Civil union vote not likely this week

Civil unions may be poised to become law in Illinois, according to some leading lawmakers.

All the same, a vote almost certainly won't occur in the next few days, the sponsor of the legislation said Wednesday.

“There's been quite a buildup,” said state Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat. “But I don't believe it will come up this week.”

Rumblings about the impending passage of civil unions agreements designed to give nonmarried partners both gay and straight additional rights and benefits under state law first began in October, when Gov. Pat Quinn told the Daily Herald editorial board that he believed the measure had enough votes to pass “by the time Christmas comes around.”

And House Speaker Michael Madigan said Tuesday that he thought the measure had a “good chance” of passage.

Harris, who has each year since 2007 filed separate pieces of legislation that would legalize both civil unions and gay marriage, said public opinion shows residents are more supportive of civil unions than same sex marriages.

“I'd love (to legalize) same sex marriage,” he said. “But people are still coming to terms with ... marriage as consecrated by their church and the marriage recognized by the government.”

Civil unions would give couples many of the same benefits as marriage adoption rights, emergency health care decisions and estate planning decisions among them but not all.

Couples with legally recognized civil unions would be unable to file joint income tax returns, for example. One partner can sponsor another to become an American citizen, in a marriage, but not under civil unions.

Harris said Quinn's statement about civil unions “shows that the governor has staked out a moderate position.”

But some Republicans and conservative Democrats likely will offer staunch opposition to civil unions, saying marriage rights should be granted only to a man and woman. It became a campaign issue for some candidates.

Hoping to strengthen that opposition, the Illinois Family Institute has designed a church bulletin urging parishioners to contact their lawmakers about blocking the legislation, stating that for children's sake, marriages between a man and a woman must be protected.

In turn, gay rights group LGBT Change has launched a counter-effort, designing bulletins of its own, urging equal treatment for various types of families.

According to the National Council of State Legislatures, New Jersey is the only state currently to only recognize civil unions. Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire each moved to replace civil unions with same-sex marriage within the last year, joining Iowa, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and California (though California's is stuck in a court battle).

If the legislation passes, civil unions would be legal in Illinois, beginning in 2011.