Signed and Sealed: Illinois 16th State to Legalize Gay Marriage

World Events and the Bible

WEB Notes: In case you are confused as to what God thinks of gay marriage please read, “United States of Sodom: What Does God Say About the Supreme Court Clearing the Way for Gay Marriage?” This nation has been under the cursings of Deuteronomy 28 for sometime now and the cursings will only continue.

(Chicago Tribune) – Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday put his signature on a historic measure making Illinois the 16th state to allow same-sex marriage, capping a 40-year push for gay rights that picked up major momentum during the past decade.  

Playing master of ceremonies during an hourlong event, the re-election-seeking Democratic governor slowly signed the bill with 100 pens that quickly became souvenirs. He did so at a desk shipped from Springfield that the administration said President Abraham Lincoln used to write his first inaugural address in 1861 — a speech on the cusp of the Civil War that called on Americans to heed “the better angels of our nature.”

But it was another Lincoln speech that Quinn referenced as he spoke to about 2,300 supporters gathered at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“In the very beginning of the Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln of Illinois said that our nation was conceived in liberty. And he said it’s dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, and that’s really what we’re celebrating today,” he said. “It’s a triumph of democracy.”

Signs were banned for security reasons, but attendees shared celebratory kisses and waved miniature rainbow flags featuring the outline of Illinois.

Among the first in the door were Jan Arnold and Mary Anderson, of Oak Park, who brought their 8-year-old son to witness the bill-signing. The couple have been together for 15 years but said they got tired of waiting on Illinois to pass gay marriage and were legally married in Iowa in 2011.

Their union now will be recognized in Illinois, which Anderson said will free her family from second-class status and means they no longer have to carry a “dossier” of legal paperwork to prove their relationship should an emergency occur.

“We’re finally safe and protected in our home state,” Anderson said. “We’ll have the same protections that our straight friends do.”

The bill-signing illustrated the rapidly changing views in Illinois and the nation on gay rights. Supporters first introduced an anti-discrimination bill in the legislature in 1974. It didn’t became law until 2005. It took an additional six years for civil unions to be approved, but only about half that time for the gay marriage measure.

Still, support for same-sex marriage is far from universal in Illinois. As politicians talked up the merits of gay marriage in Chicago, down in Springfield, a crowd gathered for an exorcism by the local Catholic bishop in protest of the governor’s action.

“It is not the church that must change to confirm its teachings to the views of the world, but it is each individual who is called to be configured to Christ,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki said during a service delivered mostly in Latin.

The new law changes the definition of marriage in Illinois from an act between a man and a woman to one between two people. Civil unions could be converted to marriages within a year of the law going on the books. About 6,500 applications for civil unions have been filed since 2011, with about 4,000 originating in Cook County.

As it stands, the bill won’t take effect until June 1, which is when the first marriage ceremonies could take place. That date falls on a Sunday, but officials with Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office said they will be ready for what they expect to be a huge demand. That includes the possibility of providing special waivers so couples don’t have to wait until the day after receiving wedding licenses before they can be married.

The start date could be moved up under a measure backed by Sen. Don Harmon, a Democrat from Oak Park. If that bill is passed, gay marriage would go into effect immediately upon Quinn’s signature. The measure could be called for a vote when lawmakers return to Springfield in the new year, though they face a light legislative schedule before the March 18 primary election.

Harmon said he’s weighing whether it’s fair to ask his colleagues to take another tough vote so soon after voting for gay marriage, acknowledging that a later effective date was the trade-off for passing the proposal this fall because a delay in implementation meant just 60 House votes were needed to pass the bill instead of 71.

But Harmon pointed to some gay advocates who died waiting for the right to marry, saying some people who want to take advantage of the new law might not be around in seven months. “I’d just hate to leave people poised on the precipice of equality be told they can’t commit — yet,” Harmon said.

The lag time did little to dampen spirits Wednesday, as supporters noted just how far Illinois has come in supporting gay rights in a relatively short time.

Casey Cameron, 38, who traveled from St. Elmo in southern Illinois, noted that just eight years ago gay people in Illinois were fighting for basic rights such as equal housing and employment opportunities. “It took a long time and a very tall mountain to get to that, and to finally see this is quite an amazing bit of accomplishment for the state,” Cameron said.

The celebratory tone was a marked departure from late May, when the legislation stalled in the House after first passing the Senate on Valentine’s Day. Supporters funneled their disappointment into action, launching a summerlong lobbying blitz that was soon buoyed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman for the purpose of receiving federal benefits.

That helped sway about a dozen lawmakers who spent much of the summer undecided. Another nudge came from powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, who personally lobbied some members to vote for the bill. Madigan, who represents a Southwest Side district, also is chairman of the state Democratic Party.

That means he controls the purse strings to large chests of campaign money that could be vital should one of his members face a primary challenge over their decision to vote in favor of gay marriage. – Full Read: Chicago Tribune: Signed and sealed: Illinois 16th state to legalize gay marriage 

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