Durbin, Emanuel applaud gay marriage ruling

CHICAGO (AP) - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are among public officials applauding the U.S. Supreme Court's decision giving same-sex couples the right to marry anywhere in the nation.

In a statement, Emanuel called Friday's decision a "victory for America's true values of treating everyone equally under the law." Durbin called it "another step in the march toward equal rights."

Cook County Clerk David Orr said in a statement that the decision was long overdue.

Illinois lawmakers approved gay marriage in 2013, and it was enacted in June of last year. Since then, Orr says more than 7,500 marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples. More than a quarter of those were for couples who came from out of state to get married.