Illinois has become the latest state to legalize marriage equality, after a surprise house of representatives vote Tuesday afternoon passed Senate Bill 10 with a vote of 61 for, 54 against and two present. Within an hour, the state senate had confirmed the vote 31-21.
The Illinois Senate passed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act in February, but the House of Representatives failed to bring the issue for a vote before the end of the regular session. The fall veto session renewed hope for the bill, although optimism waned as backers struggled to gain support among representatives. Tuesday morning, however, insiders confirmed that representatives were nearing the 60 votes needed to pass the bill, thanks in part to big backers like House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat from Chicago. Debate on the bill opened around 1 p.m., when chief sponsor State Rep. Greg Harris explained to his fellow representatives what he hoped to accomplish with its passing:
“What same-sex couples in Illinois want for their families is just what you want for your families. They want to work hard and be successful. They want to volunteer at their school, their church, their synagogue. … They want the freedom to protect the ones they love through the security of marriage.”
Governor Pat Quinn has indicated he will sign the bill into law and tweeted his support of the legislative action. A late amendment allowing it to pass with only 60 votes instead of the usual 71 dictates the law will go into effect on June 1, 2014, instead of after the usual 30-day waiting period.
When Illinois was last considering marriage equality, it would have been the tenth state to pass such a law. Six months later, it is the fifteenth. As an Illinois resident, I can finally be proud that it is not the fiftieth.
Best sign
Yay! I will be looking for my chicagostraddler wedding invites in the mail.
I’m so happy!
Hooray! I am originally from Illinois; this makes me so proud of my home state.
Also so proud to be from a cool state!
Yay! Now I need Illinois’s neighbors to step up. Especially my two home states, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Congratulations to those in IL. Now if only Virginia could get it together.
Yup, I’ll hold my breath.
Congratulations! Hopefully colorado will follow
I agree! I’m leaving Illinois for Colorado soon and I’d prefer not to feel like that’s a downgrade.
Congrats to Illinois!
I wish I could be totally happy about the gains made in this election, but since my home state just re-elected Chris Christie…
Ugh, I’ve been living in NJ for a few months cuz my family lives here, but I lived in Chicago for 5 years and I can’t wait to move back to Chicago in January. Chris Christie is an arrogant bigot and Jersey attitudes are not cool. People are so much nicer in Illinois.
YES!!!! THIS IS AWESOME! Now we just need the other states on board.
Hooray! Now maybe some of this homo love (and, you know, human decency and common sense) will move east into Indiana to stop HJR-6, the super-unnecessary constitutional amendment to make gay marriage illegal. And who knows, maybe the activism and awareness sparked by HJR-6 will get things moving in the other direction, towards equal rights and away from enshrining discrimination and bigotry in our constitution.
Um, this was supposed to be a happy congratulatory post. I have a complicated relationship with my homeland.
Now Riese can be really proud of her birthplace/state! I know I am!
Yay! I can’t wait to move back to Chicago in January!!
guys, we won a thing. i got about 400 texts when it happened and i cried. and then we celebrated.
i hurt.
still excited! but a much quieter, in-my-bed-spooning-the-cat excited.
Raise your hand if you cried when you found out. (Spoiler alert: I did)