Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said
Tuesday that he's “very disappointed” that the House ended its
regular session without voting on a gay marriage bill.
On Friday, the session's final day,
Rep. Greg Harris, the bill's champion in the chamber, surprised
activists when he announced that he would not call the bill for a
vote. Harris choked back tears as he explained that he had
assurances from colleagues that they would support the measure in the
fall and pledged to call a vote on the bill in November.
The Senate approved the measure on
Valentine's Day and Quinn, a Democrat, has pledged his signature.
In his first remarks on the issue,
Quinn said the chamber should have taken the vote.
“I was very disappointed that a vote
was not taken Friday,” Quinn told reporters. “I think that it
should have been taken. That is what democracy is all about –
legislators who are elected, voting on important bills, especially a
civil rights bill like marriage equality.”
“To me, democracy is all about taking
votes on very important issues and matters of the people. There is
no question that this issue is important to the people of Illinois
and it should be voted on and for the House not to do that is a very
big disappointment. And I think that it's important for the House to
realize that it's time for democracy to flourish in Illinois and that
means voting on marriage equality,” he
added.