Marriage Equality bill introduced into State Senate

Flanked by State Rep. Greg Harris, out alderman Tum Tunney and other local politicos, and with a handful of members of local media present, State Senator Heather Steans (D-7th District) introduced legislation (SB-2468) that would legalize same-sex marriage across the Land of Lincoln. "I'm really honored to follow in the footsteps of my colleague Representative Greg Harris who has previously filed this bill in the House," Steans said. "This is a first step to advance the basic freedom in our world, the right that we should all have to define our own families. Lesbian and gay couples deserve absolutely to have the same rights and responsibilities me and my husband have."

Quite frankly, it's about time someone introduced this legislation into the state senate, but with a stalled civil unions bill (HB-2234) sitting in the House Rules Committee since May (the legislation was initially introduced in 2007), her primary opponent, openly gay Jim Madigan is crying foul. His campaign offered this response: "Today's ill-timed press conference by State Senator Steans demonstrates that she is more interested in pandering and politics than in doing the hard work of crafting a strategy and passing legislation...Not once, but twice State Representatives have introduced marriage equality bills in the Illinois House. Senator Steans did not sign on as a Senate sponsor of those marriage equality bills since she was appointed in February 2008."

With two weeks left in the current legislation and a civil unions bill stalled elsewhere, this bill is unlikely to have much traction. It's also true that District 7, which includes Andersonville, Ravenswood, Rogers Park, Lincoln Square, Uptown and other homo heavy hoods, might have Steans worrying about holding her seat. Is it wrong for her to court the LGBT vote? Not at all, but I don't think we'll see this bill passing anytime soon.

I'm no fan of local politics at the moment. Last weekend I attended a health care town hall at the Holiday Club on Sheridan Road. I arrived shortly after 11am along with a large handful of concerned folk, many of them seniors. By noon, we had packed the place to talk reform with local pols. Governor Quinn delivered an amiable speech, while Jan Schakowsky really rallied the troops and even promised a signed health care bill with a public option by year's end. But the talk stopped there. It turns out that health care reform was just the hook. One after another, local and state politicians (including Steans) delivered their stump speeches on why we should elect or re-elect them in 2010. Health care turned into a platitude. No questions were allowed and no policy details were ever mentioned. It was politics as usual.