Couples can now register for civil unions in Illinois
QUINCY, ILL. -- Illinois has begun giving out licenses to couples who want to form a civil union. Hundreds of couples lined up early Wednesday in Chicago to get licenses as the state's new law went into effect.
We checked with the County Clerk's Office to see if anyone had applied. No one came in Wednesday for a license.
It allows gay and lesbian or straight couples to form civil unions, a rough equivalent to marriage. Civil unions give couples many of the rights that accompany traditional marriage. That includes the power to decide medical treatment for an ailing partner and the right to inherit a partner's property.
Civil unions aren't just for gay and lesbian couples. The elderly might also take an interest in unions. If they are a widow, they can't receive their spouse's pensions if they get remarried.
The first civil union ceremonies can't take place until Thursday.
We had a question about this on our Facebook page. Tea Elle Brown asks about the impact of elderly couples. "I'm excited that it will allow them opportunity to be recognized as a couple and still maintain their financial security (pensions, social security, etc.). Early articles speculated siblings and parent/children could be united which means if something happened to the an adult sibling or adult child, the other adult sibling or parent could be the executor of his/her estate. I think most of us are clear on the gay rights portion of the bill."
Facebook has even updated its relationship status options to "in a civil union." What do you think about this?
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA