(Photo: Chicago Sun-Times)

The new policy will allow gay and lesbian employees of his office to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick partner or relative, the same benefit given to their married co-workers. It also would allow gay and lesbian employees to take time off for the birth or adoption of a child, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Hard working men and women devoted to their families should not have to choose between their family and keeping their job. The bottom line is that we should not deny same sex domestic couples the same rights that are available to married couples.”

The order makes the office the first constitutional Illinois state office or state agency to adopt such a policy and one of only nine states and the District of Columbia to implement leave-related benefits for domestic partners.

In order to receive the benefit, couples will have to sign an affidavit affirming they are in a committed, long-term domestic partnership.

Giannoulias’ office employs approximately 180 people.

Nielsen (center left) and Hankes at Friday night's "kiss-in" (Chicago Tribune photo).

“It’s to educate people that homophobia of any kind is unacceptable,” said Frank Nielsen, who organized the “kiss-in” demonstration after being asked by the restaurant’s owner last month to stop kissing his boyfriend, Danny Hankes.

Nielsen and Hankes said they visited the LaFiesta Azteca Mexican restaurant in Alsip, IL on May 7 to have dinner. But after the couple kissed on the lips, they were approached by the owner and told to stop.

“We ordered drinks and an appetizer plate, and passed the time by laughing and enjoying each other’s company. After sharing a simple and socially acceptable kiss on the lips, just as any homosexual or heterosexual couple might do in any public facility in any Chicagoan suburb, we became victims of blatant and unapologetic homophobic discrimination,” Hankes said in a statement posted on the Gay Liberation Network.

The couple said their rights were violated because they were not treated as a heterosexual couple would have been treated under the same circumstances, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The protestors, men and women, straight and gay, were greeted calmly by both clientele and the restaurant owner, where at least four police cars idled outside. Once inside, the group clinked water glasses, kissed and applauded.

“They have their opinion, and I have mine,” said restaurant owner Jaime Esparza. “I don’t feel like I did anything wrong when I told them to leave.”

Nielsen and Hankes claim the restaurant’s action is a violation of the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance and the 2006 Illinois Human Rights Act, which states that if the establishment allows anyone to kiss they have to allow everyone to kiss. If they want to have a no kissing rule, they would have to post it and enforce it equally.

By protesting, the couple said they hoped to expose discrimination in the conservative south suburb.

The measure covers bullying specifically targeted at students because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, among other categories. It was introduced just eight weeks ago, and previously passed in the state Senate on March 24.

The Prevent School Violence Illinois Act — a modification of current law that comprehensively defines bullying for the first time in Illinois law (including cyber bullying) — explicitly prohibits bullying against vulnerable groups of students and creates the Illinois Bullying Prevention Task Force.

The bill will now go to Gov. Pat Quinn for signing.

From left: Sean Little, Benjamin Eder and Kevin McAndrew

On January 10, Daniel Hauff of Rogers Park was riding a Red Line CTA train when he came between three men that were verbally harassing and shoving a gay teen.

The three men — Sean Little, Benjamin Eder and Kevin McAndrew — allegedly turned their anger on Hauff, calling him a “stupid faggot” and punching and bloodying Hauff’s face in front of train passengers.

Hauff

Another man tried to help and numerous other passengers pushed the train’s emergency button, the release said. A witness confirmed Little had been harassing and shoving a young man for being homosexual.

The three men, all in their early 20s from Evanston, Ill., were arrested that day by Chicago Police, and originally charged with misdemeanor battery and released on bond.

Attorneys for three men charged with a hate crime argued that Huff was targeted for intervening in another fight, and not because of his sexual orientation.

Andy Martin

Andy Martin, who has run for numerous elective offices over the last three decades in Illinois, Florida and Connecticut, taped a commercial questioning whether Kirk is gay.

Martin’s source?

Statements some conservative Republicans made on a radio show saying they have heard “rumors” that Kirk is gay.

“Illinois Republican leader Jack Roeser says there is a ‘solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual,’ ” Martin says in the ad. “Roeser suggests that Kirk is part of a Republican Party homosexual club. Lake County Illinois Republican leader Ray True says Kirk has surrounded himself with homosexuals. Mark Kirk should tell Republican voters the truth.”

Rep. Mark Kirk

Kirk, a U.S. Naval Intelligence officer, was unavailable for comment because he is on active duty over the holidays, said spokesman Eric Elk.

But Elk issued this statement on his behalf: “The ad is not true and is degrading to the political process. The people of Illinois deserve better.”

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Patrick Brady blasted Martin and the ad, saying, “The Illinois Republican Party disavows the statements made today by Mr. Andrew Martin in his statewide radio advertisements. His statements today are consistent with his history of bizarre behavior and often times hate-filled speech which has no place in the Illinois Republican Party. Mr. Martin will no longer be recognized as a legitimate Republican candidate by the Illinois Republican Party.”

Martin garnered some national attention for pushing rumors that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and that the Hawaiian birth certificate Obama posted on his Web site early in his campaign was a fake.

Martin and Kirk are both facing off in the Republican primary for the 2010 Senate Race for the seat previously held by President Barack Obama, and now by Roland Burris.

The Democratic front runner in the race is first-term state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a longtime supporter of gay rights and Chicago’s LGBT community who favors legalization of same-sex marriage and repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Alexi Giannoulias

Alexi Giannoulias is running for the U.S. Senate, and says he favors legalization of same-sex marriage and repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The 33 year old Illinois State Treasurer, who in July announced his bid for the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama, has been a longtime supporter of gay rights and Chicago’s LGBT community.

In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown, Giannoulias says that if elected, he would work to repeal the federal law that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.

Giannoulias, a Democrat, says he also backs a slate of other crucial civil rights reforms, including the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“This goes to what this country was founded on, equality and fairness,” Giannoulias told the Sun-Times.

Giannoulias position on same-sex marriage stands in direct contrast to Republican candidate Mark Kirk. Brown reported that a spokesperson said that “Congressman Kirk opposes gay marriage, supports the Defense of Marriage Act, and agrees with President Clinton’s policy of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’”

“This is what I believe in, and I’m sure not everyone is going to agree with me,” Giannoulias told Brown. “It could be risky, but it’s what I believe.”

Giannoulias is the first major statewide candidate in Illinois history to publicly announce a pro-gay marriage position.