Yesterday, the House of Representatives finally passed SB10, the marriage equality bill. The Senate completed action on the bill shortly after and sent the bill to Governor Quinn who has promised to sign the bill. The effective date of the bill will be June 1, 2014. 

I have gotten thousands of calls, letters, emails and visits from constituents in support of this bill, which by now many know is a deeply personal bill. Today, I asked my colleagues to vote to allow me to marry the woman I love, to send a message to my sons that our family is valued equally to all families in the state. I am thankful to my colleagues for their help in making this day a success.

At the following links, you can view the floor debate and the roll call for the vote. 

Floor Speech

Until the effective date, same gender couples in civil unions do not have access to the more than 1,000 federal benefits couples in states with marriage equality do. Couples married in other states but living here in Illinois do have access to many of the benefits. This fact sheet from Equality Illinois can help answer some of your questions. Between now and then, please feel free to contact my office with any questions you have about legal status or implementation of marriage equality.

Thank you to all the advocates, colleagues, friends and families who helped make this possible.