Marriage equality coming to Illinois, proponents say
Marriage equality coming to Illinois, proponents say
By Gary Barlow
COPYRIGHT BY THE CHICAGO FREE PRESS
November 1, 2006 ~ Page 13
Illinois political leaders say it’s a matter of “when not if” on whether people can expect the Land of Lincoln to follow the lead of New Jersey and other states and extend equal partnership rights, if not marriage itself, to gay and lesbian couples.
“If you look at the polling in Illinois, people understand the equality issue,” said Greg Harris, who’s running unopposed for state representative in the Nov. 7 election and is in line to succeed Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) as the only openly gay member of the Illinois Legislature.
“It still seems there’s a jump for some people in calling it marriage, so I think there’s some education that still needs to be done,” Harris said. “But I think fair-minded people will decide that couples need to be treated equally. People are beginning to see that lesbian and gay couples need the same rights as heterosexual couples.”
The state’s leading GLBT rights activist agreed.
“I think where we are in Illinois is certainly not where New Jersey is, or California or Massachusetts, but we’re also not Florida or Alabama,” said Equality Illinois political director Rick Garcia. “We’re not going to see the Illinois Legislature tackle marriage tomorrow morning, but it’s going to happen.”
Garcia said a coalition of GLBT advocates are working on the issue in Illinois.
“Legislatively, we’re still looking for the best package,” he said. “Our job right now is to set the groundwork and framework in Illinois. We don’t want to go off half-cocked.”
Ill. state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) said those discussions are pretty far along, involving GLBT advocates and state legislators.
“There have been a lot of discussions and meetings going on about this,” she said.
Feigenholtz said the group is trying “to figure out the politics of the Illinois Legislature and what’s passable,” but said there are legislators such as herself who want to move forward, perhaps as soon as the next legislative session in early 2007.
“Where I’m at on it is that the only true equality is to extend marriage to gays and lesbians,” Feigenholtz said. “Civil unions are not really equality.”
Feigenholtz and Garcia said marriage equality in Illinois and in the rest of the country is inevitable.
“It’s not if it’s going to happen,” Garcia said. “It’s a question of when. Our (polling) numbers here keep getting better all the time.
By Gary Barlow
COPYRIGHT BY THE CHICAGO FREE PRESS
November 1, 2006 ~ Page 13
Illinois political leaders say it’s a matter of “when not if” on whether people can expect the Land of Lincoln to follow the lead of New Jersey and other states and extend equal partnership rights, if not marriage itself, to gay and lesbian couples.
“If you look at the polling in Illinois, people understand the equality issue,” said Greg Harris, who’s running unopposed for state representative in the Nov. 7 election and is in line to succeed Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) as the only openly gay member of the Illinois Legislature.
“It still seems there’s a jump for some people in calling it marriage, so I think there’s some education that still needs to be done,” Harris said. “But I think fair-minded people will decide that couples need to be treated equally. People are beginning to see that lesbian and gay couples need the same rights as heterosexual couples.”
The state’s leading GLBT rights activist agreed.
“I think where we are in Illinois is certainly not where New Jersey is, or California or Massachusetts, but we’re also not Florida or Alabama,” said Equality Illinois political director Rick Garcia. “We’re not going to see the Illinois Legislature tackle marriage tomorrow morning, but it’s going to happen.”
Garcia said a coalition of GLBT advocates are working on the issue in Illinois.
“Legislatively, we’re still looking for the best package,” he said. “Our job right now is to set the groundwork and framework in Illinois. We don’t want to go off half-cocked.”
Ill. state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) said those discussions are pretty far along, involving GLBT advocates and state legislators.
“There have been a lot of discussions and meetings going on about this,” she said.
Feigenholtz said the group is trying “to figure out the politics of the Illinois Legislature and what’s passable,” but said there are legislators such as herself who want to move forward, perhaps as soon as the next legislative session in early 2007.
“Where I’m at on it is that the only true equality is to extend marriage to gays and lesbians,” Feigenholtz said. “Civil unions are not really equality.”
Feigenholtz and Garcia said marriage equality in Illinois and in the rest of the country is inevitable.
“It’s not if it’s going to happen,” Garcia said. “It’s a question of when. Our (polling) numbers here keep getting better all the time.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 1:36 PM
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