IL Votes Yes on Same Sex Marriage

05 Nov, 2013

Illinois is poised to become the 15th U.S. state to allow same-sex unions after lawmakers in President Barack Obama’s home state gave final approval to a bill on Tuesday.

The state Senate approved gay marriage on Valentine’s Day in February, but there was a delay in bringing the vote to the House, even though Democrats have a strong majority.

Following a 61-54 House vote on Tuesday – just one vote more than what was needed – the bill was given final approval by the Senate, and will go to Democratic Governor Pat Quinn, who has pledged his support. The final Senate vote was 32-21.

The votes were followed by cheers and applause in both chambers.

The proposal was resisted by some African-American Democratic lawmakers who were under pressure from outspoken black Protestant churches to oppose it. The leadership of the Catholic Church in Illinois also has staunchly opposed the proposal.

“I am voting for marriage equality today because it is the right thing to do,” Democratic lawmaker Jehan Gordon-Booth, who is African-American, said during the debate. “I know enhancing the civil rights of others does not diminish the civil rights of anyone in this room or anyone in this state.”

Obama said in a statement he was “overjoyed” that legislators voted to legalize gay marriage.

“Our journey as a nation is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” he said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the vote a “critical moment in history” for Illinois and the gay rights movement.

“Finally, gays and lesbians across our state are guaranteed the fundamental right to marry, and countless couples with children will be acknowledged for what they are under the law – families just like everyone else,” said Emanuel.

Once signed, the law will go into effect June 1 of next year.

Illinois currently allows civil unions, which gay rights activists said does not go far enough.

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