What a relief to know that the state of Illinois is run so well that our legislators have the time to deal with important issues like gay marriage.
Now that they have finished with this issue, which has crippled the state and desperately needed to be solved, perhaps they can move on with the more mundane items. I mean it's not like the state is beyond broke or ranks as the worst run state in the U.S. Good thing that our governors and state reps are all fine upstanding members of society and not criminals that use their positions for their own personal gain.

Drivers licenses for illegals, gay marriage. Yep, our state is really knocking out those hard issues. They are obviously starting at the bottom of the "to-do" list and working their way up.

Yet another great comment!

Another nail in the coffin of our Christian culture, a culture marked for death by the evil ones based in New York and Tel Aviv. You know, the same ones who own the media and control the politicians who keep pushing this crap down our collective throats. Perversion is the order of the day. Why do ya suppose the accurate reference or name to this kind of perversion is never used? The accurate title would be Sodomites. Get used to it, what most people view as normal is being turned upside down right before your eyes

to compare the two is apples to bananas.

Let us straight people know who voted for this act against nature so we can vote them out.

Whole lotta hatin' on Valentine's Day going on here...some good points about our inefficient government, but gay people don't like high taxes either, I'm guessing. Their being treated as less than equal isn't on top of your list because being old and white and male and Christian has always meant you controlled everything.
Now that is being challenged and not surprisingly that freaks you out.
Just think, though, if this really does sail right through, they cannot use it as an excuse to not fixing the economic crisis (or crises) that continue to wrack this state.
Instead of worrying about voting out those who voted for equal rights for all, why don't we worry about voting out those who are obviously clueless about how to balance a budget or keep a political promise.
Conceal and carry isn't the most pressing issue either, but the debate held everything up way longer than this issue, and it wasn't even resolved! Let this go and we can complain that the first governor in three tries to not be a (convicted) criminal is also somehow the least effective of the three. How about Mike Madigan is really the power broker in the state and needs to go but will never not get re-elected? How about the utter lack of a viable Republican candidate for almost ANY office?
I hear the crickets chirping, but nothing else...

Here's how they voted:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/98/senate/09800SB0010_02142013_001000T.pdf

Dave W, you're right, and so is tired of the bs. Regardless of how I feel about gay marriage (against), the're are so many greater issues in this state than that. Illinois is broke and embarressed because of our wonderful politicians.They're stepping on the necks of the working stiffs. Are they making issues of these things to divert our attention?

Thanks, Nick, your productive comment is appreciated. Those who voted "present" are the only ones who should absolutely be voted out. If the state would just pass it, they could move on. This is an important issue to those whose rights are disrespected and ignored.

More priorities, less pandering.

34 YEAS 21 NAYS 2 PRESENT
N Althoff N Forby Y Lightford N Radogno
Y Barickman Y Frerichs Y Link Y Raoul
Y Bertino-Tarrant N Haine N Luechtefeld N Rezin
Y Biss Y Harmon Y Manar N Righter
N Bivins P Harris Y Martinez N Rose
N Brady Y Hastings N McCann Y Sandoval
Y Bush Y Holmes N McCarter NV Silverstein
NV Clayborne Y Hunter N McConnaughay Y Stadelman
Y Collins Y Hutchinson Y McGuire Y Steans
N Connelly Y Jacobs Y Morrison N Sullivan
Y Cullerton, T. Y Jones, E. Y Mulroe N Syverson
Y Cunningham Y Koehler Y Muñoz Y Trotter
Y Delgado Y Kotowski N Murphy P Van Pelt
N Dillard N LaHood Y Noland Y Mr. President
N Duffy Y Landek N Oberweis

this is why i moved out of one of the worst states in this country......all the problems the broke state has, yet they have time for this nonsense........keep living there and getting taxed to death. also keep electing all those wonderful democrats seems like the folks of illinois never learn....wake up folks

The problem with the teachings of tolerance now-a-days is that the tolerance isn't accepted on both sides of the avenue of discussion.

In teaching all that they must be tolerant and accepting of every kind and every other lifestyle in many ways teaches one that they may no longer think for themselves and may not express their own beliefs and values. They must agree with and accept everything in order to not offend someone. They're also taught that if they hold a differing view than what is currently popular and mainstream, they are immediately labeled as intolerant or a bigot.

If you feel that homosexuality is immoral and wrong, then you have the right to speak your voice about it, vote how you want to vote on legislation against it, and you should have the right to organize and protest against it. You also should, under free speech in this country, not be labeled and called names; you should be respected for your courage to speak out on something you believe in.

If you feel that homosexuality is a natural thing and a way of life, then you have the right to speak your voice about it, vote how you want to vote on legislation for it, and you should have the right to organize and protest for it. You also should, under free speech in this country, not label and call people names that don't share your view. You should also be respected for your courage to speak out on something you believe in.

That, folks, would be true tolerance and acceptance.

phxdr, Tobias Cichon, and others, perhaps you could answer some questions.

If this becomes the law, what logic would you use to enforce that people should not have the right to marry their children, parents, cousins, even pets if they love them and want to spend the rest of their lives with them, have visitation, inheritance, decision rights, and hospital rights?

Why shouldn't a person be able to marry several people, if they all love each other, or want the rights named above?

As for natural, I'm sure there are plenty of instances in nature of (what we would term) murder, rape, theft, bullying, bigotry, incest, polygamy, and I'm sure quite a few other undesirable behaviors. Would you similarly argue that since it's found, and abounds, in nature we should, at the very least, tolerate and not legislate against such behavior?

The only reason that government should be involved in marriage is to ensure that the children that are likely going to be produced as a result of that union are taken care of and not made a burden on society. A divorce should be a onerous thing to attain, if children are involved, and unless the child is immediately adopted, both parents should be caused to live in close proximity in order to continue caring for the child, and at least be civil to their former spouse. If homosexual couples wish to adopt children, they should have to endure the same onerous rules if they decide to divorce/separate.

The closings of Schools by the Chgo and Joliet Bishops the looting of Cemetery trust funds to care for the graves of all and future LA CATHOLICS to pay for the crimes of predator priests along with the looting of the Vatican bank by the wall street banksters is all part of the diversion ordered by the bankster lobbyists for Helliburton and the usual suspects including SAIC made up of FORMER CIA- mossad AGENTS.
Gay Marriage is a buzz word that makes wingnuts become incoherent, there is no limit to the hypocrisy of the charlatan Christians. The conservative solution to the problem is always loot or buy their silence like Dolan did at $ 20,000 per priest!
The good living priests-bishops and destitute nuns would have been better off had women and or gay been included in the clergy,The church policy to the 15th century had married priests, the Scots Bishops families became too wealthy for the Pope to stomach. Former Red hat Cody led a double life of a Cardinal and family man, Jesus and or Yeshua was married to Mary Magdalene who cares?
It is all a threat to nothing but the wealth and plunder of the Treasury's by Wall street and the Rothschild VATICAN bank,who also murdered a one month old Pope their insiders the usual suspects.
The Illinois pol's who passed the GAY law once passed funding for the upgrade of Locks and Infrastructure on the Miss, but it ended financing a wall in Gaza.We never heard about that or had a Patch conversation on it!

I forgot another argument made all the time. "Protecting marriage". I got a question for all you people involved in religion about the protection argument. Where were you when people like my brother are getting married 5 times and he is 40 years old? Where were you when many inmates on death row, who have KILLED people are allowed to get married?

So lets review. We allow marriage to be treated a car you can just get in and out of, we allow the very worst of our society to get married (serial killers) and yet marriage needs protection? It sounds to me like some, need to mind their own business. When this issue goes in full, before the supreme court on the constitutionality of the voter amendments passed in many states, one of the things the defense will have to show is that these laws were not passed to discriminate against a minority.

This one should be not a problem. Showing that the laws went into effect in these states right at the time, gays were pushing for equal rights should prove this without a problem. BTW It is not "activist judges". It's the way the system was set up...look under tyranny of the majority and the founding fathers. Point is gay marriage is probably going to expand very fast.

I still however fail to understand how some of you are concerned about this. Let these people live their lives and you do the same. Mind your own business. When they are in your church asking for your blessings then I will come to your defense.

The behind the scene news of the TPARTY-GOP strategy for the 14 election is to get behind the NUMEROUS in and out of the CLOSET GAY-LOG CABIN GOP candidates which include among their alumni the daughter of the former VP and LOOTER of Helliburton who is also a mom BY ANOTHER WOMAN which by the standard of the Church of Rome and many Prod's is a immaculate conception! It seems RUBIO'S dismal performance along with RAND PAUL has CONVINCED KARL ROVE and the Cayman islands delegation they have no chance to take the Latin vote including the Cuban Boat people of South Florida, look for many more GOP IN CONGRESS TO COME OUT SOON and even have a marriage of two men or two women in the Speakers Office.

this will open the argument for polygamy to made legal. if you allow this, then why cant one argue to their right to have more then one spouse.

BESIDES recruiting gays and converting to debauchery the TPARTY and GOP led by RAND PAUL and MITCH McCHINLESS both from KY are going to put forth a revolutionary idea to legalize HEMP, this to their credit will be one of the great job creations since we started losing 8-12 Billion a month in the Wars for DRUGS-Terror and Zionists began when BUSH lied about the Sad Hussein regime desire to get WMD it will be a link with the GAY LOG CABIN INITIATIVE and will put the DEM;S on the defensive in the paradigm of GAYS-DRUGS and GUNS!

can the patch give this butch person his own page?
it would be awesome!
call it chgo hts freak show
he is ruining this site
or at least limit his amount of "contributions"
this man/woman needs help

phxdr, Just because you declare something a straw man argument, and presumably therefore irrelevant doesn't make it so.
If X is true, then Y must also be true (where Y is the extreme of X).
I've already stated what governments role in marriage should be.
The arguments in favor of homosexual marriage I've seen/heard are mostly based on fairness, love, finances, feelings, and the like. You only addressed the multiple spouse portion of my questions, ignoring the rest. A straw man argument would presume that my argument was an absurd or exaggerated version of the main position. However you've offered no reason why it's reasonable for a man to marry a man, but unreasonable for a man to marry several women, or unreasonable for a 55yo person to marry their 35yo child in order to either pass on or gain retirement, health, tax or other benefits, or even simply Love.

You also didn't address my reference to your defense of homosexuality because it's found in other species.

"We have to review the facts..." While YOU may be talking about humans, what I've heard mostly discussed and used to defend this position is fairness, and feelings. Those can apply to a human relationship with an animal just as it can a human to another human, regardless of age, sex or relationship. I'm sure there are plenty of folks that would far prefer the company of their favorite animal to any human, same sex or not.

I didn't say that sex was only for procreation, that's YOUR strawman.

it seems lahey and his fellow travelers of the TPARTY have new marching orders they cannot rely on the usual diverting mindless Kool Aid drinkers to provide any support even those that usually excel at it,
The very thought of getting to the chase is appalling to the ? Soon my friends we may actually talk about the BUSHEVIK DEPRESSION lasting effects of the State of Illinois and how it is all connected to the dismal economy of the entire Western world suffering from austerity with the notable exception of the GERMANS,
This is the same scam by Banksters the 1% who rub our noses in their shite every time one of these Can't we be civilized and accept their lies, disinfo and misinfo diversions but are insane for expressing the truth and actual policies that these evil looters have done and want us to continue to do again with our new resources.
They throw honest working people out on the street and get a Mulligan on their looting, too big to Loot has gone far enough and now are going to quietly get rid of the $100 a ounce on Marijuana that was put on 86 years ago, they believed KARL ROVE and toe sucker Dick Morris who said Twit was going to win in a landslide but now have little hope for a miracle.The 1 % and the ag biz they are financing are all positioned to eliminate the old DUPONT HEARST conspiracy within the Roosevelt Admin who were sold on nylon as well as wood and polyester as opposed to the thousands of uses for HEMP, as for Gay and log cabin GOP part of the plan!

As congress is abandoning it's role as the peoples house now even the remaining Bi and Gay NEO CON'S entrenched in the Pentagon Bureaucracy are feeling the pressure of the Paul Ryan sequestration which is gobbly gook for austerity masturbation, I recently learned part of the final solution which included the role the Sen Maj Leader Reid played in the plan which could not have succeeded without him.
The decision to gradually slip into the new role of coming out is led by traditional conservative log cabin GOP bi's. The new order of debauched TPARTY are a coalition of charlatan Christians and old time Mormon Polygamists and the openly gay big spenders who contributed heavily to the Demo's in 08 and 12,.Ryan and Gov Walker of Wis are hosting the secret new conclave next week in a secret bathhouse somewhere in the state while Sheldon Adelson and Harry Reid will do the same at the former Mustang ranch or some other whore house in Nev,
Harry will do what he does best and be a switch hitter in the new order. Harry will become not only the spokesperson for the Debauchery party but will assume the Bishop of the Polygamist Mormons of Nev-Ut-Ida and AZ.
Back in Wis Cardinal Dolan will will give the benediction and introduce the thousands of predator priests he paid off in his career as potential members of the new Congressional caucus and nation wide movement, it seems we are going to have at least 2 exciting years while the media whiners were predicting deadlock and boredom

@ They say in the new debauched reorganization that Glenn Beck is going all in and refuses to give up his Brigham Young Chalk board given to him by the Wall Street hucksters and gangsters which was made in the first Kipputz after the Zionist state was founded on 9-11 in 1947, Beck who views himself as a profit will only surrender his board and Crayons if Cardinal Dolan nominates him as the next Pope rather than the next two favorites from Africa,they said he said," didn't we learn from that other Kenyan"? The corporate Church is still reeling not with Ben's resignation but on his watch the incredible generosity of Dolan who has wasted a Trillion dollars the biggest theft since the Calvi affair when the looting of the Vatican and Banco Amrosiano by their Mafia and P 2 masonic lodge shareholders in1982.
Dolan was and is paying off predator priests $20,000 a head, Beck they say will put an end to that and demand the faithful increase Peters Pence to a % higher than the anti Christ or Church of England gets from the LGBT faithful of London which has gay everything and in the same mess the nation not the Palace, which brings up another question on why are these criminals from Wall street not going to jail,for starters they are not breaking the law and shows how really bad it could get if the TPARTY succeeds in luring the hi spending GAYS away from the Party that MAY regulate the Banksters by LAWS and regulations.

How did the local politicians vote?