Reuters: U.S.: Illinois gay marriage supporters rally, vote uncertain

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Illinois gay marriage supporters rally, vote uncertain Oct 22nd 2013, 20:45 Share this Email Print Reprints By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO | Tue Oct 22, 2013 3:23pm EDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - Carrying rainbow flags and umbrellas, hundreds of gay rights advocates marched during a chilly rain at the Illinois Capitol on Tuesday to pressure lawmakers to legalize same sex marriage, but it was unclear if the issue would be brought to a vote. The state Senate, where President Barack Obama once served, voted on Valentine's Day ilast February to legalize gay marriage in Illinois. But the full state House of Representatives never considered the issue amid uncertainty whether it had the votes to pass. The delay frustrated gay rights supporters in a state with a Democratic supermajority in both chambers of the legislature and a Democratic governor who supports gay marriage. Civil unions for gay and lesbian couples are legal in Illinois, but activists said this does not go far enough. "Civil unions really don't get us there," said Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago House Democrat and co-sponsor of the gay marriage bill, adding that civil unions do not guarantee benefits to gay partners. Since the Illinois bill stalled, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstated gay marriage in California, and New Jersey's high court approved it, bringing to 14 the number of states and the District of Columbia that have legalized gay nuptials. But it was unclear if the Illinois sponsors will succeed in taking a vote in the state House of Representatives during its fall session, which began on Tuesday and extends to early November. The state's lawmakers are preoccupied with a financial crisis stemming from the mounting costs of pensions for public workers such as teachers. Michael Madigan, the House speaker, personally supports gay marriage, but his spokesman, Steve Brown, said it was up to the bill's sponsor to bring it to a vote. Opponents of same sex marriage have focused on the more conservative and rural areas of the state and some African-American districts in Chicago. Tens of thousands of "robo-calls" opposing the bill were being placed to Illinois residents in 14 districts, starting Monday and continuing through the fall session, according to Paul Caprio, director of Family-Pac, an Illinois political action group opposed to gay marriage. The African American Clergy Coalition, a group of Chicago ministers, started running anti-gay marriage ads on the four major Chicago-area black radio stations on Tuesday, said spokesman Sean Howard. Chicago Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George has also opposed the measure. A rally against gay marriage is planned for the Capitol on Wednesday, Caprio said. A poll commissioned last week by Equality Illinois, which supports gay rights, found that 52 percent of likely Illinois voters say they would support a law legalizing gay marriage, while 40 percent would oppose it. The poll's sample size was 600 voters and it had a plus or minus 4 percent margin of error. (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Greg McCune and Leslie Gevirtz) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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