Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A bill that would amend the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act to allow religiously based child welfare institutions to decline adoption to couples in a civil union was killed in Springfield Friday by activists from the ACLU of Illinois and The Civil Rights Agenda.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) on Wednesday introduced the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act in the General Assembly, a bill that would allow same-sex marriage in Illinois.

A Southern Illinois lawmaker is leading another attempt to add adoption exceptions to the state’s civil unions act, which if passed, would allow religious institutions the ability to deny adoptions to couples in civil unions.

Three Roman Catholic dioceses have dropped their lawsuit against the state of Illinois, agreeing to transfer more than 1,000 foster care children and staff to other agencies in their regions to avoid placing children in the homes of gay and lesbian parents.

An Illinois gay couple has filed complaints with the state’s Human Rights Commission against two bed-and-breakfast inns that have allegedly refused to host their civil union ceremony, telling the couple they only host “traditional weddings” and that the Bible says that “homosexuality is wrong.”

Illinois became the 12th U.S. state to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples as a new civil unions law took effect on Wednesday.

This week: The chaos at Equality Maryland has gotten so bad, the organization may have to shut down altogether, and time’s nearly run out to pass a marriage bill in New York.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) said Friday that he will delay signing until next year the recently passed bill granting civil unions to Illinois residents.

The Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act on Wednesday, establishing legal protections for same-sex couples across the state.