Civil unions law would be good first step - It's a shame, but legislators not yet ready for gay marriage

Civil unions law would be good first step - It's a shame, but legislators not yet ready for gay marriage
BY MARK BROWN
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
April 8, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1516239,CST-NWS-brown08.article


Sometime before the end of next month, perhaps sooner than later, Illinois legislators are expected to take a vote on whether they're willing to support civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

The people who are pushing for that vote aren't making any bold predictions, but it's their belief the civil unions measure could pass and be signed into law by Gov. Quinn this spring, allowing Illinois to join the small but growing list of states that recognize some form of same-sex partnerships.

That seemed unthinkable in 2000 when Vermont became the first state in the nation to legalize civil unions, but not so much on Tuesday, when Vermont became the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislative vote.

The Vermont vote -- with both chambers of the state legislature overriding a governor's veto -- was the most powerful statement yet in favor of gay marriage, though three other states had already arrived at the same place through court decisions.

Nobody could blame this one on activist judges legislating from the bench. These were the people's representatives standing up and being counted -- expressing the will of the people, even if for now it's just the will of the people in one small New England state.

The gay and lesbian community will take its victories any way it can get them, whether through the courts or by legislative or executive action, but this win has to be a lot more satisfying than even last week's Iowa Supreme Court ruling -- the first to bring gay marriage to the nation's heartland.

Vermont's a good example
Illinois still isn't ready to go that far, but it's closer than it was, and not as close as it will be after a few years with a civil union law on the books.

As much as I may believe gay marriage should already be legal in Illinois, it's probably better this way, going step-by-step and slowly building support through consensus. For one thing, it cuts down on the backlash.

Rep. Greg Harris, the Chicago Democrat sponsoring the civil union measure in the House, can point to the Vermont experience as proof that allowing gays to have the same legal rights as married couples will not bring an end to civilization as we know it.

"The sky did not fall in," Harris wryly observed. "Plagues of locusts did not eat up all the maple syrup trees."

While I've never been to Vermont, I'm pretty sure he's right about that, because the syrup thing would have made the papers.

Harris said he thought he had enough support during last fall's veto session to win House approval for his bill but contends it ran aground over the distraction of impeaching Rod Blagojevich. It might have been more complicated than that, but that was certainly a hindrance.

Since re-introducing the proposal this year, Harris has been taking the temperature of new House members to see where they stand and says it looks good for passage.

"I'm not going to move this bill until it's really going to pass," he promises, meaning no symbolic vote to test the waters or put anybody on the spot unnecessarily.

Prospects better in Senate this time
Unlike in past years when gay rights legislation often ran aground in the Senate, prospects are even brighter for civil unions in the Senate this time, said Rick Garcia, political director of Equality Illinois.

While the civil union measure passed out of a House committee earlier, Harris made no effort to bring a gay marriage bill to a vote. It doesn't have nearly enough support, he said.

But he and other gay rights activists in Illinois definitely hope that one will eventually lead to the other, no longer afraid of the "slippery slope" arguments of opponents.

"I'm not hiding anything here," Harris emphasized.

John Cepek, national president of Parents, Families and Friends of Gays and Lesbians, will be among those lobbying in Springfield in favor of civil unions.

"I've got a straight son. I've got a gay son. I want the same rights for each of them," said Cepek, who lives in Indian Head Park with Char, his wife of 40 years. "Its a good thing for the government to support stable relationships wherever it can -- and it's just."

I'm on their side, which comes as no surprise to anybody who has read this column over the years, including the guy who wrote to tell me that my liberal views are a major reason this newspaper was forced to file for bankruptcy. My bosses wish it were only that simple.