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Gay marriage in Iowa: Court ruling gives hope that Illinois could follow Wednesday, 04/29/09
Chicago Tribune

"I think what we're seeing now is people greeting this progress as an opportunity to do marriage the way they always envisioned it, not under the pressure caused by newness or the threat that it might, at any moment, be taken away," said Evan Wolfson, executive director of the national advocacy group Freedom To Marry. "In some sense, I think we're seeing a more normalized response on the part of gay people."

Take, for example, an event Gay Chicago Magazine held on Friday. In the front of the magazine's North Side office, couples could fill out Iowa marriage license applications, then have them notarized and sent out. But only about 25 applications were picked up and no couples filled them out on the spot.

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NH Sen. committee takes up gay marriage bill Wednesday, 04/15/09
Chicago Tribune

At least 500 people crowded into New Hampshire's Statehouse on Wednesday for an emotional and sometimes boisterous Senate committee hearing over whether allowing gay marriage would weaken or strengthen the institution.

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Illinois gays not betting on marriage Tuesday, 04/14/09
Chicago Tribune

Advocates for the gay and lesbian community in Illinois are rallying behind a civil unions bill sponsored by state Rep. Greg Harris (D- Chicago). The bill, which would grant same-sex couples many of the same rights as married couples, awaits a vote in the House and would then need to clear the Senate.

This political path is similar to that taken by activists in Vermont, where gay marriage was legalized last week by the state Legislature, years after Vermont had embraced civil unions. In essence, advocates' thinking goes like this: If a gay marriage law seems unlikely, a civil union bill can help to secure state rights for gays and lesbians while allowing the public and politicians to get more comfortable with the idea of same-sex couples.

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Wis. high court asked to review gay marriage vote Sunday, 04/12/09
Chicago Tribune

The Wisconsin Supreme Court was asked Thursday to decide whether the state's 2006 ban on gay marriage was properly put to voters.

William McConkey, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science instructor, claims the referendum illegally put two issues to voters at the same time: whether to ban gay marriage and whether to outlaw civil unions. A Dane County judge dismissed the case last year, and the 66-year-old Baileys Harbor man appealed to the District 4 Court of Appeals.

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Lutheran task force recommends changing gay-clergy policy Saturday, 02/21/09
Chicago Tribune

If the assembly rejects the first measure to recognize monogamous gay unions, the remaining three will die. If the assembly approves, members will be asked if they want to permit clergy in committed same-gender relationships to work in churches that invite them to serve.

The third step asks the church to respect the bound conscience of those who disagree. The fourth calls for change in policy that would incorporate flexibility in the decision-making process that allows gay clergy in relationships to serve. Chicago Bishop Wayne Miller said he welcomed the cautious approach.

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