News
Illinois poised to enact marriage equality
Obama hails action making home state 15th to legalize gay nuptials
The Illinois State House approved marriage equality legislation (Photo by Meagan Davis via wikimedia commons).
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. & CHRIS JOHNSON
The Illinois House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in the state; the Senate quickly followed suit, clearing the way for approval by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who has promised to sign the bill.
When the governor gives his stamp of approval of the Religious Freedom and Marriage Equality Act, as expected, the legislation would take effect June 1, 2014, making Illinois the 15th state plus the District of Columbia to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
State Rep. Greg Harris, who’s gay, closed the debate on the legislation by acknowledging that people hold many different views on the issue, but the right action is a “yes” vote.
“At the end of the day, what this bill is about is love, what it’s about is family, what it’s about is commitment,” Harris said.
Following the remarks, Harris held up an American flag he said he received from an Illinois soldier currently serving in Afghanistan. Harris said the soldier asked him to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, so when he returns home, he could marry.
President Obama praised the vote in a statement released Tuesday night.
“Tonight, I applaud the men and women of the Illinois General Assembly, a body in which I was proud to serve, for voting to legalize marriage equality in my home state,” said President Barack Obama in a statement released by the White House.
“As president, I have always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally under the law,” he said. “So tonight, Michelle and I are overjoyed for all the committed couples in Illinois whose love will now be as legal as ours – and for their friends and family who have long wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and equally under the law.”
Following nearly three hours of debate, the Illinois House voted 61-54 to approve the legislation under rules that required 60 votes to pass the measure in the 118-member body. Two members voted “present” and another was absent.
The vote came after the Illinois Senate voted 34-21 to approve a slightly different version of the bill on Feb. 14. The Senate voted quickly to approve a slightly revised House bill.
The House version includes a change of the date on which the law would take effect and expands the exemption for religious or religious affiliated private organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus, from having to allow their facilities to be used for same-sex weddings or celebrations.
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a lesbian, also spoke on the floor, saying the bill is personally important to her because it would send a message to her family and other families like hers in the state that “it does get better.”
“This bill goes directly to how I am defined, how our family is defined by the state,” Cassidy said.
State Rep. Sam Yingling, who’s gay, similarly referenced his family, saying the legislation is important to him and his three children. Addressing assertions the bill provides insufficient protections to religious institutions, Yingling gave assurances there are “vast protections under this bill.”
“My God stands with me and my family today as we are all created in his image and he never turns his back on his children,” Yingling said.
Deputy Majority Rep. Lou Lang spoke out in favor of the bill by decrying the arguments that opponents have used against it, which he said includes accusations the bill opens the door to litigation and polygamy.
“Where do any of you read that in this legislation?” Lang said. “My guess is that some of the people who have said that haven’t even read the bill.”
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz read a letter she said was from a child adopted by a gay male couple, becoming teary-eyed when she came to a part where the child wrote that her previous foster parents had broken their promise to provide love, but not her gay adoptive parents.
Although the bill was initially written to go into effective immediately, it was amended to make the effective date June 1 to lessen the votes needed for passage during the veto session.
Lawmakers opposing the bill said it would take away religious freedom in the state by redefining marriage and challenging the religious beliefs of those whose faith tells them marriage must be a union only between a man and a woman.
“Real marriage is the building block of human civilization,” the Chicago Tribune quoted Republican Rep. Tom Morrison as saying.
Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, said the vote was “a victory for all families and their children” in the state.
“It was a victory for hundreds of clergy who joined forces in support of the law, and for scores of major employers who made the business case for equality, and for parents who just wanted all their children to be treated the same,” Cherkasov said.
Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda, an Illinois LGBT rights organization, credited rank and file LGBT people and their supporters throughout the state for pushing their representatives in the legislature to support the marriage equality bill in a campaign that took several years.
“It’s taken thousands of Illinoisans to do the heavy lifting to get to this point, contacting their representatives and just normal, everyday folks speaking out as to why they feel this is something Illinois should adopt,” he said. “So we’ve been aggressively pursuing it and it feels so good to finally be here.”
Politics
LGBTQ Democrats say they’re ready to fight to win in 2026
DNC winter meetings took place last weekend in Los Angeles
The Democratic National Committee held its annual winter meetings in Downtown Los Angeles over the weekend, and queer Democrats showed up with a clear message for the national organization: don’t abandon queer and transgender people.
Following last year’s disastrous presidential and congressional elections, many influential pundits and some powerful lawmakers called on Democrats to distance the party from unpopular positions on trans rights, in order to win swing districts by wooing more conservative voters.
But members of the DNC’s LGBTQ Caucus say that’s actually a losing strategy.
“There are still parts of our party saying we need to abandon trans people in order to win elections, which is just not provable, actually. It’s just some feelings from some old consultants in DC,” LGBTQ Caucus Chair Sean Meloy says.
Some national Democrats are already backtracking from suggestions that they walk back on trans rights.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom grabbed national attention in March when he suggested that it was “deeply unfair” for trans girls to play in women’s sports. But last week, he doubled down on support for trans rights, claiming to have signed more trans-rights legislation than any governor in the country, and entering into feuds on X with Elon Musk and Nicki Minaj over his support for trans kids.
Democrats are also clearly feeling the wind in their sails recently after major election victories in Virginia and New Jersey last month, as well as victories in dozens of local and state legislative elections across the country in 2025.
“[Abigail] Spanberger in Virginia didn’t win by dodging the trans question. She won by attacking it, confronting it, and that’s how she got ahead,” says Vivian Smotherman, a trans activist and at-large member of the DNC’s LGBTQ Caucus.
“Trans people are not a problem. We are a resource,” Smotherman says. “For my community, surviving into adulthood is not a guarantee, it’s an accomplishment. You don’t walk through a survival gauntlet without learning things … I’m not begging the DNC to protect my community. I’m here to remind you that we are the warriors tempered by fire, and we are fully capable of helping this party win.”
At its own meeting on Friday, the LGBTQ Caucus announced several new initiatives to ensure that queer and trans issues stay top of mind for the DNC as it gears up for the midterm elections next year.
One plan is to formalize the DNC’s Trans Advisory Board as distinct from the LGBTQ Caucus, to help introduce candidates across the country to trans people and trans issues.
“One in three people in this country know a trans person. Two-thirds of Americans don’t think they do,” Smotherman says. “So the real problem is not being trans, it’s that you don’t know us. You cannot authentically support a trans person if you’ve never met one.
“That’s why my first goal with this Trans Advisory Board is to host a monthly Meet a Trans Person webinar. Not as a spectacle, as a debate, but as a human connection, and I will be charging every state chair with asking every one of their candidates up and down the board if they know a trans person. And if that person doesn’t know a trans person, I’m gonna have that state chair put them on that webinar.”
The LGBTQ caucus is also opening up associate membership to allies who do not identify as LGBTQ, in order to broaden support and connections over queer issues.
It’s also preparing for the inevitable attacks Republicans will throw at queer candidates and supporters of LGBTQ issues.
“These attacks are going to come. You have to budget money proactively. You have to be ready to fight,” Meloy says. “There are some local party chairs who don’t want to recruit LGBTQ candidates to run because these issues might come up, right? That’s an absolutely ludicrous statement, but there are still people who need support in how to be ready and how to respond to these things that inevitably come.”
“The oldest joke is that Democrats don’t have a spine. And when they come after us, and we do not reply, we play right into that.”
Meloy also alluded to anti-LGBTQ tropes that queer people are out to harm children, and said that Democrats should be prepared to make the case that it’s actually Republicans who are protecting child abusers – for example, by suppressing the Epstein files.
“They are weak on this issue. Take the fight, empower your parties to say, ‘These people have nothing to stand on,’” Meloy says.
Local
LGBTQ, LGBTQ-friendly congregations to hold holiday services
Bet Mishpachah’s Hanukkah service to take place on Friday
LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly congregations in D.C. will hold services and other events throughout the holiday season.
Bet Mishpachah on Friday will hold its Sparks in the Dark Happy Hour at Spark Social on 14th Street from 5:30-7:30 p.m. It’s Chanuka Shabbat Service will begin at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (1529 16th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m.
Hanukkah began on Sunday and will end on Dec. 22.
Two gunmen on Sunday killed 15 people and injured more than two dozen others when they opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Jake Singer-Beilin, Bet Mishpachah’s chief rabbi, in a Facebook post mourned the victims.
“We grieve for the victims and send heartfelt prayers of healing for those who were wounded,” he wrote.
“This Chanuka, our lights will shine brightly in the darkness, but our hearts will be heavy with mourning for those who were murdered on Bondi Beach while observing what should have been a joyous day,” added Singer-Beilin. “We will still celebrate our Festival of Lights and we will commit ourselves to illuminating and repairing our broken world. Let us channel the bravery of the Maccabees who found hope where there seemed to be none, and who fought to create a better future. We must do the same.”
LGBTQ Catholic group to hold annual Christmas Day Mass
Dignity Washington’s Christmas Day Mass will take place at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Dec. 25 from 6-7 p.m. Parishioners can attend in person or watch it online via Facebook.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington D.C.’s Christmas Eve service will take place at the church (474 Ridge St., N.W., on Dec. 24 at 6 p.m.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church (1517 18th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist from 5-6 p.m. A Christmas Eve dinner will take place in the Parish Hall from 6-8:30 p.m. The church’s Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist will occur on Dec. 25 from 10-11 a.m.
Washington National Cathedral throughout the holiday season has a number of services and events scheduled. These include the virtual Gospel Christmas Service on Dec. 21 from 6-7:30 p.m., the Family Christmas Service on Dec. 23 from 11 a.m. to noon, the Christmas Eve Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 24 from 10-11:45 p.m., and the Christmas Day Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 25 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Family Service on Dec. 24 at 4:30 p.m. Its Carols and Candlelight Service will take place at 8 p.m.
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum to celebrate Kwanzaa
The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum (1901 Fort Place S.E.) in Anacostia will mark the first day of Kwanzaa on Dec. 26 with storytelling and drumming with Mama Ayo and Baba Ras D from noon to 2 p.m. The museum will hold a series of other events through the 6-day celebration of African American culture that ends on Jan. 1.
The Creative Suitland Arts Center (4719 Silver Hill Road) in Suitland, Md., on Friday will hold their Almost Kwanzaa: A Creative Kind of Holiday event from 6-8:30 p.m.
Maryland
Joseline Peña-Melnyk elected Md. House speaker
Family immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic
By PAMELA WOOD | Moments after being elected speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Tuesday, state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk stood before the chamber and contemplated her unlikely journey to that moment.
Born in the Dominican Republic, the Peña family lived in a small wooden house with a leaky tin roof and no indoor plumbing. Some days, she said, there was no food to eat.
When she was 8 years old, the family immigrated to New York City, where Peña-Melnyk was dubbed “abogadito” or “little lawyer” for helping her mother and others by translating at social services offices.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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