On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court released Obergefell v. Hodges, a landmark decision requiring all states to allow same-sex couples to marry. The decision was released on the second anniversary of United States v. Windsor, which struck down provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defined “marriage” as an exclusively heterosexual union. […]
The past decade has seen tremendous progress in the battle for marriage equality. State bans on same sex marriage are falling one after another, granting these families the legal recognition they were denied for too long. On June 1, 2011, the Civil Union Act became effective and Illinois not only began granting civil unions, but […]
Article written by Michele M. Jochner and Shannon R. Burke Waiting until the final day of its 2012-2013 Term, the United States Supreme Court issued two long-awaited decisions regarding same-sex marriage. Both cases, decided by close 5-4 margins, were viewed as victories for the proponents of marriage equality. In United States v. Windsor, the Court […]
On May 31, 2012, a federal appeals court in Boston (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit) unanimously ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) was unconstitutional, thereby paving the way for this controversial issue to be decided by the United States Supreme Court. Less than one week later, on June 6, 2012, […]
On January 31, 2011, Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, thereby making Illinois the 18th U.S. jurisdiction to pass legislation establishing a legal basis for some form of same-sex family relationships. While Illinois is the sixth state to formally recognize civil unions, twelve other states have […]