The Chicago Tribune previewed the 2013 LGBT Pride Parade, which took place days after the
Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) . The ACLU of Illinois has played a central role in the
Illinois Unites for Marriage coalition, which is seeking to pass a bill that would grant marriage for same-sex couples in Illinois. The Chicago Tribune spoke with LGBT Project Director John Knight:
John Knight, an attorney and director of the LGBT and HIV Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Chicago, agreed that the high court's ruling — which assured the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages — brought a much-needed dose of optimism.
"It was incredibly frustrating to be that close and to see that marriage bill fail," Knight said. "But I think the mental uplift of seeing the last federal law that explicitly discriminated against gay people taken off the books gives us a great deal of hope that it's just clearly inevitable marriage is going to be real in Illinois — and very soon."