With only 4 days left in the Illinois
regular legislative session, supporters of a stalled gay marriage
bill on Tuesday continued to press for a vote.
The proposed legislation which would
make Illinois the 13th state to legalize such unions
stalled in the House after passage on Valentine's Day in the Senate.
Earlier this month, Governor Pat Quinn
called on lawmakers to vote on the measure.
“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.”
The bill's champion in the House,
Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, has maintained that he would not call a
vote on the measure until he had the 60 votes needed for passage.
Harris, who also shepherded the state's
civil unions bill through the House two years ago, has yet to say
whether the bill would be debated before Friday.
Still, advocates insist they have the
votes needed for the bill to clear the House.
“I believe we're there,” Rick
Garcia, policy adviser for The Civil Rights Agenda, told gay weekly
Windy City Media Group. “The cake is baked. We're waiting
for the icing.”
On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, called on members
to text
a message of support to three friends.
If the marriage law is approved,
Illinois would become the 13th state to legalize such
unions, the fourth this year and only the third in the Midwest.