In a story on the Today show this week, John Knight, Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & AIDS Project at the ACLU of Illinois, discussed the need for federal law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The on-air segment discusses claims by an employee of the Rainbow Push Coalition, Rev. Jesse Jackson's civil rights organization, that the worker experienced discrimination in the workplace because of his sexual orientation.

Update as of April 18, 2011: Another web site, gaywrites.org, has covered the defeat of an anti-gay adoption bill.

An article on nowingaychicago.com highlights the defeat of an anti-gay adoption bill that would have weakened the civil unions law. The success came as the result of the hard work of activists such as Equality Illinois, The Civil Rights Agenda, the ACLU of Illinois, state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and longtime activist Rick Garcia who waged a fierce lobbying campaign against it.

“Illinois stands tall today,” said Harris, who was chief sponsor of the civil unions bill. “I think that once more Illinois has shown that we value equal justice under the law.”

The bill, an amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 1123 that was slipped in late April 11, would have allowed adoption agencies supported by state tax dollars to deny adoptions to gay and lesbian couples united by a civil union if such adoptions go against that agency's “sincerely held religious beliefs” regarding gays and lesbians.

The amendment was sponsored by Sen. David Koehler (D-Pekin), who was chief Senate sponsor of the civil unions bill that passed last fall. Koehler said the adoption amendment was to fulfill a pledge he made to some senators during the civil unions debate that he would support additional legislation to address concerns they had about the effect civil unions would have on religious groups.

According to an article in the Windy City Times this week, members of the LGBT community gathered in the Federal Reserve Bank's conference room earlier this month to hear about the recently passed civil-unions act and ask questions.

Chris Malone—president of the bank's employee-support group, 7FLAG, 7th District Friends of Lesbians and Gays—opened the informal meeting, and introduced the two guest speakers: Bernard Cherkasov and Jill Metz. Cherkasov, the CEO of Equality Illinois, talked with listeners about the grueling fight to get the act passed.

Metz—an attorney with her own firm, Jill M. Metz and Associates, who is also president of the board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois—explained the legal benefits the civil-unions act will provide and took questions from listeners. She said that the act affords same-sex unions the same rights and protections that married couples receive, including medical decision making, and the fact that income earned by either person in the relationship belongs to both members of the union. In addition, children born to parents in a same-sex union will be the children of both parents. This is important because couples had to file for second-parent adoption.

Metz cautioned listeners that even though the civil-unions act seems like a "dream come true," couples should still file for second-parent adoption and a civil-union certificate. The act is only recognized on a state level ( not federal ) ; therefore, couples cannot get social security for one another or file a joint federal tax return. If one member of the union is in the military, the civil-union certificate as grounds for discharge. Also, said certificates can complicate the adoption process.