With the dust settling on the Great California gay-marriage rush, state legislators in Illinois are working on passing the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act ( House Bill 1826 ) as a model for the rest of the Nation to follow.
Windy City Times recently spoke with the only openly gay member of the legislature, State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, the sponsor of HB 1826, on why this may be the most important piece of legislation this year.
Rep. Greg Harris: Did you see the Chicago Tribune Today? The lead editorial is in support of civil unions in Illinois. It's like the biggest Republican newspaper in the state; it's a big deal.
Windy City Times: Yeah, that is surprising. How is House Bill 1826 progressing in the general assembly?
GH: The last day of the spring session, it was moved to the third reading, which is the final step before the vote. So we made all the necessary ethical amendments to the language to resolve people's questions and issues, so the next step is the last vote.
WCT: What more still needs to be done to get this bill passed?
GH: It's still very important to get people to continue to contact their legislators. People need to also understand that Illinois will be the first state that has done this legislatively without judicial order. We will be the first heartland state; [ Illinois ] is sort of being seen by the right-wing as the battleground state of the country, so [ it would make an impact ] if this passes. It's one thing for California, Massachusetts and New York, the sort of coast states to do this, but opponents are pulling out all the stops and all the big guns for Illinois, so it's very important for people to express their feelings to state legislators.
WCT: Going off California's recent events, what was your reaction to their newly authorized same-sex marriages?
GH: It certainly raised the level of interest in Illinois and helped focus, from my colleagues' point of view, that this is probably the most important legislative issue we will deal with this year. [ California's ruling ] is sort of coming out of public policy and heightening people's awareness. It shows that in the most populous state in the country, same-sex marriage is now the law of the land.
WCT: Chicago currently has domestic-partnership benefits for same-sex couples. What are some of the primary upgrades offered by a civil union?
GH: Well, first of all it is statewide, offered to everyone regardless of where they live in Illinois, and it would go beyond what the city of Chicago was able to do for its own employees. If you have a same-sex partner, you would be able to get the same benefits as married couples. All the state-level benefits are being offered [ if adopted ] , but this doesn't affect federal law, which is still another hurdle that Congress will [ need to work on ] to recognize marriage equality in federal law. But we are doing everything that we can at the state level.
WCT: Currently Connecticut, New Jersey and Vermont offer civil unions to same-sex couples. What have you heard about its success in those states?
GH: They've been very successful; you see a burst of people coming in, people [ who ] have waited years to have their relationships legally recognized. We've also learned from these states on appropriate wording and language especially around disillusion. There have been instances where people have tried to go to states where domestic partnerships, civil unions and same-sex marriages are not recognized and [ when ] couples split up, [ one person has ] taken financial advantage over a partner. We've learned from this and really fine-tuned the law here in Illinois so that we can become a model for the country.
WCT: Is there anything else you've noticed about support for HB 1826?
GH: The other thing that we're seeing in every county in Illinois is straight senior citizens mobilizing in the thousands for this because they realize that civil unions have benefits for them as well. So you can see the bracket and age range of young voters and old voters both really getting it. I think that is pretty astounding.