The Daily Herald published an editorial today, expressing support for the bill that would grant the freedom to marry to same-sex couples throughout Illinois. The bill is poised to be called during veto session.

This is not a new position for this newspaper. We wrote of our support of gay marriage in July 2012, believing then as now that "unless gay couples are allowed to marry, they always will be relegated to second-class citizenship, and that is not right."

A year and half later, we're still waiting for the Illinois House to agree. Or disagree. The chief sponsor of the bill said in May that many of his colleagues said they needed the summer to talk to their constituents and mull it over. We trust they did their homework and are ready to take a stand.

Read the rest.

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.”

Read the whole thing.

Laura Washington of the Chicago Sun-Times interviewed Rev. Benjamin Ledell Reynolds, faith director of Illinois Unites for Marriage. Rev. Reynolds discussed his faith journey and support for Senate Bill 10, which would bring the freedom to marry to Illinois:

The marriage bill may emerge this fall during the General Assembly’s veto session.

Reynolds, now 52 and a grandfather, argues that same-sex marriage rights will boost the community’s bottom line, ensuring all “the benefits to provide for their families.”

And the biblical argument? “For me, the Bible is the book of love.” As the sun streamed in our window, he paraphrased the “golden rule,” Matthew, 7:12. “Do to others what is done to you — what you want done to you.”

Read the whole thing.