Yesterday was the first day for Illinois to allow civil unions, making it the sixth state to do so. The legally binding unions, which were signed into law in January, provide same-sex or opposite-sex couples the same state-level rights as married couples. Those include the power to decide medical treatment for an ailing partner and the right to inherit a partner’s property.
The Associated Press is reporting that Wednesday’s tur
nout for couples registering for licenses, “while unpredictable, was spotty. In Cook County, the clerk’s office said 203 licenses were issued by the end of the day, at least two to heterosexual couples. In Jackson County, home to Southern Illinois University’s flagship campus in Carbondale, two couples had gotten licensed by midday. In central Illinois’ Champaign County, the clerk’s office had issued at least 14 of the permits before lunch.”
Because there’s a one-day waiting period before ceremonies can be held (as with traditional marriage), today many same-sex couples are saying “I do” in Illinois. The Chicago Tribune reported that “more than 30 same-sex couples, in suits and flowing wedding gowns, gathered this morning in Millennium Park to be among the first in the state to enter into civil unions.”
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Photo: Evanston Ald. Mark Tendam (left) and partner Neal Moglin clasp hands as they talk about the commitment their rings represent in a civil union ceremony at their home on Thursday. They have been together for 15 years. (Shauna Bittle/for the Chicago Tribune / June 2, 2011)
