SB10 Roundup: 5 Best Reads on Illinois Same Sex Marriage

A look at some reaction to same-sex marriage passing in Illinois yesterday

From a media perspective, one thing’s for sure: there’s a big difference between being the first state to enact groundbreaking social justice legislation, and being the 15th to do so.

That’s not to diminish yesterday’s historic vote in the Illinois legislature to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Far from it.

But if you’re New York or California or one of the other earliest states to legalize same sex marriage, every pundit and their mother is quick to weigh in on what it all meant.

Illinois? Not so much. In fact, many of the reliable liberal haunts that were so often quick to write about a state’s historic vote were silent on what happened yesterday in Illinois.

Nevertheless, there were some good and even great reaction pieces. Here’s five of some of the best.

Over at Huffington Post Chicago, the Director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project reviews some of the multitude of fronts the battle for same sex marriage in Illinois was waged on:

Marriage in Illinois -- The Momentum Continues!

In a moving, must-read piece, Mark Brown of the Sun-Times takes a look at some of the individual political actors who helped push SB10 over the line:

History was written by these victors: Brown

Also at the Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg suggests yesterday’s vote was only historic in how mundane it really all was:

Illinois House gay marriage vote historic in its normalcy

David Crary of the Associated Press takes the idea one further and points out that 2013 has seen an avalanche of change for the U.S. gay rights movement:

2013 'gayest year in gay history ' rights advocates say

Finally, the folks over at conservative website Illinois Review pass along warnigns from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) that the new law will “result in widespread harassment of individuals, businesses and religious organizations that believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman”:

National group warns of lawsuits over Illinois gay marriage

Just to be on the safe side, Illinois Review is also running a poll to ask it’s readers a key question:

Following the passage of gay marriage in Illinois Tuesday, what do you think social conservatives should do?
1. Abandon the Illinois GOP and join a third party?
2. Forget about social issues and focus on fiscal issues only?
3. Get out of politics altogether

 

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