Monday, April 27, 2009

Noted Right-Wing Paper Takes Stand On Civil Unions

What the hell is goin on at the Chicago Trib?

Legalize civil unions

... Unnoticed in the uproar is that most Americans favor extending the benefits and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples -- just as long as it goes by a different name. Call it marriage, and most people bridle. Call it a civil union, and some 55 percent of citizens are in favor.

It's safe to say public opinion in Illinois runs pretty much the same. Yet state lawmakers haven't gotten around to doing something that is both popular and valuable: providing state recognition of civil unions.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), which appears to have a reasonable chance of passage, would change that. It would grant adult couples, gay or straight, the right to enter into civil unions that, under state law, would be equivalent to marriage in everything but name.

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