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Civil unions unveiled next week
On Wednesday, Illinois’ civil union law will take effect, and county clerk offices across the western suburbs will start issuing applications to same-sex couples.
With the civil unions Illinois becomes one of about a dozen states that grant same-sex couples with all the legal priveleges and obligations enjoyed by married couples.
Getting a civil union license is a lot like the process for a marriage license. The couple must fill out an application — show they are at least 18 and not blood-related — and appear together at the county clerk’s office to get the license and certificate. That gives the couple 60 days to have a civil union ceremony, in which the officiator will complete the license and return it.
By law, couples must wait one day after getting the license before they can have the ceremony, so Illinois’ first civil unions won’t actually happen until Thursday. That morning, 30 couples are scheduled to have their ceremonies in Chicago’s Millennium Park with Gov. Pat Quinn and other notable figures attending.
Behind the law
The civil union bill passed through the General Assembly in the closing weeks of the last legislative session, and Quinn signed it into law Jan. 31.
The law simply guarantees couples in a civil union all the rights provided to Illinois spouses; it does not lay out each one individualy. Equality Illinois, a gay rights group, counts almost 650 protections that will be ensured by a civil union. That includes hospital visitation rights, decision-making powers in medical emergencies, inheritance rights and adoption as well as parental rights.
Besides Illinois, New Jersey allows same-sex civil unions, and Delaware and Hawaii will introduce them next year. Five states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage, and another four states offer nearly all spousal rights to unmarried couples in a domestic partnership.
On the other hand, 39 states, including Illinois, have a statute on the books defining marriage as between one and one woman.
Illinois’ civil unions are not just for same-sex couples. They are available for heterosexual couples as well. Some have speculated that it might be a popular alternative to remarrying for senior citizens because the federal government does not recognize civil unions. For instance, a widow who enters a civil union partnership could continue to collect Social Security survivor benefits. She would forfeit them if she remarried.
What do proponents say?
The introduction of civil unions is a long-awaited victory for gays and gay-rights advocates in the state.
Civil unions unveiled next week
On Wednesday, Illinois’ civil union law will take effect, and county clerk offices across the western suburbs will start issuing applications to same-sex couples.
With the civil unions Illinois becomes one of about a dozen states that grant same-sex couples with all the legal priveleges and obligations enjoyed by married couples.
Getting a civil union license is a lot like the process for a marriage license. The couple must fill out an application — show they are at least 18 and not blood-related — and appear together at the county clerk’s office to get the license and certificate. That gives the couple 60 days to have a civil union ceremony, in which the officiator will complete the license and return it.
By law, couples must wait one day after getting the license before they can have the ceremony, so Illinois’ first civil unions won’t actually happen until Thursday. That morning, 30 couples are scheduled to have their ceremonies in Chicago’s Millennium Park with Gov. Pat Quinn and other notable figures attending.
Behind the law
The civil union bill passed through the General Assembly in the closing weeks of the last legislative session, and Quinn signed it into law Jan. 31.
The law simply guarantees couples in a civil union all the rights provided to Illinois spouses; it does not lay out each one individualy. Equality Illinois, a gay rights group, counts almost 650 protections that will be ensured by a civil union. That includes hospital visitation rights, decision-making powers in medical emergencies, inheritance rights and adoption as well as parental rights.
Besides Illinois, New Jersey allows same-sex civil unions, and Delaware and Hawaii will introduce them next year. Five states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage, and another four states offer nearly all spousal rights to unmarried couples in a domestic partnership.
On the other hand, 39 states, including Illinois, have a statute on the books defining marriage as between one and one woman.
Illinois’ civil unions are not just for same-sex couples. They are available for heterosexual couples as well. Some have speculated that it might be a popular alternative to remarrying for senior citizens because the federal government does not recognize civil unions. For instance, a widow who enters a civil union partnership could continue to collect Social Security survivor benefits. She would forfeit them if she remarried.
What do proponents say?
The introduction of civil unions is a long-awaited victory for gays and gay-rights advocates in the state.
“I am pleased,” said Elmhurst resident Helmut Matthies, whose daughter is gay. “It’s a long way to go.”
Jackie Frett of Hinsdale, whose son had his wedding in Iowa under that state’s gay marriage law, called the civil unions an important step, but she said they should have been introduced a long time ago.
“People have worked so hard for this, and it’s unfortunate that they had to,” Frett said. “I think it’s very sad that gay couples have to fight for the rights that their parents take for granted.”
The introductions of civil unions could also be a boon to the wedding industry, which will certainly be called on for the ceremonies starting next week.
Kim Hope, operations manager at Toni Sweets in Hinsdale, said the bakery has not yet made a cake for a same-sex ceremony, but they would be open to it.
“We’re always open,” she said. “We’re a gay-friendly bakery.”
What about the opponents?
Most west suburban lawmakers voted against the civil union bill. State Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-24th District, of Hinsdale, said he is concerned that civil unions are a step toward legalizing gay marriage — “which I vehemently would oppose,” he said.
But he also called the law a “litigious nightmare” and pointed to a case last week from the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
On Thursday the diocese announced that it would no longer accept state funding for its foster care program, cutting the century-old program and its contract with the state, under which it handles cases of 350 children in 11 counties. The diocese will continue to offer private adoption services.
While the civil union law has a clause saying it will not interfere with any religious practices, church officials wanted specific language exempting them from having to recognize same-sex couples’ parental rights. The diocese would refer those couples to other agencies, church officials said.
“We are not trying to impose our faith on any other person who disagrees with us,” said Penny Wiegert, the diocese’s director of communications. “We are simply asking for everyone else to respect the faith that guides the work that we do.”
The diocese declined to challenge the matter in court, but officials would like to see it cleared up somehow, Wiegert said.
“I would love to see this taken care of for the benefit of all children, all families,” she said.
[Read more about the diocese's decision at the Rockford Register Star, or go here to read the diocese's statment.]
What does this mean for gay marriage in Illinois?
Many proponents of civil union hope — just as opponents are concerned — that the law will eventually lead toward legalized gay marriage in Illinois.
“I think there’s a natural evolution from civil unions,” said John Cepek, an Indian Head Park resident and father of a gay son. “Straight people see that the sky doesn’t fall in when there’s civil unions. They see that families are strengthened, because people submit to the responsibilities of legally ratified relationship.”
Cepek, a former national president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, says he expects to see gay marriage in Illinois within two years.
But, he admits, he is an invariable optimist.
The last legislative effort at gay marriage failed last year. The bill, which would have changed the definition of marriage to “between two persons,” did not make it out of senate committee.
State Rep. Michael Zalewski, D-21st District, of Riverside, voted for the Civil Union Act last year, but said he is not in favor of gay marriage — and he does not think there is widespread support for it in the General Assembly.
“This was what I felt was a common ground, a minimal line,” he said last week. “A way toward what was equal rights versus what is acceptable in Illinois.”
