Illinois Civil Unions: Straight Couples' No. 1 Reason To Register? Solidarity With Gay Couples

A report released Tuesday by Cook County Clerk David Orr revealed that solidarity with same-sex couples was the top reason why many Cook County straight couples have registered for civil unions though they, unlike gay and lesbian couples, have the option to legally wed in Illinois.

According to Orr's office, 87 heterosexual Cook County couples registered for civil unions between June 1 and Sept. 19, the time period covered by a survey conducted by an intern working at the clerk's office. According to that survey [PDF], 26 percent (12 of the survey's 46 respondents) cited "political or ideological reasons such as equality and inclusiveness" when asked why they opted for a civil union rather than a marriage.

Orr described the results as showing that some straight couples in Cook County, the nation's second-most populous county, "are clearly making a statement when they are civilly united rather than married" in a statement.

"One respondent put it best when she said this decision was in solidarity with the gay community until they also have the option of getting married," Orr continued.

The second-most common response, offered by nine respondents, was obtaining benefits. Eleven of 46 respondents said that "religious or personal convictions" also played a role in their decision.

Half of all survey respondents also noted that they still plan on getting married at some point.

Randy Hannig, director of public policy at Equality Illinois, a Chicago-based statewide LGBT advocacy organization, said in a statement that the survey's result "tells so much about how far we have come."

"We hope that these statistics hold true in other parts of the country and set a precedent for our straight allies to stand up for the gay community until we achieve full marriage equality," Hannig said. "We at Equality Illinois appreciate the sacrifice these couples are making because only marriage guarantees full and equal rights at all levels of government across the country."

During the same time period examined by the study, 1,383 same-sex couples registered for civil unions in Cook County.

Over the course of the first six months of the unions, the county issued a total of 1,856 civil union licenses, 138 of those to opposite-sex couples. Statewide, according to a count made by Equality Illinois, slightly more than 3,700 couples registered for civil unions between June 1 and Nov. 30. Registrants have come from 90 of the state's 102 counties, according to the group.

Illinois civil unions were signed into law in January by Governor Pat Quinn, who described the measure as a matter of civil rights and basic fairness. The law gives couples many, but not all, of the rights that accompany traditional marriage, including the power to decide medical treatment for an ailing partner and the right to inherit a partner's property.

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Comments

[Bob Kellerman]

02:27 AM on 12/23/2011

Except there is actually an advantage for straight couples --- benefits of marriage, but no tragedy of divorce. Divorce fear is listed in recent surveys as the leading reason for fewer and later marriages.

HOWEVER, THE GOOD GESTURE IS NICE -- TOO BAD IT'S NECESSARY, AS MARRIAGE FOR ALL WAS DELAYED BY CERTAIN CHURCH GROUPS

[aaa14789632]

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[Proud Bay Man]

01:29 AM on 12/23/2011

Cook County 87, YOU ROCK!

[FLDeziner]

08:24 AM on 12/22/2011

Civil unions should be the ONLY lawful act the state or feds recognize for all citizens. It is a contract between two people of legal age to consent.

The ceremony of marriage can be left to the religious institutions and those institutions can decide who they will agree to marry, and then this nonsense can be finished.

[floridaviolinist]

09:01 AM on 12/22/2011

EXACTLY!!! thank you for having a brain

[bryanzth]

09:03 AM on 12/22/2011

Yes, I agree with that. But then the civil union should eventually be called civil marriage and the marriage that the thumpers think is so hot will be called "Preface to Divorce" haha.

BZ.

[fulltimespirit]

06:23 PM on 12/21/2011

First off, let's get real. Marriage was never about love or raising happy, well-adjusted kids. It was all about property. Women and kids were the property of husbands and fathers. Marriages were about property (mergers/acquisitions, rights of succession, and inheritance). Since marriage is a contract, endorsed by the state, let's put this argument where it belongs. This is CONTRACT LAW ! Pure and simple. The constitution guarantees equality under the law and denying adult same sex couples the right to enter into the contract of marriage is just unconstitutional. And don't give me that religious crap. Religion has nothing to do with it. It's CONTRACT LAW ! IT SHOULD BE ARGUED AS SUCH ! I'm so sick of the religious right trying to make their religious beliefs the law for everyone else. I'm a straight person so this prohibition doesn't affect me personally accept that as a thinking, reasoning person, I can find no justification for denying an entire segment of our population a basic civil right that I take for granted. It's a travesty and it has to stop.

[bryanzth]

09:10 AM on 12/22/2011

Yep!

It's a contract about property and inheritance that makes two unrelated people "kin" who then are able to settle differences about property and inheritance just as the members of any other (let's say) natural kin.

And right, when my one grannie marries her long time lover (in this case, a man) to become kin and share their stuff and happiness, they are not doing it for reproductive purposes. And the thumpers do not protest those marriages! But when my other grannie cohabitates with her lover (I have to think that the males of my family don't last as long as the females!), she does so so that there will be no property squabbles. She and he merely stay together and the property and inheritance issues of the respective families are preserved.

Right: PROPERTY!!! :)  And the contract law that settles issues of property and inheritance.

FF'd! :)

BZ.

[rockysparks]

03:26 PM on 12/21/2011

Good job, friends! May all loving couples be unafraid to declare their love for each other!

[cruz10illinois]

02:51 PM on 12/21/2011

What a kind act!
It is important to point out however that these civil unions unlike marriage will not be even acknowledged by the federal government affecting situations like taxes, immigration, social security.etc. THe the worst part about it is that not even legally sanctioned marriages performed in the US where the two participatns are of the same sex is recognized by the US federal gov even though Canada, and most Europe recognize the "rights" if not the marriage title implicit in these civil unions, where are the courts when a historically and still currently discriminated group of citizens is treated as second class by its won government?

[xenas mom]

12:30 PM on 12/22/2011

Excellent points. Fanned and faved. (I grew up in Illinois and lived there until my mid-twenties when I came to California to go to grad school and never returned. We're one of the California 18k married during the pre-Prop 8 window and some straight couples here are refusing to marry until Prop 8 is overturned.)

[talkstocoyotes]

11:16 PM on 01/10/2012

Yes, those are excellent points. And they hint at why, in discussions of marriage equality, so many try to keep the status quo by playing word games; e.g., 'I just thought up the greatest idea since sliced bread in a wrapper! Let's make everything a civil union!'

Kind of like some Deep South municipalities during the 20th century's civil rights movement closing down public pools and even public school systems: anything but let "Those People" in.

[rbmckinney]

02:48 PM on 12/21/2011

What I find interesting is that the article points our that civil unions is not equal to marriage, in that the straight couples STILL intend to marry at some point. Half a loaf is better than none; however, separate is not equal (if you'll forgive me mixing my metaphors).
Now I just need to move out of my red state to where I can marry the love of my life, and make myself legal, but that's just not possible at this point in my life; and my state is one where there's a constitutional amendment making same-sex marriage illegal.

[Contact1972]

03:32 PM on 12/21/2011

This is why it's so important to get rid of DOMA.

[Ioan Lightoller]

04:07 PM on 12/21/2011

Amen, Contact1972. DOMA needs to be gotten rid of before our marriages can start to be accepted on a national level.

Nice to see an act of solidarity, though. Thanks all you straight couples out there doing this.

[dreadylocks]

04:09 PM on 12/21/2011

Exactly. I've looked into getting married in other countries and have read over and over that the federal gov (US) will recognize any marriage that is legal where it is performed. No questions asked. If it weren't for DOMA, same sex couples would be legally federally married no matter where the reside, as long as they get married in a state where it's legal.

It should be so simple but the simple-minded keep it from happening. Oy vey,

[bryanzth]

09:13 AM on 12/22/2011

Well, hang in there! Things will get better! I am sure of it!

Peace love dove and all that to you!

BZ.

[Contact1972]

01:20 PM on 12/22/2011

I certainly hope so. For binationals like myself it feels like were slowly being crished to death by the lack of movement.

[Valksy]

01:31 PM on 12/21/2011

The solidarity is much appreciated.

This is the issue that the bible-thumping right wing just don't get - It isn't just LGBT people. We do have "straight but not narrow" allies, and we do have people who believe in Constitutional concepts like justice, equality and just plain old fairness. It's not as simple as picking on a minority - we have family, we have friends, we have people who will stand in our corner.