The “score board” in the House shows votes on SB10, the same-sex marriage bill that passed the House today. Patrick Yeagle Gay and lesbian couples in Illinois will soon have the right to be married, following the passage today of a highly contentious bill that was years in the making. House sponsor Rep. Greg Harris, […]
civil union
Posted inNews
Two Springfield couples fight for same-sex marriage
Randy Walden did everything right, but it wasn’t enough. When Walden’s partner of nine years, Curt Sills, was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Walden and Sills drew up documents giving Walden power of attorney and placing Walden in Sills’ living will. As Sills grew weaker in 2004 and had to be taken to the hospital, […]
Posted inNews
City proposal could spur action on civil union benefits
The City of Springfield is one step closer to an agreement on health benefits for civil union partners of city employees and retirees. A committee composed of representatives from the city and labor unions previously decided to allow civil union partners of city employees and retirees to get city health insurance, but a judge’s ruling […]
Posted inNews
Civil union adoption fight gets heated
More than nine months after Illinois’ civil union law took effect, state lawmakers are still arguing over what it means. That’s because of a controversial measure to exempt religious adoption agencies from the law. Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, sponsors Senate Bill 2495, which would allow a religious adoption agency to not place children in a […]
Posted inNews
Judge sides with Illinois Times on lawsuit
A Sangamon County judge has ordered a Springfield city government committee to hold open meetings following a lawsuit by an Illinois Times reporter. Bruce Rushton, a staff writer for Illinois Times, filed a lawsuit against the city’s Joint Labor Management Health Committee after a closed-door meeting on Jan. 10 in which the committee decided to […]
Posted inNews
All but married
As Susan Frain and Susan Faupel sit next to each other discussing civil unions, civil rights and the basic notions of partnership and commitment, they laugh, they listen and they remember the other’s part in past dialogues played out over the course of their 23-year relationship. Intellectual equals with similar liberal notions and anti-establishment ideals, […]
Posted inNews
Now, how about equal rights for singles?
Illinois’ civil union law undeniably brings a greater sense of equality between same-sex couples and married couples. That’s a good thing – love is love, and if married couples get hundreds of benefits and protections, same-sex couples should have that opportunity too. But now that the law has passed, it’s time to look beyond what […]
