On Monday, January 31, the governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, signed into law a bill that allows couples to enter into civil unions. What does this mean for you?
A blessing at the end of the marriage ceremony. Photo courtesy of Artisan Events.
The new law allows all couples (same sex and different sex) to enter into a legally recognized union in the state of Illinois. According to Lambda Legal, the new law gives to couples who choose civil unions all the same rights and responsibilities that married couples have under Illinois law. Being a state law, it can not, of course, confer the rights that are withheld from same sex couples by the federal government. Some of the rights and responsibilities conferred by the new law include:
- The duty to support your spouse financially;
- The same rights of adoption as married couples;
- Automatic right of hospital visitation;
- The right to inherit in the absence of a will;
- The right to file joint state income tax returns;
- The right not to testify against a partner; and
- The necessity to seek a legal divorce if the relationship ends.
One thing I find interesting is that, even though this law calls them “civil unions,” if you want to formalize your relationship under the law, it is possible to do so in a religious institution and with the assistance of clergy. The only thing the law does not require is that all religious institutions participate. Your church may still discriminate against you.
Other than that, though, starting on June 1 of this year, if you want an Illinois civil union, all you have to do is go to your county clerk’s office with the proper ID, pay the fee, fill out the form, and get a license. There is a one day waiting period (as there is for a marriage license), and it expires in 60 days. In that time, you have to have some kind of ceremony and have the officiant file the paperwork.
The other thing this law does is to recognize automatically civil unions and same sex marriages performed elsewhere. If you got married in Iowa or Canada, or if you had a Vermont civil union in the 90s (or anything else), on June 1, your relationship will be automatically recognized in Illinois as a civil union.
I worked with a wonderful gay couple one time who got married at a synagogue on the North Shore. The rabbi ended the ceremony by saying, “And now, under the future laws of the state of Illinois, I pronounce you married to each other.” That was about 5 years ago, and at the time I thought it would be decades before that future law came into being. The state of Illinois still does not actually permit same sex marriage, but we are a lot closer now than I ever would have thought possible.
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