The State Journal-Register posted an editorial urging the Illinois State House of Representatives to pass the marriage bill during veto session, which starts this week. The article makes clear the distinction between a civil union and a marriage and how the civil union law does not provide the same protections that marriage would.
Illinois’ civil union law, which many view as a progressive victory, was a good step in the right direction when it went into effect in June 2011.
But the law fails to give same-sex couples equal rights and actually subjects them to any number of social and legal indignities every day. They find themselves in limbo — recognized as partners, but not as spouses with legal standing in the event of emergencies; acknowledged as two people in a committed relationship, but unable to identify themselves as married.
