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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens of Illinois made historic progress in the fight for equality with the 2010 passage of a robust civil union law (SB1716), which was championed by Equality Illinois. The Illinois civil union law offers same-sex and opposite-sex couples the same privileges, rights, and responsibilities as married couples receive at the state level. In 2005, Equality Illinois helped to enact of the state's nondiscrimination bill (SB3186). Illinois is fourteenth among 21 states to provide legal protection for LGBT individuals. The Illinois law prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and credit transactions based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
This and other milestone legislation spearheaded by Equality Illinois--including the prior passage of nondiscrimination statutes in Cook County, Springfield, Decatur, Bloomington, Normal and Peoria--were achieved with the generous support of Equality Illinois donors.
As a supporter of Equality Illinois, you can help us continue to change the future. While passage of the state's nondiscrimination bill was a major victory, there is still much work to be done before LGBT individuals, couples and families achieve true equality in Illinois. The challenges ahead include legal recognition of our relationships, protection of our children in school, hospital visitation, inheritance rights, and bereavement leave. We must also defend the ground already won...by defeating backlash initiatives aimed at rescinding the nondiscrimination bill or placing further restrictions on LGBT rights, such as anti-gay adoption bills or a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
We need your support in order to carry on the fight for equality, fairness and justice. Please consider making as generous a contribution as you can to Equality Illinois at this crucial time. Friends of Equality Illinois may become a member with an annual contribution or by joining our Capitol Club, a group of leaders who enjoy specialized communications, event invitations and access to Equality Illinois' organizational leaders. Capitol Club memberships are available for as little as $50 a month.
For more information, please contact our office at 773-477-7173 or info@eqil.org.
