & Protective Association Unit 6 said it endorsed Wasco instead because he's always been friendly to labor unions whereas Cabello didn't appeal for their support, according to The Rockford Register Star.

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Photo: Courtesy, JohnCabello.com.