The Chicago Tribune wrote about the recent filing of a motion for summary judgment by the ACLU of Illinois and Lambda Legal in the joint case seeking the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Illinois. The motion, filed today in the Cook County Circuit Court includes testimony from all 25 couples in the lawsuit as well as testimony from a range of national and international experts who agree that the time to grant the freedom to marry for same-sex couples is now. The Tribune spoke with LGBT Project Director John Knight about the recent Supreme Court decision on DOMA:

“In its decision, the (Supreme Court) recognized the broad impact of the Defense of Marriage Act on same-sex couples who are married,” said John Knight, director of the LGBT and HIV Project for the ACLU of Illinois. “That law impacts many aspects of married and family life, as the court said, from the mundane to the profound. Only marriage will provide same-sex couples in Illinois all the federal protections that are available now in 13 others states and the District of Columbia.”

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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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