[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/land-of-lincoln-lawmakers-championing-marriage-equality\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/land-of-lincoln-lawmakers-championing-marriage-equality\/","headline":"Land of Lincoln Lawmakers Championing Marriage Equality","name":"Land of Lincoln Lawmakers Championing Marriage Equality","description":"By Jason Carson Wilson Openly gay Illinois lawmakers are working to bring gay marriage to the Land of Lincoln, the Advocate reports. \u00a0State Reps. Kelly...","datePublished":"2012-02-09","dateModified":"2021-06-25","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/#Person","name":"Equally Wed","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/","identifier":787,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/illinois-state-representative-greg-harris-gay-marriage-bill.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/illinois-state-representative-greg-harris-gay-marriage-bill.jpg","height":332,"width":500},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/land-of-lincoln-lawmakers-championing-marriage-equality\/","about":["Marriage Equality News"],"wordCount":271,"articleBody":" By Jason Carson WilsonOpenly gay Illinois lawmakers are working to bring gay marriage to the Land of Lincoln, the Advocate reports. \u00a0State Reps. Kelly Cassidy, Greg Harris and Deborah Mell\u2014all Chicago Democrats\u2014introduced the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act Tuesday\u2014as the historic Prop 8 decision came down in California.State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, lead architect of Illinois\u2019s civil union lawCassidy, Harris and Mell\u2019s proposed legislation would give same-sex couples the same spousal rights that straight married couples enjoy. Civil unions became legally recognized in Illinois on June 1.However, Equality Illinois\u2014a GLBT rights group\u2014CEO Bernard Cherkasov believes the civil union is lacking. Cherkasov offered a concrete example of the inequality that remains.\u201cA pharmacist who denied prescription pickup to the patient\u2019s civil union partner didn\u2019t think it\u2019s the same thing as marriage. A coroner who refused to issue a death certificate to a civil union partner survivor did not think that civil unions are the same as marriage,\u201d he said.Cherkasov and Civil Rights Agenda Executive Director Anthony Martinez agree that the civil union law was a good first step toward providing gay and lesbian couples rights and benefits. But Martinez stressed \u201cseparate is never equal,\u201d in a news release.\u201cMarriage has always been one of the principal goals for our organization, and we are pleased to finally be able to move forward toward achieving that goal,\u201d he said.Mell, 43, is the sister-in-law of disgraced and convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. She and her partner, Christin Baker, 36, were married in Iowa in August, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.\u00a0Photo: Facebook"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Land of Lincoln Lawmakers Championing Marriage Equality","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/land-of-lincoln-lawmakers-championing-marriage-equality\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]