Illinois makes it 16: Quinn signs marriage equality law

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn holds up the state's newly signed marriage equality law.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn holds up the state's newly signed marriage equality law.

It took a couple tries in the state House and a delay of several months, but Illinois became the 16th state to put marriage equality into law.

"It's time to stop planning rallies and start planning weddings," said Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon at the signing ceremony. Calling the law's passage "a triumph of democracy," but noting that there was "unfinished business" in other states, Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill into law Wednesday afternoon.

Quinn gave the moment some added historic resonance:

The Democratic governor has brought up the desk from Springfield that his administration says President Abraham Lincoln used to write his first inaugural address. That speech, delivered on March 4, 1861 as the Civil War was unfolding, called on Americans to heed “the better angels of our nature.”

The law won't go into effect until June 1, 2014, though other legislation could move it to an earlier date.