Illinois Marriage News Roundup

An Illinois court heard oral arguments yesterday in Lambda Legal's lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in Illinois.

From Joe. My. God.:

Today in Illinois the Cook County Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the anti-gay Thomas More Society's bid to dismiss the marriage equality lawsuit brought in May 2012 by Lambda Legal and the ACLU.

Read the full article here.

From the Windy City Times:

Darby vs. Orr and Lazarro vs. Orr were filed against Cook County Clerk David Orr in mid-2012. The plaintiffs in the case are being represented by Lambda Legal and ACLU Illinois. Orr, who is in favor of marriage equality, has refused to defend the state's marriage ban, so the Thomas More Society, a conservative law firm, is representing five opposing county clerks in the matter.

[...]

Camilla Taylor, marriage project director of Lambda Legal, said that the defendants are basing their arguments on assertions outside the original complaint and incorrectly grasping the ideas behind the law. She pointed out, for example, that a study the defendants utilized to undermine the idea of same-sex parents had been discredited by the journal it had appeared in.

Read the full article here.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Taylor also said she felt confident that the judge will fully consider both arguments.

"This case is ultimately about whether this case gets to move forward," Taylor said. "The other side has cited very little authority that is at all relevant today. So it was a good day."

Read the full article here.

From the Associated Press:

Attorneys for the couples ... have said that the state's same-sex marriage ban, approved in 1996, violates the state's constitution due process and equality clauses.

"They seek access to their birthright," Camilla Taylor, marriage project director for the legal advocacy group Lambda Legal, told Circuit Judge Sophia Hall.

Read the full article here.

Learn more about ILove, our Illinois marriage campaign.

Meet the couples in the case.