Illinois always looked like marriage equality would be an
easy thing. Even when they seemed to prefer Civil Unions, AKA Marriage-Lite, I thought
they’d smarten up and go for full marriage rights for gays and lesbians.
But then Maryland happened first, and Delaware and, for the
love of Ellen, Minnesota went all equality, and still we waited for Illinois;
as did most LGBT Illinoisans.
Then this past week it looked like it might happen, then
looked like it wouldn’t and then like it would. And then it didn’t. No vote.
Illinois State Congressman, Greg Harris, decided to put off the vote on equality
until November.
Now, however, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has allowed for the bill’s
deadline to be extended for approval until August 31st. So, if Governor Pat Quinn called lawmakers back to the
state house in August for a special session to address pension reform—also left
without resolution—he could include Senate Bill 10 in a special session
proclamation.
And if Quinn
declines to include marriage equality in any order to lawmakers, Madigan could
call a House special session of his own at the same time to take up the
legislation.
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| Top to Bottom: Michael Madigan, Greg Harris, Pat Quinn |
A lot of ‘ifs’ but it’s a reprieve people, which means all of
us, not just the people of Illinois, need to step up our game, and write to the
Illinois legislators and demand that offer full marriages rights to all
Illinoisans.
And even then, if, during a summer session, Illinois
lawmakers would need to amend the bill and change the effective date from “30
days” from a gubernatorial signature to January 1, 2014 in order to avoid a
3/5th or 71 vote requirement, something many see as an insurmountable hurdle. Amending
the effective date would also require the Illinois Senate to concur with such a
change. So, while it might seem like a stroke of good luck, a deadline
extension by itself resolves none of the political problems associated with the
bill’s opponents, but it may give advocates—and we are all advocates, whether
we live in Illinois or not—an incentive to work to resolve them before summer’s
end.
Sidenote: Let’s knock off the Blame Game, too. Stop blaming
the Black churches, stop blaming the churches, stop blaming the GOP, stop
blaming groups. Sure, some of the
Black churches lobbied against the legislation, but not all; sure, some
republicans worked against equality, but not all.
Let’s focus on those who stand on the right side of history
rather than trying to lay blame at an entire group’s feet.
M’kay?
I'm so sick of these namby pamby politicians so afraid of losing their jobs because they're afraid of taking the "wrong" vote on marriage equality. I doubt if many of those who vote against marriage equality really believe their "marriage should be between one man and one woman" philosophy. All they're doing by delaying the vote is sticking their finger in the dyke (no pun intended) in stemming the flow (again, no pun intended) of history.
ReplyDeleteRetired in Delaware
Opposite marriage still functioning in WA - no locusts, no plagues of frogs, cats and dogs still not getting along.
ReplyDeleteBefore we lay the blame at politicians feet, lets remember something very human. No one likes to lose. Losing isn't winning, even if one is leading the Vanguard on a noble cause.
ReplyDeletePolitical reality tells us that every time a politician loses, he/she/it loses clout, and clout is the equivalent of flexing political muscle.
THAT SAID, the failure of Illinois is that they rushed this without securing the right kind of support - the support from groups outside of the "Winners Circle", ie, legislators who could go back to their districts and be certain that they wouldn't be pelted with rocks.
IN MARYLAND, the governor had a Democratic House of Delegates and Senate, and by wide margins. So he could flex his muscles and get it through. Southern Illinois is not progressive. They couldn't guarentee a WIN. And a real loss would have been a win for NOM, so they pulled it.
It's not dead in the water, it just swam back to the shore and is studying the current in how they are going to get this through the legislature and by a voter initiaive if it gets to that.
Agreed, Cookie, and that's my point.
ReplyDeleteDon't blame the Black Churches, blame certain members of the Black churches; don't blame the GOP, blame certain members of the GOP.
Cool as a Cookie has the right of it-- I live in Southern Illinois, and it definitely isn't progressive. It's hard to be a Liberal in this part of the country--things can turn violent! We basically try to spread our "message" quietly and steadily and hope to get through to as many people as possible. It's like chipping at at rock to make a sculpture-- a bit at a time, but you finally get a thing of beauty!
ReplyDelete