On Tuesday, the House passed the measure in a tough, emotion-filled session, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“We have a chance here, as leaders have had in previous generations, to correct injustice and to move us down the path toward liberty,” Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, one of two openly gay lawmakers, said at the vote. “It’s a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of respect, it’s a matter of equality.”
Opponents of the bill argued that it would erode family values and also questioned why the state is choosing to prioritize the issue over more pressing concerns such as the economy and unemployment.
“We are the incompetence laughing stock of government mismanagement and misplaced priorities, and our one-party [Democratic] leadership spends our time on homosexual civil unions,” Republican Sen. Chris Lauzen said.
The bill is a far cry from gay marriage. Still, as the Chicago Tribune reported, “under the proposal, same-sex couples would enjoy several rights married couples currently have, such as making end-of-life decisions, handling probate matters, sharing nursing home rooms or even visiting partners in hospitals that deny visits by anyone but family.”
It took decades for Illinois to finally pass anti-discrimination measures against gays and lesbians in 2005, but the issue of gay rights has been given steadily more attention since 2003, when Democrats took control of the state government.
Surge Desk offers a glimpse at same-sex marriage laws by state:
- Five states allow same-sex couples to legally marry — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa — in addition to the federal District of Columbia. Oregon’s Coquille Indian tribe also recognizes same-sex marriage.
- Three states recognize, but do not perform, same-sex marriage: New York, Rhode Island and Maryland.
- In California, same-sex marriage performed before the passage of Proposition 8 remained valid. In August, a federal district judge voted that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, but the ruling’s enforcement is still pending appeal, so same-sex couples cannot marry in the state.
- California aside, five states — Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and now Illinois — provide same-couples with similar benefits to marriage in the form of civil unions or domestic partnerships.
- Thirty states have constitutional amendments defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and nine other states have laws explicitly banning same-sex marriages.
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Originally reported by AOL. Read the original article here.