Illinois Civil Unions Bill HB-1826

[antonyh]

Here is a copy of the bill:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/95/HB/PDF/09500HB1826ham001.pdf

[sjbouza]

My prayers are with you Illinois. I pray that they will do the right thing and grant the civil unions.:pray:

I listened to the "radio" broadcast :mad: and found it funny that they only seemed to consentrate on how their people legal people interpreted it. I read it and didnt see much of anything that they were saying to be truth. I mean they were even saying that allowing hetero couples to have civil unions would destroy marriage. Come on, it is a piece of paper and nothing more. Marriage isnt solely a Christian concept. We dont have a copyright or trademark on the word.

Christian fundamentalist are going to be the downfall of this country. Look at the White House now. Bush has messed up this country along with all his bogus appointments and all the scandals. I mean really, he is a Texas oil man and we are paying $4+ for a gallon of gas, something is wrong here. :headbang: But in the end, you know they will blame everything on us homosexuals. "It will be Gods judgment because we let gays marry that this country has fallen." I can just hear James Dobson vomiting out those very words.:mad: :sick:

God Bless and Good luck Illinois:pray:

[davidb]

I've got work committments tomorrow that I can't get out of. Otherwise I'd be on that bus! Let us know what happens...

__________________________________________
What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.

--Emerson

[antonyh]

It was a beautiful April morning as two buses full of activists pulled away from the Equality Illinois office at 3707 North Halstead Street in the heart of Chicago’s Boystown. The destination, four hours away, was the Illinois State Capital. April 18, 2007 was Illinois Civil Unions Lobby Day.

As the scenery changed from Chicago skyscrapers to mile-upon-mile of flat Illinois farm land, people on the bus started sharing their stories. My partner and I talked about our experience attempting to rent an apartment in Chicago. Because we were not in a legally recognized relationship, the realty company refused to consider our income together as they would for any heterosexual couple. We ended up loosing the apartment. We met John Pennycuff and Robert Castillo who had marched into the Cook County Marriage License Bureau on February 11 to ask for a Marriage Certificate (http://www.gayliberation.net/press/2006/0215wct_marriage.html). They were politely turned away and reminded that state law does not permit same-sex marriage. My partner and I marched with them from the Marriage License Bureau to Holy Name Cathedral on that Freedom to Marry Day in 2006. Then there were the parents of gay children. “I have two sons, one straight and one gay. I want them to have the same rights because they are both Americans.” The activist sitting across the isle from us told us about the early eighties when his partner died of AIDS. “While I was overcome with grief, my partner's family showed up and took all his stuff. I was left with what was hanging in my closet. I was lucky to be young enough to recover." This was more than a bus full of activists, but a bus full of hunger for equality.

“You need to tell legislators your stories,” advised Greg Harris (D) (http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=1324), the Illinois State Representative and chief sponsor of the Illinois Civil Unions Bill. “Listen carefully to your Representative, listen for their positions and don’t engage in counterproductive debate.” The orientation room, Stratton Room 413, had representatives from Equality Illinois, the ACLU, Lambda Legal, Log Cabin Republicans, P-FLAG and Protestants for the Common Good. We heard from the lawyers that helped write the bill. "This is the best we can do right now to get this passed. We had to remove the marriage language." In the speeches that followed, people of faith and Republicans where encouraged to “come out as religious people” and to “come out as Republicans.” It was important for legislators to see that both people of faith and Republicans were interested in the justice offered in this bill.

Because the House of Representatives was in session, we had to call out our district Representative from the chamber. We simply gave our name to the guard and he delivered it to our Representative. After a vote was taken, our district Representatives would emerge from the chamber for a brief discussion with their constituents. Most of the Representatives from Chicago were in favor of the legislation with the exception of Representative Mary Flowers (D) from the South Side who felt that this legislation was a threat to traditional marriage. Republican Representatives from smaller towns were often more reticent about the bill. Representative Shane Cultra (R) from Onarga, IL said flat out, “If I voted for that bill, I would not be here next year.”

We returned to Stratton Room 413 and carefully wrote up the information we had gathered. These reports went to Equality Illinois for tabulation and would be combined with other information sources to determine which Illinois State Representatives were still undecided. These key individuals will be contacted next. After that, Equality Illinois may have to canvas certain districts for signatures to prove to lawmakers that their constituents are behind the bill.

Rick Garcia (http://eqil.org/about-staff.htm), Political Director for Equality Illinois, said that he works with the sponsors to bring the bill to the floor for debate when there are enought votes. This way it will clear the House of Representatives. If HB-1826 passes this session, it will probably be November before it starts making its way through the Senate. "I've learned that you focus on where the bill is now. That said, we have started baby conversations with various Senators."

“I want to just fucking thank you for being here today," Rick Garcia said slightly choked up, "You just don’t know how hard it is to be here day-after-day lobbying lawmakers. It is just so great to know you have so many people backing you up.”

[sjbouza]

I wish I could do something to help. Unfortunately, I am not a resident of Illinois. However, I am still and will be praying for you all. One more state means one more victory. One more victory means one less hurdle. One less hurdle means the road is getting shorter. The shorter this road that we are on for equality gets, more hope will spring up for the rest of the GLBT community in other states.

I just have a feeling that we are on the road to something huge. I really believe that we will, as a nation, overcome these prejudices. It isnt going to be easy or even happen tomorrow, but it will happen and I give God the glory for that!!! I think that this nation is going to wake up one day and realize that what they have been fed is a bowl full of bull%$^* by their so called "men of God". They will come to realize that they are the ones with the "agenda". They will come to realize that these "men" are not prophets they are PROFITS, first and foremost.

My prayers and blessings are with you Illinois. Keep us posted on what is going on. And by all means, and this comes from me personally, if there is anything...I mean ANYTHING I can do please pm me and ask. I will do my best to help in any way that I can.

Prayers, love and blessings in Christ,
Scott

[ladyinred]

How do civil unions prevent heterosexuals from getting married? How do they cause the downfall of our society and traditional marriages? How do they prevent heterosexuals the right to marry and to establish their own families? It's not like civil unions would impose their concept of same sex relationships onto straight people. It would just recognize their relationships as legal. What is the basis of their argument, are they saying,if having the right to civil unions it will cause heterosexuals to stop marrying or having their own families to be inevitable, that sounds ludicrous to me.We've seen throughout our own history here in the US, marriage is alive and well, nothing has undermined people's choices to marry and have families.Civil unions would not promote a gay agenda where we are trying to convert, heterosexuals to our lifestyle. ( I didn't think if you were heterosexual you could suddenly turn into a homosexual anyway.)So I don't really see what the fuss is about.

[ladyinred]

referring to :
http://www.cwfa.org/play.asp?id=cw20070329a the opposition's side:
Comments on the show,lamenting, "they don't force anyone to marry", referring to heterosexual marriages.(They think marriage should be forced or mandatory?) Listen to their choice of words carefully. Apparently to be enforced and forced on anyone no matter what, even to go on to suggest that the pastor would not be compelled to force to marry anyone ,even those who may have been counseled that they may be too young or who might not be ready to marry, ( Listen to their words again , they are saying the pastor or other clergy should be required to force to marry ..) Sounds like marriage shot-gun style. Sounds like marriage now means dictatorship. No freedom of choice whatsoever, who is trying to do away with people's choices and freedom here..

[ladyinred]

http://www.illinoisfamily.org/content/img/f29586/Sample%20Boycott%20Letter.pdf Urging people to boycott the day of silence. Don't they politicize issues as well. Don't they come into schools encouraging students to join in their fight against homosexuality and condemn it and urge people to run off those who don't agree with them(Case in point: AFA and the GSA at Boyd high school) In other words,only they should be allowed into schools to promote their agenda.

[antonyh]

I wish I could do something to help. Unfortunately, I am not a resident of Illinois. However, I am still and will be praying for you all. One more state means one more victory. One more victory means one less hurdle. One less hurdle means the road is getting shorter. The shorter this road that we are on for equality gets, more hope will spring up for the rest of the GLBT community in other states.

Looks like New Hampshire and Oregon are ones to watch right now :D

I hope you'll get your day soon in Michigan :)

[sjbouza]

Looks like New Hampshire and Oregon are ones to watch right now :D

I hope you'll get your day soon in Michigan :)

Me too. The only thing is it is going to have to be challenged in court. Michigan has a definition of marriage between a man and a woman in our state constitution. They put it to a vote to the public and that is the way it went. So it is going to take some people to fight it through the court system as unconstitutional.

I dont know how that is going to go since the federal government cowered in the corner like a beat dog and left it up to each state to decide on the issue. Come onI wish the federal government would just grow some jingles and just say that we same sex marriage is going to happen so deal with it.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! I wish you all could really know how irritated I am right now with this state. Michigan is so far in the dumps because of our governor. We are losing jobs left and right. Around where I live we are losing a factory to Mexico. so about 250 people are going to be without jobs within the next 2 months. It is a beautiful state, but so backwards in its thinking. Sometimes I wonder if we are in the same century as the rest of you?! :confused: :confused: :confused: