Court Rules Against Antigay Groups in Lambda Legal's Illinois Marriage Case

An Illinois court today rejected attempts by antigay groups to intervene in Lambda Legal's lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.

The Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, denied motions by the Church of Christian Liberty, Grace Gospel Fellowship and the Illinois Family Institute (IFI). 

Camilla Taylor, Lambda Legal's Marriage Project Director, says: 

We are now closer to the day these families can tell their stories in court, and explain in their own words why it is so hurtful and wrong to exclude them and their children ever from belonging to married families, without further unnecessary delays. The Illinois government should be treating all families fairly. The freedom to marry the one unique and irreplaceable person you love, whether it is someone of the same sex or a different sex, is an essential liberty for all of us. Thousands of couples and their children across the state feel a sense of loss and experience discrimination every day because the state unfairly excludes them from marriage.

Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Illinois have each filed lawsuits representing a total of 25 same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry in Illinois. The Illinois Attorney General's office filed papers agreeing that the ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional. The Cook County Clerk and State's Attorney also agree that the marriage ban is unconstitutional.

After two County Clerks moved to intervene, promising a vigorous defense of the marriage ban, the Court entered an unopposed order permitting them to intervene as defendants.

Soon after, the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based antigay group, moved to intervene on behalf of the IFI, an organization dedicated to advancing the view that gay people are sinful. IFI has a long history of making derogatory and untruthful statements about lesbian and gay people. Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Illinois have opposed IFI's efforts to intervene.

Learn more about Lambda Legal's Illinois marriage case and meet the couples behind our lawsuit.

Do you support the freedom to marry in Illinois? Sign our petition today!