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 Clock Ticking On Illinois Civil Unions Bill
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 28, 2008 - 1:00 pm ET
(Springfield, Illinois) There is no indication
when, or even if, Illinois lawmakers will vote a bill that would allow same-sex
couples to have civil unions in the state.
The measure passed a key House committee last
year. A Senate version was introduced in February.
Both bills would allow couples to register their
partnerships. They then would be entitled to make health-care decisions
for partners, funeral arrangement and inheritance rights.
The legislation would also recognize same sex
marriages and civil unions from other states as civil unions in Illinois.
Civil unions currently are legal in New Jersey,
Vermont and Connecticut. Same-sex marriage is available only in Massachusetts,
although legislation has been filed in Maryland and the California Supreme Court
is considering gay marriages.
The legislation has generated an internet
lobbying effort. Students for the Illinois Marriage Equality Bill founded
by a Lake Forest College student has created a Facebook page that has garnered
more than 8,000 supporters.
The site directs members to write or call state
representatives to talk to them about the bill.
"I had no idea there was this much
grassroots organizing going on," state Rep. Greg Harris (D) the openly gay
sponsor of the House bill told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"This is not same sex marriage," Harris
said. "This is just basic rights and obligations that the state can afford
to give these people."
Nevertheless, the leadership in both houses have
carefully avoided bring the bill to a vote and social conservatives have mounted
their own campaign to kill it.
"We don’t want marriage to be redefined
and we don’t want the government officially recognizing homosexuality as a
legitimate behavior or lifestyle," David E. Smith, executive director of
the Illinois Family Institute told the paper.
Two years ago the institute attempted to gain
enough signatures for a non-binding referendum to pressure lawmakers to amend
the state Constitution to ban gay marriage. The bid failed to get enough valid
signatures to have the question placed on the ballot.
If the session ends this year without the civil
union bill receiving a vote it would die and have to be reintroduced in the next
session of the legislature.
©365Gay.com 2008
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