The Sun-Times editorial board told the story of Lee Edwards and Brenda Lee, a couple seeking the freedom to marry, in an editorial in support of Senate Bill 10. Edwards and Lee have a civil union, but seek the respect and dignity that only come with the status of a civil marriage:
Consider one lesbian couple who agreed to be a face of this effort for the Illinois Unites for Marriage coalition, Lee Edwards and Brenda Lee of Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.
A couple for 10 years, they sat for a video where they explained how they caught each other’s eye at a barbecue, how they became friends and then fell in love, the beauty of the day they committed to each other in a civil union, but ultimately the inadequacy of that second-class recognition.
“It’s important for people to know this is real, that these are real people who really love each other,” Edwards, who works as a paralegal, told us. “For me, this is not a matter of being public, this is who I am and I’m not afraid to share that with anyone.”
