The Illinois Senate passed legislation to legalize gay marriage in Illinois on February 14, and the bill is awaiting a vote in the Illinois House of Representatives.
The House currently has the bill out of committee and on the docket, according to Laura Fine, Illinois House Representative for Glenview and Northbrook. If the House passes the bill, it will be signed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and become Illinois law, according to the Chicago Tribune.
According to Fine, the House has taken ‘roll calls,’ or informal votes to see if the bill has enough representatives on board to pass the bill. The bill is a few votes shy of the necessary 60 for passage. The Illinois Congress is not in session right now, but Fine said sponsors of the bill are working hard to get remaining ballots.
“The people who are working on the bill are really talking to people and making them have a better understanding of the bill and what it means so they can gain their support,” Fine said.
The major opposition has come from religious standpoints according to senior Max Sendor, President of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at South. A lot of religions define marriage as between a man and a woman, and Sendor believes that some don’t want to stray from that viewpoint.
“People are very hardwired in their values of family, and they don’t want to vary [politically] from their personal ideas,” Sendor said.
Other opposition is grounded in party politics, according to Fine, who supports the bill. There could be some representatives that might personally support the bill but feel like they can’t vote for it because of the constituents they are representing and those opinions.
Fine said that the recent media publicity from major political figures like Hillary Clinton and Republican Senator Rob Portman, both who have recently come out in support of gay marriage, could help Illinois’ changes. Fine also thinks that the March Supreme Court hearings about California’s legislation banning gay marriage (Proposition 8) and the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act are helping to spotlight the issue.
“Especially [U.S. Senator Mark Kirk from Illinois] as a Republican coming out and saying [gay marriage] is something they support, it’s easier for someone else to say […] if the leaders in my party support it, then I can support it as well,” Fine said.
Fine’s choice to support gay marriage is shared with many at South. According to an Oracle-conducted survey of 217 students, 85 percent support Illinois legalizing gay marriage.
Cheryl Hope, staff sponsor of the GSA, sees the numbers in support of gay marriage on an upward trend. Hope attributes the trend to an increase in people coming out in recent years, and people becoming more familiar with the reality of those around them being gay. The publicity and awareness have helped increase support for marriage equality and are turning it from a political issue to a civil rights issue.
“I think most people have made [the] decision based on fairness and equality and equal rights,” Hope said.
Those surveyed who opposed the legalization cited religious and personal reasons. Junior Krystian Szorc believes that both government and religion are key to leading peaceful and happy lives.
“I believe God made it very clear that it takes a man and a woman to produce a happy, healthy life,” Szorc said. “I believe that all people should go about this standard, and for those who don’t want to, a law should be put in place to keep them in line. I know others may disagree, but this is just my opinion.”
Hope responds to the religious opponents that there is a difference between a legal marriage and a religious marriage and argues that religion doesn’t have to play a part in the political aspect.
Junior Jeffrey Mathew believes that personal opinions should not inhibit legalization.
“Even though I have my strong beliefs about sex and marriage, it is not my duty, nor the government’s, to impose upon anyone else my beliefs,” Mathew said.
If Illinois were to legalize gay marriage, it would become the tenth state in the United States to do so. Illinois has been one of six states to offer civil unions to same-sex couples since summer 2011.
According to the Oracle-conducted survey, of the 15 percent of students against legalizing gay marriage, 73 percent support the current civil union legislation.
Sendor does not believe that civil unions are as comprehensive as a marriage, and they often result in legal confusion.
“The laws get really hazy when it comes to civil unions,” Sendor said. “People tend to err on the side of conservative in that situation and are a lot less [cooperative].”
Some common differences between a marriage and a civil union include hospital rights and health care benefits, issues with child adoption and estate taxes.
According to CNN, there are approximately 1,100 federal benefits to marriage, not all of which are encompassed by civil unions.
If the legislation passes the House, it will allow for gay students and staff at South to gain equal standing with straight peers within the law.
