Civil Unions

The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, Senate Bill 1716, helps establish basic fairness by extending state-law protections and responsibilities currently limited to married couples to all committed couples in Illinois. Under the Act, civil unions would be available to same-sex or opposite-sex adult couples.

Civil unions are good for gay and lesbian couples because civil unions offer the rights and benefits same-sex couples need even though they may not marry.

Civil unions are good for heterosexual senior couples and widows/widowers who avoid marrying because they may face reductions in the Social Security benefits that they need to survive. Being in a civil union would afford these couples the rights they need late in life, such as hospital visitation, emergency medical decision-making, shared nursing home rooms, and control over funeral arrangements.

Civil unions are protective of the churches, synagogues and mosques of Illinois because S.B. 1716 expressly provides that:

Nothing in this Act shall interfere with or regulate the religious practice of any religious body. Any religious body, Indian Nation or Tribe or Native Group is free to choose whether or not to solemnize or officiate a civil union.

Every religious tradition can decide for itself whether or not to officiate at civil unions ceremonies.

Civil unions are good for the children of gay and lesbian people. Currently, when a parent in a same-sex relationship dies, the surviving partner and their children are not guaranteed pensions and other survivor benefits. This uncertainty is not good for children; it undermines their financial security and well being.

Civil unions promote self-sufficiency because couples will have the legal tools to care for one another.

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