will rhode island or illinois be the 10th state to allow marriage equality_ pat brady and kenneth...

Will Rhode Island or Illinois be the 10th State to Allow

Marriage Equality?

Same-Sex Marriage Background

9 states have legalized same-sex marriage.

• Washington• New York• Massachusetts• Connecticut• Iowa • Vermont, • New Hampshire • Maine• Maryland

Same-Sex Marriage Background

Some states have granted legal unions for same-sex couples which offer different subsets of marriage rights. These states are:

• California• Colorado• Delaware• Oregon• Rhode Island• Wisconsin• Hawaii• Illinois• Nevada

Illinois or Rhode Island?

• As of January 2013, Illinois and Rhode Island are in the process of trying to pass a marriage equality bill. Both currently allow civil unions.

• Maryland brought a same-sex marriage vote to the ballots on November 6, 2012. It is now the 9th state to allow same-sex marriage, was the first to pass in 2013, on January 1st.

Rhode Island

• On January 24th, the House voted on the gay marriage bill. It is expected to pass easily in the House, but it may have a harder time in the Senate.

• Governor Lincoln Chafee, commented on the committee vote as ‘‘another significant step forward toward marriage equality.’’

• “We began planning for that by reaching out to pro-equality candidates and working with pro-equality incumbents,” said Ray Sullivan, who is the campaign director for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage.

• Rhode Island is getting lots of positive support, however it is still unknown if the law will pass.

Illinois

• The Senate Executive Committee passed the legislation in January, and now is being sent to the Senate. Illinois has had a lot of press regarding the same-sex marriage bill. A lot of this is due to two republicans, Pat Brady and Ken Mehlman backing up the Illinois bill.

• “More and more Americans understand that if two people want to make a lifelong commitment to each other, government should not stand in their way,” Pat Brady stated.

• Ken Mehlman joined Brady at the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act and spoke out in support of marriage equality.