The Chicago Tribune wrote an obituary on life long civil libertarian and ACLU attorney Barbara O'Toole, who passed away suddenly this week. Barbara began her career with the ACLU of Illinois in 1970, working to defend free speech in numerous cases including the First Amendment case involving Neo-Nazis marching in Skokie in 1977. In more recent years and up until her death, Barbara served as a full-time volunteer, overseeing the organizations intake department. She is truly missed by the entire staff and board of the ACLU of Illinois.

Mrs. O'Toole also argued for the rights of artists to access public spaces, the rights of street musicians and others to perform on Chicago streets and the protection of controversial art, according to the Illinois ACLU.

"Barbara's quiet personality belied the tenacity with which she defended freedom of speech and expression," Harvey Grossman, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said in a statement. "Her achievements in many groundbreaking cases as well as the enduring values she inculcated in young lawyers and student interns over the decades are a tribute to her life commitment to individual liberty."

Read the obituary.

Mark Brown wrote a heartbreaking piece for The Chicago Sun-Times profiling an Illinois couple, Robb Smith and Steven Rynes, who had hoped to get married before Rynes passed away from cancer on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 10 would make it possible for same-sex couples like Robb and Steven to marry in Illinois and receive the numerous federal benefits that come with civil marriage. The bill was not called for a vote on the House floor this spring. It may be called this fall during "veto" session. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) ensured that same-sex couples in states with the freedom to marry will receive all the federal benefits attached to marriage. However, same-sex couples in Illinois with civil unions generally do not qualify.

Robb Smith and Steven Rynes would have liked to be married, but the State of Illinois never afforded them the opportunity.

Now, it’s too late.

While Illinois legislators continue to delay a vote on legalizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples so as not to draw opposition in the March primary, real life sets it own deadlines.

Rynes died early Tuesday morning from the effects of metatastic melanoma, a particularly lethal form of cancer.

“It’s fine while [legislators] waffle over it, but I think they forget that we’re really out here,” Smith told me later Tuesday. “It’s not just me and Steve. How many thousands of people have missed this chance?”

Read the rest.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak visiting Chicago this week to launch a campaign encouraging gay and lesbian couples in Illinois to get married in Minneapolis, where they can be legally married. The campaign hopes to gain tourism money from Illinoisans who travel there to marry, and also hopes to demonstrate that the freedom to marry is long overdue in Illinois.

Rybak's message could bolster efforts of Illinois' gay marriage proponents, who are smarting after legislation passed in the Senate was not called to the floor of the House due to lack of support last June.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn support gay marriage rights.

"If I was the mayor of any city in Illinois, I would be really frightened. Chicago and other towns stand to lose a lot of money," Rybak said. "My advice is to get on board. This is going to happen. People are going to remember how long it took for Illinois to come around."

Read the entire article.