Could the Illinois General Assembly pass a civil-union measure soon?
That is the question on the minds of many as state legislators began their veto session Nov. 16. The Illinois House, in particular, will be more socially conservative next year, seemingly making the passage of measures such as the civil-union a priority.
State Rep. Greg Harris said that the bill seems to be on the edge of passing, telling Windy City Times that voting could take place very soon.
According to ChicagoPride, Equality Illinois Public Policy Director Rick Garcia said, "We are in overdrive working to get the civil union bill passed before the end of the yearand, the governor is fully on board." Gov. Pat Quinn, who recently was re-elected after a close race against Republican state Sen. Bill Brady, has expressed his support of civil unions.
Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov told Windy City Times that, although he does not have a time line set for movement on this measure, his position "is that the bill is still alive before the General Assembly. I'm hopeful that when they're back in session they will consider this bill because there are tens of thousands of same-sex couples in Illinois who need the protectionsand need them urgently."
He added that "if the bill is not up for a vote during the session, it dies. That means we have to start from scratch with the next session [ which starts in January ] which means that [ all of these ] same-sex couples are at a disadvantage."
However, even though civil-union activists would have to restart the campaign to get the bill passed in the next session if this session does not pass it, Cherkasov remained hopefuleven with more Republicans occupying assembly seats next year. "More Republicans doesn't mean [ fewer ] LGBT-friendly [ people ] ," he said. "I believe that every legislator, having the opportunity to learn more about his or her LGBT constituents, will know why this is the right bill. It's just that the education process takes a long time."
Andrew Davis