A day after the Illinois Legislature
approved a bill that recognizes gay and lesbian couples with civil
unions, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is urging the state to legalize
gay marriage.
House members approved openly gay state
Representative Greg Harris' bill on Tuesday and senators agreed on
Wednesday. The measure now heads to the desk of Governor Pat Quinn,
who
has previously pledged to sign it into law.
Only one other state, New Jersey,
currently offers the union, but
Hawaii lawmakers are likely to revisit the issue early next year.
“Finally, they [state lawmakers]
realized they should have the same rights under state law,” Daley
told the Chicago Sun-Times. “But eventually, [gay] marriage
will take place. It has to … We have to move faster.”
“These
are great citizens,” he added. “They're a tremendous resource
for us in our great city. I'm very proud of the relationship that I
had with them over many years. And it's really important for us to
move forward. These are people [who] have families. These are
people [who] work in every sector of our society. They should not be
discriminated against in any way whatsoever.”
Daley went on to urge Quinn to sign the
bill “as quickly as possible.”