News :: GLBT
Illinois Senator introduces marriage equality bill by Hannah Clay Wareham
Associate EditorThursday Oct 1, 2009 A marriage equality bill called the "Equal Marriage Act" was introduced into the Illinois Senate by State Senator Heather Steans Oct. 1.
"Look around the country. We have five states now with equal marriage. It’s time. Illinois shouldn’t lag," Steans told Phil Reese of the Bilerco Project. Steans referred to her position as the first State Senator to introduce marriage equality as "an honor."
State Representative Greg Harris (the only openly gay House member until recently) introduced a similar bill earlier this year called the "Same-sex Marriage and Religious Freedoms Act" -- the same bill that Harris has introduced at the beginning of every session since 2007. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley offered his support for Illinois marriage equality upon the bill’s first introduction.
This is the first time since Harris began introducing the bill, however, that its language has been matched in the Senate.
Rep. Harris called for Illinois citizens to demand their rights to marriage equality by meeting their lawmakers face-to-face. "Go out and find them and say ’Thanks for shaking my hand, Senator. Now help me put a ring on it,’" he suggested.
In the neighboring state of Iowa, same-sex marriage has been legal for several months. Marriage for same-sex couples is also legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, in New Hampshire beginning next year, and in Maine pending the outcome of November’s referendum.
Former Senator -- and current President -- Barack Obama has not yet released a comment regarding the possibility of marriage equality in his home state. While he has gone on the record opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage, President Obama has shown himself to be in support of the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevents same-sex marriages -- even those performed in states where they are legal -- from being recognized on the federal level.
Hannah can be reached at hclaywareham@baywindows.com.
|
|
|
Email
Print
Share
