The Illinois House and Senate are reportedly poised to hide a homosexual civil unions measure in a "shell bill" and pass it within hours to thwart a citizen uprising.
Illinois residents, click here to E-mail your legislator to vote NO on any bill with civil unions included.
UPDATE 6/2/09: How the well-funded gay lobby was defeated by IL grassroots
UPDATE 6/1/09: Bill not brought to a vote in House; awaits reconvening of legislature
UPDATE 5/30/09: Chicago Tribune report [opinion piece] on religious aspect
UPDATE 5/29/09: SB 1716 has passed the Senate; vote in House over the weekend
UPDATE 5/28/09: Vote expected today
UPDATE 5/27/09: Chicago Tribune reports civil unions bill in House
UPDATE 5/26/09: House committee approves civil unions in SB 1716 "shell bill"
-- From "Illinois poised to approve civil unions" by Chris Johnson, Washington Blade 5/21/09
The Illinois General Assembly is expected to approve a measure next week that would legalize civil unions, according to an LGBT activist.
Rick Garcia, [homosexual activist and] political director for Equality Illinois, said [today] he's "absolutely" expecting the full state House and the Senate to pass a civil union measure either Tuesday or Wednesday. The bill has support from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D).
The House Youth and Family Committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Harris, who's gay, intends to attach an amendment legalizing civil unions to a "shell bill" that's already been approved by the Senate, Garcia said. If the full House votes in favor of the legislation, the bill would be sent to the full Senate within hours for a vote of concurrence.
Garcia said Illinois lawmakers often use "shell bills" to pass legislation expediently. He said it's necessary to legalize civil unions through this method because the legislative session ends May 30 and the approach limits the time that opponents of civil unions can lobby lawmakers.
"We get it out of the House and then senators only have a few hours of being beat up by our opponents rather than three days or a long weekend," he said. "Since there is a perfectly legitimate way of doing it in one day, that's what we're going to do."
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