The Windy City Times covered yesterdays debate and vote to pass the marriage bill (SB 10) which will permit the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Illinois. The ACLU of Illinois is proud to have partnered with the Illinois Unites for Marriage campaign and is grateful to the bill sponsors, Representative Greg Harris and Senator Heather Steans for their tireless work to pass the bill in both chambers. Thank the bill sponsors now!
Before the vote was called, Harris said that the political landscape had changed since the spring, given the U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking many of the tenets of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Since the decision came down, Harris said, LGBT Illinoisans had moved "from a second class to a third class status," since marriage rights were now available in the eyes of the federal government. If couples get married out of the state "they lose rights when they return to Illinois," Harris said.
