Last week, voters in Florida, Arizona and California supported gay-marriage bans by 62, 56 and 52 percent, respectively, adding to the 27 states that already have such laws on the books. Since May, when courts in California legalized same-sex marriage, thousands of homosexual couples there have wed. Proponents of an Illinois constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to heterosexuals, buoyed by voter approval in three states on Nov. 4, say they’re gearing up to try again in 2010.
A group called Protect Marriage Illinois fell short of collecting the needed 270,000 signatures, which is 8 percent of the number of people who voted for governor during the last election, in time to get an advisory measure on Illinois’ fall ballot. The proposal called for amending the state’s constitution to declare “the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.”
The General Assembly would have to vote to place the amendment itself on the ballot.Illinois law already prohibits same-sex marriage, but amendment advocates say that’s not enough.
Ralph Rivera, a lobbyist for the Illinois Family Institute, said Wednesday getting the required number of signatures would send a message to lawmakers about their constituents’ values. “There’s a real threat, and it’s because you have activist courts that find things in the constitution that don’t exist,” Rivera said of judges’ rulings in other states that have legalized gay marriage. “If we’re to protect traditional marriage here and not have the state forcing companies and churches to accept hiring and benefits for same-sex couples, then you have to have some protection from the courts.”
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