An editorial in The Chicago Sun-Times called on undeclared members of the Illinois legislature to stand up for the freedom to marry. The bill is within a few votes of passage and is expected to come up for a vote on the House floor in the coming weeks. Governor Pat Quinn has already promised his signature.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in 11 states plus the District of Columbia, with Minnesota likely to become the 12th state as early as this week. The line between church and state in these laws is clear, and strongly drawn in the Illinois bill. No minister or church anywhere has been compelled to perform or sanctify a gay marriage — and never will be.

Read the whole thing.

The Chicago Tribune reports on the current status of the bill that would create guidelines for teaching comprehensive sexual health education in Illinois schools. After passing in the House, the bill now awaits a vote on the Senate floor.

Sponsoring Sen. Heather Steans argued that sex education today must be "comprehensive, age-appropriate and medically accurate." Abstinence-only programs no longer suit schools, the Democratic legislator said.
"Kids are doing this," said Steans, of Chicago. "We need to give them proper and better tools to inform them. Our goal is we need to limit teenage pregnancy."

Read the whole thing.

The Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is presenting its 2013 Community Leadership Award to the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, recognizing the firm’s work in the ACLU and Lambda Legal case, Fields v. Smith.  The case challenged a Wisconsin law prohibiting prison doctors from deciding the best course of treatment for transgender people by denying them access to either hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery while in state custody.  The ACLU and Lambda Legal sued on behalf of inmates incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.  Our clients had been on hormone therapy for years.

Medical experts agree that blocking access to hormone treatment after someone has been on the treatment is especially dangerous and could cause life-threatening damage. The ACLU and Lambda Legal prevailed in the Seventh Circuit where the Wisconsin law was declared unconstitutional.

In the Seventh Circuit, Jenner & Block authored a critical amicus brief, filed on behalf of several medical groups, including the American Medical Association.  The amicus brief made a clear and persuasive argument that the Wisconsin law was out of step with the prevailing medical and mental health research standards of care in the field.  This medical and mental health care research even was mentioned by the appellate panel at oral argument.

The ISBA Award specifically recognizes Jenner & Block partners David M. Kroeger and Barry Levenstam, along with associates D. Matthew Feldhaus and Kyle A. Palazzolo, a one-time ACLU of Illinois intern.

We congratulate Jenner & Block on this important award.