The Illinois legislature will soon act on the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, which would legally recognize civil unions in our state. The legislation provides that “persons entering into a civil union” will have “the same obligations, responsibilities, protections and benefits” as married persons. Civil unions would be available to adults “of either the same or opposite sex.” Traditional “marriage,” however, would remain available only to persons of the opposite sex.

Such legislation is currently supported by the vast majority of Americans. Recent polls show that Americans favor the legal recognition of civil unions by an extraordinary ratio of 60 percent to 34 percent.

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