GAY TRUTH

July 4, 2012 ( thePublicDiscourse.com ) - Illinois is now “ground zero” in the ongoing battle to preserve traditional marriage. On May 30, 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund , Inc., filed separate lawsuits in the Cook County Circuit Court (which includes the City of Chicago ) on behalf of a number of same-sex couples challenging the Illinois law that reserves marriage to opposite-sex couples (Illinois does, however, already recognize same-sex civil unions). The lawsuits, which raise only state, not federal, constitutional claims, name a single defendant, David Orr, the Cook County Clerk, who has the responsibility and duty of issuing marriage licenses and registering the solemnization of marriages after they have been performed. Mr. Orr, a longtime advocate of same-sex marriage, has announced his support for the plaintiffs’ lawsuits, has expressed his opinion that the failure to recognize same-sex relationships as marriages is unc

LLINOIS, June 5, 2012 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has joined a legal effort to impose same-sex “marriage” on the state, the Chicago Tribune  reports . Madigan’s office filed a notice Friday that she will intervene in favor of lawsuits filed by Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of twenty-five same-sex couples. The suits allege that by not issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the Cook County clerk’s office is violating the equal-protection and due process rights of same-sex couples under the Illinois Constitution . Lisa Madigan Madigan has pledged to take the plaintiffs’ side in court and “explain why the challenged statutory provisions do not satisfy the guarantee of equality under the Illinois Constitution.” Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn  favors  redefining marriage, and Cook County Clerk David Orr  has also expressed  his support for the lawsuits.