A call to state Rep. Harris
To the editor:
It pains me to have to write this letter because I am sure state Rep. Greg Harris is sincere in his efforts to work for LGBT marriage in Illinois. However, we need more than his sincerity to move same-sex marriage forward. He must honor his word to the LGBT community about introducing the gay-marriage bill this fall.
He did not call for a vote in May of this year because he said his colleagues asked him to wait until the fall, after making a commitment to the LGBT community to call for a vote in May. The failure to call for a vote in May was met with a loud voice of dismay from many community members. It sparked a call for a March on Springfield Oct. 22.
Now he is saying there is a possibility that the vote will not take place until next year. Sadly, this has been his history with the marriage bill.
It pains me because if this is the case then perhaps it is time for us to be looking for another major sponsor of our bill. I realize some will respond to this suggestion by saying Harris has shepherded this bill this far, and we should allow him to complete it to it to its natural conclusion.
I would disagree with this sentiment. This legislation belongs to no one; if it belongs to anyone I would suggest it belongs to the LGBT community. Harris' apparent lack of leadership skills to get this legislation passed can only suggest to reasonable people that it would be prudent on our part to consider a course correction.
Joe Murray
Chicago
Focusing on marriage
To the editor:
With the Illinois legislature convening in some three weeks for its fall "veto session," it appears as if the stage is being set for yet another delay on the marriage equality bill until January, 2014 or even later.
Since the striking down of the federal DOMA ( Defense of Marriage Act ), Illinois' discriminatory law now more than ever keeps LGBTs from accessing numerous federal benefits accorded to married people. Any delay is both unconscionable and unnecessary.
Sounding very uncertain this time around, and leaving the door open to a vote sometime in the indefinite future, bill sponsor Greg Harris is also mum about his colleagues' alleged promises to vote for the bill this fall which he touted when he postponed the vote in May. "The key is to continually evaluate and re-evaluate," Harris said enigmatically.
The "key" is not counting heads and hidden maneuvering. The key to passage of the marriage bill is putting real heat on powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan to make it happen, rather than making excuses for him and his underlings. Every Democrat in Springfield—including Greg Harris—and every lobbyist and marriage equality organizer knows, or should know, that bills pass the House at Madigan's command.
Greg Harris, Kelly Cassidy and all House Democrats who support the marriage equality bill need to screw up their courage and publicly demand that Madigan muscle the bill through to passage. ( Now wouldn't that be a role reversal! ) Everyone on the marriage equality team needs to demand that the Speaker use his power and the nearly two-to-one Democratic majority to deliver on marriage equality in Illinois. As we work the phones and surround the capitol at the March on Springfield Oct. 22, Madigan needs to be our focus.
Gay Liberation Network
