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| Rose tops marriage, ... |
The
fact that the first legitimate marriage of a gay couple will take place sometime
this week – about seven months prior to the date the new law goes into effect –
made Page One of both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.
BUT
IT WASN’T the lede story. In fact, if one didn’t pay close enough attention, you’d
have missed the marriage story altogether.
For
the record, the Sun-Times on Tuesday thought that the BIG DEAL of the news
lineup came from the world of sports – specifically the fact that Derrick Rose
has suffered an injury so severe that he’s going to miss the entire season.
As
in again. It’s starting to appear as though the man that Chicago Bulls fans
were counting on to be the big star of teams that would win a slew of
championships will be nothing more than a “never was” – as in we’ll forevermore
speculate about what could have been IF ONLY he hadn’t gotten hurt.
As
for the Tribune, they gave a banner headline to the latest story about how
messed up the Ventra card system is. Which appeals to the people who use the
Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses on a regular basis.
BECAUSE
IT WOULD seriously stink if one couldn’t get to work because their fare card
didn’t function properly.
Yet
the occurrence this week related to gay marriage is one of those bizarre
moments that it is something we all ought to be interested in – particularly if
you’re one of those people who wants to wish that the issue would just go away!
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| ... as does Ventra |
For
the record, the General Assembly passed a bill making marriage a legitimate
option for gay couples in such a way that it can’t take effect immediately.
There
was no way that 60 percent of legislators were going to agree on this issue so
as to allow it to take effect immediately. It had to settle for the bare
majority (60 of 118 votes), which means the new law will take effect June 1,
2014.
EXCEPT
THAT A federal judge (U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin, to be exact) issued a
ruling Monday that requires the Cook County clerk’s office to issue a marriage
license to a pair of women who wish to marry immediately.
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| Derrick Rose may be gone for good |
The
women are not a youthful couple, and it seems they have been together for five
years and got a civil union in 2011. But one of them has breast cancer severe
enough that they’re not sure she will survive long enough for the couple to
have a June wedding.
County
Clerk David Orr has always said he supports the idea of marriage being
available for all; so much so that he didn’t even fight the lawsuit the couple
filed last week.
He
seemed to be pleased that Judge Durkin issued the order that forced him to
issue the marriage license that took effect Tuesday (the couple says they’ll
marry this week).
NOT
THAT I’M really bothered by the fact that the couple will marry now, rather
than later. I’m sure the fact that the law didn’t take effect immediately was
one of the few “victories” the conservative ideologues were feeling these days.
But
it does make me wonder about the long-term effect on the provisions of state
law that require a higher level of support for bills passed after the General
Assembly completes its spring session.
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| Some wish these cards would go away instead |
I
recall one time that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago,
specifically thwarted the interests of firearms advocates by requiring one of
their bills to get a 60 percent majority – a vote total they could not possibly
achieve.
Officials
say the ruling by Durkin is so narrow that it shouldn’t impact other cases – or
other couples wanting to get married before June 1. But have we managed to undo
some sense of our legal procedure? Yet another reason we’ll be confused in the
future!
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