Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Illinois civil union bill advances
05.27.2009 9:50am EDT
(Springfield, Illinois) A bill giving gay couples the right to form civil unions in Illinois is moving closer to a vote on the House floor, but time is running out.
The bill was approved by a House committee on Tuesday as the California Supreme Court released its ruling upholding a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.The Illinois legislation, called the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, would ” provide eligible same-sex and opposite-sex couples with the same treatment as those in a civil marriage.”
“[T]he current marriage law is discriminatory and harms same-sex couples; and there is no compelling interest or rational basis to deny same-sex couples those benefits,” the bill’s description says.
The bill also makes it clear that no church would be required to perform or recognize same-sex unions.
Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), the bill’s sponsor, said he is not yet certain the measure has enough votes to pass in the full House.
Time is against the bill. The current session of the legislature ends on Sunday.
Two years ago, a civil union bill introduced by Harris died when the session ended; conservative groups already have made it known they will fight the new bill. They’ve already begun work to push for a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that they hope will make it to the ballot in 2010.
A Mormon bishop in Illinois earlier this year called for a massive campaign against civil unions. In an e-mail to members of his church, Bishop Chris Church urged Illinois Mormons to call their local legislators and tell them to oppose the bill.
Although Mormons make up only a small percentage of Illinois churchgoers, they have become increasingly vocal in recent years.
Bishop Church’s e-mail claimed that civil unions would “empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise.” It went on to also claim that “it will also create grounds for rewriting all social mores.”
The e-mail raised the concerns of national LGBT civil rights groups. The Mormon Church was instrumental in the passage of anti-gay measures in a number of states.
It was heavily involved in the Proposition 8 campaign in California, a voter-based initiative that prohibits same-sex marriage in that state, a similar constitutional amendment in Arizona and the defeat this year of a package of LGBT rights bills in Utah called the Common Ground Initiative.
The Mormons only got involved with Prop 8 so they could gain respect from mainstream churches. Since Prop 8 passed, they will be emboldened to do more. F’d up weirdos that they are.
I know I am not the only one here who has no use for any of the “organized religions”
Would love to see them taxed out of existence.
Those Mormon missionaries, a couple of them showed up on my doorstep one night after Prop H8 passed last year.
I told these 2 young men in the usual black suits, white shirts, ties and name tags Elder so and so. in a rather severe tone that they supported Prop H8 and so they weren’t welcome and to go, to leave NOW using a pushing away motion in their direction with my hands to reinforce the unwelcome.
I am waiting for other missionaries to show up later on so I can call them bigots to their faces. They will show up again eventually as they do once or twice a year. I’ve seem around my town going around normally on their bikes, always in pairs, while in public always dressed and groomed alike, name tags on display, and always white-skinned, always young and always male. I when see that, I think “Mormon missionaries” immediately
I’ve seen the movie “Latter Days” and when I see the missionaries tooling around on their bikes, I am reminded of that movie, and not in a very nice way.
AGAIN, IF YOU CAN READ….
Common thread, Republican Right Wing Nazis and Christian and American Religious Taliban with the problems!
They don’t want “Marriage Equality” for us, Tax Paying citizens, but they don’t even want “Civil Unions” If that is not Mean, Evil and just spiteful then I don’t know what is!
Could the Mormon bishop’s efforts put his church’s tax exempt status in jeopardy?
its scarry how the mormans think bigomy is ok , so much for one man one woman , but then again their whole beliefe system is off the wall , but the world seems , a word to all religous nuts out there the 10 commandments also states , not to bare false witteness aginst thy neighbor , 13 years of cathoic school has taught me that , but thereligous groups out there seem to pick and choose which commandments they follow . This is not the way to heavan idiots !again , stop teling lies about us and we will stop telling the truth about you .
Funny. In California, the Mormons claimed that the opposed only same-sex marriage, not civil unions or domestic partnerships. Well, the Illinois bill is a civil union bill, not a marriage bill. So between last November and today, did the Mormons receive an even more latter-day revelation that civil unions are wrong too? Or are they just shameless, manipulative liars?
Steve, you hit it on the head.
I left Salt Lake to get away from the Mormons. They’re very fond of saying “If you don’t like it here, then leave.” I left and they decided that Utah was not enough.
Let me say this from the bottom of my heart, the LDS Church aims at domination of this country and any other they can get under it’s sway. They honestly believe that it’s the destiny of the LDS Church to control all of mankind as a way to help Jesus when he returns.
They sound like f*cking dominionists!
Actually I do not believe that the LDS Church was involved in the Common Ground Initiative. That was purely a Republican destruction and the bills didnt even make it out of commitee.
I thought it was the position of the Mormon church to oppose “marriage,” but not “civil unions.”
I think the rights of Mormons to marry should be put to the popular vote on the next ballot. The Latter Day Saints are NOT a popular sect of Christianity among other Christians, who view them as hellbound cultists and who would, no doubt, happily, and righteously, flip the Mormons the Christian bird inside the voting booth. Along with the rest of us.
Wow, Mormons and Conservatives are beyond ridiculous. At this rate, Mormons really need to lose their tax exemption with how much political foolery they are involved with.
Guys, a Mormon Bishop NEVER speaks for the MORMON church. So, him fighting his own little battle in Illinois is HIS deal. He has his own free-will and so the Mormon church is not going to stop him as he’s not breaking any commandments (as far as theyir concerned) – I guess love thy neighbor didn’t make it into THEIR Bible. The Mormon church agreed to “allow” civil unions in California because they knew that it would then seem like they were being reasonable (We definitely know better). That is the way many churches are going these days. If a majority of a states population is for marriage, they will angle for us to get less (ie. civil unions); if the majority of the population seems against any kind of protections for us, they will fight against even civil unions. Jerks!
“Guys, a Mormon Bishop NEVER speaks for the MORMON church.” This perception allows the church to get away with campaiging and endorsing and keeping their tax exempt status, because everyone thinks the church members act on their own. Sorry but every good mormon male over the age of 12 holds some level of priesthood in the mormon world. Just because a bishop wears his special-underwear uniform under his normal-looking clothing doesn’t change the fact that he is an ordained minister of the church and thus a representative of that organization. As a returned missionary, temple endowed, BYU graduate ex-mormon, I have no doubt in my mind the church constantly donates money to campaigns and causes via its priesthood, and does so under the guise of individual donations, because it can so successfully blur the lines between individual action and church mandate.