{"slice_names":["facebook_like","facebook","twitter","googleshare","email","comments"],"slice_params":{"facebook_like":[],"facebook":{"share_amount":"94"},"twitter":{"short_url":"http:\/\/huff.to\/1dVsOBt","tweet_text":"Republican state senator aims to repeal Illinois gay marriage law","views_amount":"75"},"googleshare":[],"email":{"emails_amount":"5","emails_title":"Illinois Gay Marriage Law Repeal? Republican State Senator Take Aim At Marriage Equality","emails_text":"A Republican state senator is hoping to repeal Illinois' marriage equality law.\r\n\r\nBuzzFeed reported Tuesday that Illinois <a href=\"http:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/tonymerevick\/bill-introduced-to-repeal-illinois-marriage-equality-law\" target=\"_hplink\">Sen. Kyle McCarter has introduced a bill that would essentially strike from the books<\/a> the same-sex marriage legislation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/11\/20\/illinois-gay-marriage-bil_1_n_4312368.html\" target=\"_hplink\">signed into law last November<\/a> and set to go into effect in June.\r\n\r\n<strong>(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ilga.gov\/legislation\/98\/SB\/PDF\/09800SB2637lv.pdf\" target=\"_hplink\">Read McCarter's bill here<\/a>.)<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMarriage equality supporters are confident the repeal attempt will be a non-starter. State Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat who served as a chief sponsor of the marriage bill, told BuzzFeed she believes McCarter is \"just doing this to show his constituents.\"\r\n\r\nThe Civil Rights Agenda, a Chicago-based LGBT advocacy organization, had a similar take on McCarter's proposal.\r\n\r\n\"Well, it looks like it's an election year,\" the group's executive director said in a statement. \"The Senator also knows full well that this bill does not have the support to pass, especially in the Senate. Why would the Senator waste time and resources to rehash a debate where the outcome that has been decided is supported by the majority of our state?\"\r\n\r\nThe proposed marriage equality repeal is not the first time McCarter has taken a stand against same-sex marriage. Last February, after <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/02\/14\/illinois-gay-marriage-bill_n_2687105.html\" target=\"_hplink\">the state Senate advanced the marriage bill in a Valentine's Day vote<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/02\/15\/kyle-mccarter-illinois-se_n_2695471.html\" target=\"_hplink\">McCarter described same-sex marriage as \"discriminatory<\/a> towards those who hold the sincerely held religious belief that [marriage] is a sacred institution between a man & a woman.\" \r\n\r\nEarlier that same day, McCarter had complained that the bill would force flower shops and other \"wedding-related\" businesses to close.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, <a href=\"http:\/\/voices.suntimes.com\/early-and-often\/politics\/gop-field-for-gov-disinterested-in-repealing-same-sex-marriage-despite-bishops-push\/\" target=\"_hplink\">all Republican candidates in the state's gubernatorial race<\/a> previously indicated they have no interest in repealing the law and some Illinois same-sex couples where at least one partner facing a terminal illness <a href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/the-last-word\/doctors-orders-kiss-the-bride\" target=\"_hplink\">have already taken advantage of the law and wed<\/a>."},"comments":{"comments_amount":"165"}}}