Illinois Marriage Law and Same-Sex Couples
The worldwide battle for marriage equality for same-sex couples has resulted in bitter, ongoing fights in all branches of government and among the people to win marriage rights for same-sex couples. Several states have preemptively banned same-sex couples from getting marriage licenses after President Bill Clinton passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. However, even some states that banned same-sex marriage have allowed civil unions. One of those states is Illinois, which legalized them in 2011.
The state of Illinois was the first state to repeal its sodomy laws; the General Assembly in 1962 at the recommendation of the American Law Institute. However, several decades later it banned same-sex marriages in the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, though it allowed gays to adopt children, including second-parent adoption, and drafted its Domestic Violence Act to apply to same-sex partners. It also passed an LGBT anti-discrimination bill in 2006 and an anti-bullying bill in 2010. Thus it was likely that same-sex marriage would have a lot of support in the state. In 2005, an Illinois Policy survey showed 31 percent of residents supported same-sex marriage rights. In five years, that percentage had increased to 48 percent.
Illinois state representatives and senators had drafted bills amending the act and allowing same-sex marriage in 2007 and 2009, but they died in committee. Those same years, the Illinois General Assembly introduced civil union bills that also died in committee. However, on November 30, 2010, the House passed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act allowing civil unions by a margin of 61 to 52; the Senate approved it the next day by a margin of 32 to 24. Governor Pat Quinn signed the act into law on January 12, 2011; it went into effect on June 1.
The passage of the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act makes Illinois one of 13 states that allow civil unions, the others being California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. To date, no further attempts have been made to legalize same-sex marriage. So far, only Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont have granted full marriage rights to same sex couples, though a bill is currently pending in Washington.
Illinois Marriage Laws: What the State Constitution says…
(a) The following marriages are prohibited:
- A marriage entered into prior to the dissolution of an earlier marriage of one of the parties;
- A marriage between an uncle and a niece or between an aunt and a nephew, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by adoption;
- A marriage between an uncle and a niece or between an aunt and a nephew, whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood;
- a marriage between cousins of the first degree; however, a marriage between first cousins is not prohibited if:
- both parties are 50 years of age or older; or ii. either party, at the time of application for a marriage license, presents for filing with the county clerk of the county in which the marriage is to be solemnized, a certificate signed by a licensed physician stating that the party to the proposed marriage is permanently and irreversibly sterile;
- a marriage between 2 individuals of the same sex.
- Parties to a marriage prohibited under subsection.
- Of this section who cohabit after removal of the impediment are lawfully married as of the date of the removal of the impediment.
- Children born or adopted of a prohibited or common law marriage are the lawful children of the parties.
Illinois Statute Chapter 750 ' 5/212
Source: Illinois State Constitution
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The Old Testament’s prohibition on homosexual activity was not the cruel imposition of a dictator, but the wise provision of a loving God who desired to see His chosen people grow in love. Perhaps (though there is no explicit evidence for this in the text) at some point the intensity of David and Jonathan’s affection for each other might have spilled over into sexual temptations. If so, the “delight in the law of the Lord” which moved David to song protected them from sin and kept their souls knit together in a pure and spiritual love.
In the same way, by declaring the “truth of God” that homosexual acts are sinful, the New Testament helps those of us who struggle with same-sex attractions to discover what it means to “worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
But because love is the heart of the Gospel, Satan always tries to fool us with counterfeits of true love. Against these counterfeits, the Apostles and Prophets warn us again and again. God is love, and so nothing that is against His will can be love. He only approves of certain kinds of love, but punishes His people for loving idols, foreign women in the case of Israel, foreign deities, multiple wives, money, sexual love between close relations (incest), etc.
We do not always understand these prohibitions; God’s reasons for forbidding gay relationships may seem like dim shadow in a mirror to us when we first confront them. But it is love, not understanding, which God most desires from us. To place our hopes in Him even when we do not understand His ways is a mark of great faith, and even greater love.
It is not an easy path, and just as the Apostle Paul expressed the struggle between flesh and spirit, all of us will face struggles. But when we struggle, or when we fail, we should not lose hope. Rather, we should remember that Jesus said even of the soldiers who killed Him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And even when we fall again and again to the same familiar sins, we should remember that Christ told Peter to forgive others not seven times, but seventy times seven times (cf. Matthew 18:22). If God commands such mercy from us, how much more will He, who is Mercy Himself, show mercy to us in our weakness?
It also brought alive an important theme from the Psalms, the great prayerbook of the People of God: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalms 1:1-3). For those who follow the Law with all their heart, it becomes a source of life, strength, and peace of spirit.
Come on, Illinois, be smart here and legalize it already
can u move to another state n still be considererd married i live in the state of ohio
Every individual has the right to be happy. If God banned gay marriage then he wouldn't have gave us the freedom to do what we want and create our own lives.
Well, there's no doubt that Illinois passing the Religious Freedom and Marriage Act is a BIG step in the right direction! Hopefully within the next few years, marriage equality will be fully realized in Illinois. C'mon Illinois! Make me proud!
Well, there's no doubt that Illinois passing the Religious Freedom and Marriage Act is a BIG step in the right direction! Hopefully within the next few years, marriage equality will be full realized in Illinois. C'mon Illinois! Make me proud!
@Frank
What makes laws banning same sex marriage so frustrating is that they are restricted currently to state laws, and states that officially ban gay marriage do not recognize marriages or civil partnerships performed in other states. This includes Indiana.
So to answer your question, you and your partner would have to move your household to Illinois and become citizens in order to be recognized as partners by your state of residency. Unfortunately, any protections written into the marriage laws of Illinois do not exist outside of the state, unless that state allows same-sex unions (i.e. Maryland).
I live in Indiana, can I go to Illinois to get married to my same sex partner?
yes, my fiance whom is a female are going soon. we live in indiana also! we were looking at vemillion county because its closest!
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Love is love, there's no question about that. I do not think that it makes any difference who you marry. Three things in life that humans strive for to feel complete: I. wealth II. to be successful. III. LOVE. There's a certain threshold that a couple crosses when they become bounded by marriage. So why not let all have that same experience? This is no different to the past "separate but equal." People have all the wrong ideas about same sex marriage, same sex adoption, or same sex anything. Times are changing, no one said that we had to follows the rules of history forever.