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On Gay Marriage is Illinois Next?
Seemingly out of nowhere, Illinois, the fifth largest state, with a population of almost thirteen million people, is likely about to become the tenth state to allow same-sex marriage. It could happen within the next week, during the lame-duck session of the state legislature, which ends on January 8th. If it does, over twenty per cent of the U.S. population will live in states with marriage equality, even before the U.S. Supreme Court rules on marriage rights in California this June. California alone has approximately twelve per cent of the U.S population, and its addition to the group would then bring the total to about a third of the population.
Illinois civil-unions law, in effect since June of 2011, is one of the most inclusive in the nation, and was considered a very significant political achievement eighteen months ago, when it went into effect. (It, too, passed during a lame-duck session.) But it has quickly been overtaken. Civil-rights advocates and elected officials who support same-sex marriage in Illinois are rapidly building on the momentum created by the first-ever voter-referendum wins in last Novembers electionin Maine, Maryland, and Washingtonand the unprecedented jump in support for equal marriage rights reflected in national and state polls. The legislature seems also to be moving in response to legal action by the A.C.L.U. and Lambda Legal challenging the civil-union statute. Both Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel now support full marriage equality.
Quietly, right after Christmas, President Obama, who before serving in the Senate had been in the Illinois legislature, endorsed the marriage proposal now working its way through that body, with a spokesman saying, Were the President still in the Illinois State Legislature, he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally. It was the first time he had endorsed a state-legislative effort for marriage equality, and may have been the result of requests from major Illinois-based Democratic donors, other supporters, and long-time friends.
Illinois civil-unions law, in effect since June of 2011, is one of the most inclusive in the nation, and was considered a very significant political achievement eighteen months ago, when it went into effect. (It, too, passed during a lame-duck session.) But it has quickly been overtaken. Civil-rights advocates and elected officials who support same-sex marriage in Illinois are rapidly building on the momentum created by the first-ever voter-referendum wins in last Novembers electionin Maine, Maryland, and Washingtonand the unprecedented jump in support for equal marriage rights reflected in national and state polls. The legislature seems also to be moving in response to legal action by the A.C.L.U. and Lambda Legal challenging the civil-union statute. Both Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel now support full marriage equality.
Quietly, right after Christmas, President Obama, who before serving in the Senate had been in the Illinois legislature, endorsed the marriage proposal now working its way through that body, with a spokesman saying, Were the President still in the Illinois State Legislature, he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally. It was the first time he had endorsed a state-legislative effort for marriage equality, and may have been the result of requests from major Illinois-based Democratic donors, other supporters, and long-time friends.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/01/on-gay-marriage-is-illinois-next.html
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On Gay Marriage is Illinois Next? (Original Post)
ismnotwasm
Jan 2013
OP
thesteelgeneral3
(8 posts)1. bizarre
To be against marriage equality, is the single most bizarre of all political positions, since you're against something which DOES NOT AFFECT YOU AT ALL!
Oh wait ... no. My neighbors are gay! they have been for 29 years, but they recently came out, and ....... the whole neighborhood is now divorcing!!
it's true folks!!!!
Gays cause divorce rate going up! Also:
More storms, earth quakes, floods and a rise in the sale of chemical foods like Twinkies
!!