The Illinois House has until the end of the day Friday to pass marriage equality legislation. Gov. Pat Quinn is ready and willing to sign the bill into law (the Senate already passed it) as soon as the House acts, which
could be any time now.
SPRINGFIELD — In what will be seen as a historic moment in LGBT history, House lawmakers are expected to finally decide on a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday or Friday—potentially making Illinois the 13th state to recognize gay and lesbian nuptials.
After months of intense lobbying by both sides of the issue and a clock ticking down to the end of the session Friday, the bill’s chief sponsor Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and other proponents of the measure are poised to bring victory to the LGBT community—that is if Harris has secured the 60 votes required for it to pass, as he has suggested.
One key legislator, Democrat LaShawn Ford, has been sitting on the fence on this, but has
decided to vote in favor. That puts Harris one vote closer, votes that might be swung by President Obama. Appearing in Chicago Wednesday, he
said of the bill, "I just want to say for the record it’s something that I deeply support."
Harris and the Illinois Unites for Marriage Coalition are convinced they've got the votes to do it. We'll find out in a matter of hours if that's the case.