Will Illinois Be the Next State to Recognize Civil Unions?

by Michael Jones · 2009-04-14 06:06:00 UTC
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Note that we didn't say marriage equality up there, but civil unions.  A vote on a piece of legislation that would create civil unions in Illinois is imminent in the State House of Representatives, and many folks - including current Governor Pat Quinn - are saying that they think there's enough political support to make civil unions a reality in the Land of Lincoln.

The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, or HB 2234, would officially recognize civil unions.  It passed out of its House subcommittee in March, and now awaits a floor vote before the entire House.  Speaking at an event at Harper College in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn told the Daily Herald that he expects the legislature to pass civil unions.

"I think that's probably where the legislature is headed in the state," said Quinn.  Gov. Quinn also lent his support to the federal DREAM Act, which would allow some undocumented immigrants who came to America as children and are pursuing an education to earn conditional permanent residency.  Last week, we ran a guest post from DreamActivist on how this bill would help numerous LGBT students here in the U.S.

Elsewhere on the Illinois media circuit, the Chicago Tribune has a relatively in-depth article this morning on the pragmatism of civil unions, and the science behind the fight for marriage equality in the states.  The article, rightly so, shows that it's not by accident that a push for marriage equality happened in Iowa before happening in many "bluer" states, so to speak.  Iowa, as the article points out, has a robust equal protection clause in its State Constitution that made it the ideal fit for a court case surrounding marriage equality.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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