Emanuel: Gay Marriage 'A Positive,' Mayor Vows To Push For Statewide Recognition

Days after Illinois Governor Pat Quinn expressed uncertainty over the recently-introduced Marriage Fairness Act that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel minced no words asserting his position: he's for it.

Emanuel told the Chicago Tribune he would push for the bill, which he believes "is right as a city, as a state and as a country."

“When you have two loving adults, that should be held up as a positive — whether it's male-female, or, in this case, female-female or male-male," the mayor said Wednesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times "That's proper. We shouldn't as a state discriminate."

The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act was introduced by openly gay Illinois Reps. Greg Harris, Deb Mell and Kelly Cassidy in late August. Illinois passed a civil union law last year, and the new act would amend it authorize voluntary conversions of civil unions into marriages.

Washington state became the seventh in the U.S. to extend equal marriage rights to same-sex couples with the passage of a similar bill at the beginning of February.

The Illinois measure, HB5170, is in sync with Emanuel's agenda while serving as White House Chief of Staff. The mayor told the Sun-Times he pushed the issue with the President and the U.S. Justice Department, leading to an edict that forbids federally-funded hospitals from discriminating based on sexual orientation, including in the access rights of same-sex partners.

Emanuel joined 70 other mayors in signing a nationwide campaign in support of same-sex marriage at the Conference of Mayors in January.

The mayor has presided over civil unions in the past, including a ceremony for one of his top aides, WGN reports.