State Rep. Kelly Cassidy may have one more incentive to make equal marriage a reality this year.
The openly lesbian state Rep. has announced she is engaged to partner Kelley Quinn, after two-and-a-half years together.
Quinn brought Cassidy to front of the Capitol building in Springfield Tuesday night to take a photo, Cassidy said.
"At that point she got very serious, and I knew, and I started crying like a baby," said Cassidy.
Quinn, who works as communications director for Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios, has been in Springfield on a work matter. Cassidy was sworn into the 98th General Assembly Wednesday.
Cassidy, a sponsor of the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, posted a photo of Quinn's proposal in Springfield Tuesday night on her Twitter account and Facebook page.
Cassidy said she intends to marry in her home state of Illinois. First, she and other sponsors will have to pass the bill legalizing same sex marriage.
"I got skin in the game as someone said," Cassidy joked. "This is an incredibly personal thing for us. It's sort of weird to have it be both."
Cassidy said that conservative lawmakers who are expected to vote "no" on marriage equality have been congratulating her since the engagement.
"They reacted as if anyone else were getting engaged, and there's progress in that," she said, adding that personal stories drive home the need for marriage equality. "That is what has been changing hearts and minds throughout this process."