Jesse Tyler Ferguson, actor on the TV show "Modern Family" joined Lt. Governor Sheila Simon in Springfield to advocate for the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, The Chicago Tribune reports. The actor was there to promote "Bow Tie Lobby Day," and encourage supporting legislators to wear bow ties on Wednesday. Lt. Governor Simon responded to the letter sent by Cardinal George Francis and his bishops on Tuesday, stating their opposition to the bill.

“Families are not a constant thing and the law of how we build our families has changed greatly over time. … There are a lot of ways we put together families that don’t involve reproduction,” Simon said.

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Phil Kadner of the Southtown Star has an excellent profile piece about an Illinois couple who have a civil union, but hope to get married upon the passage of the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. Andrea Denney and Beth Reich have been together for 25 years, live in Flossmoor, and have three children. They speak to the cultural and legal differences between civil unions and marriage, highlighting why this bill is so important. Not only is it hard to explain how their civil union is different from marriage to family and friends, civil unions do not provide the same legal protections that marriage would.

According to the ACLU, a couple in a civil union may not have the protections or responsibilities federal law provides to married couples.

These include Social Security survivors’ and spousal benefits, federal veterans’ spousal benefits, federal employment benefits, exemption from income tax on a partner’s health benefits and the federal exemption from inheritance tax.

State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), the chief sponsor of a bill called the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, said there have even been cases where a parent was not allowed into an intensive care unit of a hospital where a sick child was being treated.

“There would have been no question if the parents had been married,” Harris said. “But hospital officials were reluctant to let a parent in a civil union see their child.”

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The Chicago Sun-Times published an editorial that argues for passage of the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. The ACLU of Illinois is part of a coalition of organizations to help promote the freedom to marry for all Illinoisans. The movement for marriage equality recently gained support from the religious community:

On Sunday, about 260 Illinois clergy and religious leaders joined the fight to legalize gay marriage in Illinois. They came out in a support of the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which its sponsors hope to call for a vote in the state Legislature during the first week in January.

These leaders, who are in the community building business, say legalized gay marriage is just what our communities and families need.

“The very basis of marriage is to protect the family, strengthen our communities and advocate compassion. No couple should be excluded from that,” the clergy wrote in an open letter.

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