Illinois Times spoke with ACLU of Illinois attorney Karen Sheley and Springfield Chapter president Don Hanrahan at a recent discussion about the freedom to marry in Springfield earlier this month. The ACLU of Illinois will be holding a community meeting in Springfield to discuss next steps for winning same-sex marriage in Illinois. On the recent Supreme Court ruling on DOMA, Hanrahan said:

“We can take very little time to celebrate because there is so much work to do in Illinois,” said attorney Donald Hanrahan, president of the Springfield chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Speaking on June 27 during a meeting sponsored by ACLU at Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Springfield, Hanrahan said there has been a “sordid history of repression” regarding marriage in the United States, from laws preventing marriage between slaves to laws preventing interracial marriage. He said the fight over same-sex marriage is an extension of that history.

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The blog Joe. My. God. posted about the ACLU of Illinois' joint case with Lambda Legal and the recent filing of a motion for summary judgment in the marriage case. While the U.S. Supreme Court has recently ruled portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, action is needed to bring the freedom to marry to Illinois.

Wednesday's Motion for Summary Judgment will be supported by friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of numerous organizations including the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund (MALDEF), The Chicago Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, and The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law by attorneys Paul T. Fox, Gregory E. Ostfeld and James P. Madigan of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and on behalf of faith leaders across the state of Illinois, by attorneys Alexandra K. Block, Edward W. Feldman, and Nury A. Siekkinen of Miller Shakman & Beem, LLP, in support of marriage for same-sex couples.

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