Marriage amendment may be on ballot

By Michelle Martin
Staff writer

A push to change the Illinois Constitution to define marriage as a bond between one man and one woman got a boost May 8 when members of the “Protect Marriage Illinois” coalition delivered more than 345,000 signatures asking for a referendum on the issue to the Illinois Board of Elections in Springfield.

If the effort succeeds, the advisory referendum — which would ask voters whether the General Assembly should amend the constitution to declare that “marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State”—would be the first to make it on the ballot through citizen initiative in 28 years.

To get the referendum on the November 2006 ballot, the coalition had to submit at least 283,111 valid signatures—8 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.

While the referendum does not require legislators to act, it would be hard for them not to, said Bob Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois.

The Illinois bishops came out strongly in favor of a marriage amendment in November, releasing a statement that said in part:

“In a manner unlike any other relationship, marriage makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the common good of society, especially through the procreation and education of children. The union of husband and wife becomes, over a lifetime, a great good for themselves, their family, communities, and society. Marriage is a gift to be cherished and protected.

“The natural structure of human sexuality makes man and woman complementarity partners for the transmission of human life. Only a union of male and female can express the sexual complementarily willed by God for marriage.”

Organizers of the petition drive said the voters had to speak out after Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, refused to call a vote on a proposal to amend the Constitution.

While Illinois already has a “Defense of Marriage Act” restricting marriage to one-man, one-woman relationships, a constitutional amendment provides greater security. So far, voters have approved similar amendments in 19 states.

The signatures submitted May 8 will have to be validated by the Illinois State Board of Elections before the measure is placed on the ballot.

They were collected by 11,581 volunteers, and petitions were circulated by 2,635 congregations of many faiths, according to Protect Marriage Illinois. Signers came from all 102 counties across Illinois, with the largest petition drive at a church on Chicago’s South Side. More than a third of signers are members of minority communities, according to the coalition.