Pat Brady, the chairman of the Republican Party in Illinois, says he won't resign despite backlash from his party over his support of gay marriage.

“If people want to throw me out because I took a stand on an issue of discrimination [as] the chairman of the Republican Party, the party founded by Abraham Lincoln, then that’s – that’s up to them and they’re free to do it,” Brady said. “But I’m not backing down.”

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There have been a number of calls for Brady's resignation after he released a statement saying that Illinois should legalize same-sex marriages. "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," he told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I was shocked,” state Sen. Jim Oberweis, who has asked Brady to resign, told WBEZ. “Very surprised. Did not expect that and didn’t know why he would have done that.”

WBEZ reports that Oberweis isn't the only one:

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