Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Thursday
called on lawmakers to approve a gay marriage bill.
The Illinois Senate approved the
measure on Valentine's Day. But the full House has yet to act on the
measure since it cleared a House panel in February.
“It's time to vote,” Quinn said.
“Illinois passing marriage equality into law, I think, sends a
great signal to the people of our state and the people of America.
So it's important to Illinois [that] the House of Representatives get
going.”
Quinn, a Democrat, made his remarks as
similar proposals in 2 states, Rhode Island and Delaware, reached the
finish line and Minnesota appeared poised to join them.
(Related: Minnesota
House approves gay marriage bill.)
The bill's champion in the House,
Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, said that with significant victories in
the rear view mirror, supporters would now turn their attention to
Illinois.
“In the last couple months we have
seen the voters of three different states vote for marriage at the
ballot box and in the last week we saw two other states, and probably
a third today, where the legislature said that treating people
equally is the right American thing to do,” said Harris. “Now
the eyes of the country are on Illinois to see if we are going to do
the right thing.”