The cardinal's original comments involved next summer's gay pride parade and whether it would interfere with services at a Lakeview Catholic church. He compared the possible interference with Catholic worship to KKK parades last century.
Over the weekend the cardinal attempted to clarify. He said then it is absurd to compare gays and lesbians to the Klan, and he added he was only comparing parades to parades, not people to people.
Now the cardinal has released another statement saying, "The organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan, which, well into the 1940's, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus."
Wednesday afternoon, the Gay Liberation Network said it is outraged at the comparison and called for the cardinal's resignation.
Equality Illinois responded to George with a statement: "The Cardinal is making this a political issue as a last-ditch effort to quash the progress that the LGBT movement has made in recent years."
