The back story on the Illinois Equal Marriage Vote

[davsand]

Never doubt the human impact that these votes carry. I know Naomi, and she has always been devoted to her family. I cannot imagine being in her shoes that day, and I can honestly say I respect hell outta her for what she gave up to ensure fundamental human rights.

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/on-our-radar-a-thank-you-to-the-jakobsson-family-from-the-gay-community/marriage/2013/11/10/78237#.UoFRR5TnbVI

An excerpt:

Rep. Jakobsson was a co-sponsor of the marriage equality bill in the Illinois House, but she had been conspicuously absent in the week before the vote. This was unusual for Rep. Jakobsson, who has served in the Illinois State House since 2002. She never missed the debate on a bill she sponsored, much less a vote. But as the argument heated up in Springfield, Naomi Jakobsson was ninety minutes away, at a hospice in Matoon, keeping a vigil at the bedside of her son Garret, who was dying a slow death from a progressive neurodegenerative disorder called Pick’s Disease.

Garret had been in hospice care for some time, and his death was imminent. No one would have faulted Naomi Jakobsson if she had chosen to be a mother first and remain by the side of the boy she and Eric had adopted from South Korea in 1968, at the beginning of their journey together. No doubt husband and wife had discussed it many times before, whispering in the dark while their son slept, about the possibility that she might be called away to vote on the marriage bill. They would have talked about that eventuality among the family. The decision would have been made long before the phone call from the capitol was.

Tuesday morning that phone call came. The bill was scheduled to be voted on that afternoon. A “test vote” for an amendment had just failed, receiving only 59 of the 60 votes it needed to pass. Marriage equality for the state of Illinois could hinge on Rep. Jakobsson’s vote. She had to come!

Her son died 15 minutes before she got back to the hospice.

Celebrate Naomi and her family, and if you feel strongly send her an email of sympathy at her state account.



Laura