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The Mechanics
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City Council Sun Nov 16 2008

Hey, David Orr: Legalize Gay Marriage Already.

This past Saturday marked the rebirth of the same-sex marriage movement as thousands of people marched through the streets of Chicago. Part of a nationwide day of protest, the march was in opposition to the passing of California's reactionary Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 is the recent California State Ballot proposition that, if enacted, would write a ban on same-sex marriage into the California constitution with language that reads, "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." In addition, it would overrule a recent California Supreme Court decision that recognized same-sex marriage as a fundamental right.

Dormant for the better part of four years, the same-sex marriage movement hit the streets this past weekend in every state of the nation with actions that were largely coordinated via the Internet. Twenty thousand people protested in San Diego, 10,000 in Los Angeles, and 4,000 in Manhattan. Two thousand plus came out in Salt Lake City, the home of the Mormon Church -- which pumped millions of dollars into the reactionary Proposition 8.

This is the second weekend in a row that people have marched across the country in opposition to Proposition 8 in a movement that seems to be growing by the day. As Tom Ammiano of San Francisco told The New York Times, "It's not 'Yes we can.' It's 'Yes we will.'" While upping the ante on the Obama campaign slogan, Ammiano's quote reflects a new level of determination within the same-sex marriage movement -- that within the last week has even taken up protesting outside Mormon churches.

This past weekend isn't the first time that Chicagoans have taken to the streets to fight for gay marriage. Back in May of 2004 more than 200 activists shut down the office of Cook County Clerk David Orr (where marriage licenses are issued) after a same-sex couple was refused the right to file for a marriage license.

Orr refused to take a stand on the issue citing a lack of official government support. "We've got nothing in Cook County -- there's no local support outside myself," Orr told the Windy City Times. "The mayor's said a few nice words but nothing beyond that."

Actually, Mayor Daley said more than a few words. He stated he had "no problem" with same-sex marriage, while offering up one of his infamous rants:

Marriage has been undermined by divorce, so don't tell me about marriage. You're not going to lecture me about marriage. People should look at their own life and look in their own mirror. Marriage has been undermined for a number of years if you look at the facts and figures on it. Don't blame the gay and lesbian, transgender and transsexual community. Please don't blame them for it.


But while seemingly upset about the issue, the Mayor (who has the power to destroy airports in the dead of night) failed to put any pressure on the County Clerk's Office to ensure that the city's gay and lesbian community were provided the full rights available to everyone else. And in the end, Daley and Orr played a game of hot potato -- with neither one willing to take on the issue as the 2004 presidential election sat just around the corner.

And David Orr seemed to clearly understand that the denial of marriage rights for the gay and lesbian community is discrimination. "I'm fed up with people being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation," Orr told the Associated Press in February of 2004. "[But] whatever you do when it comes to challenging laws, you want it to be effective and not knee-jerk."

While the protests against Proposition 8 are aimed at defeating a backwards ballot proposition, they are also about maintaining the right to same-sex marriage that was only recently won in California -- a right that still hasn't been granted in Chicago.

Justice is past due. It is time for city and county officials to take a stand and legalize gay marriage in Cook County.

 
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Brian / November 19, 2008 4:07 AM

The City of Chicago and Cook County aren't the problem. The State of Illinois is where the change has to begin. Unfortunately, outside Chicagoland, the rest of Illinois is populated by bible-thumping mouth-breathers who will not rest until there's a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

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