Two Springfield couples are among more than two dozen around the state who are suing for the right to marry.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal are representing those same-sex couples in two separate, but nearly identical, lawsuits filed against Cook County Clerk David Orr. The suits allege that depriving those couples of the right to marry is unconstitutional and relegates the couples to second-rate status. They say that civil unions are inadequate because they are poorly understood and not equally recognized around the state.
Lawyers for the two groups say the courts are an appropriate venue to protect the couples’ civil rights. Even so, they say it could take two to three years for the cases to make their way through the courts.
