From the Huffington Post:
The Illinois House of Representatives passed a historic civil unions bill Tuesday evening after many moving speeches on the House floor.
SB1716, the “Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act,” was co-sponsored by openly gay Rep. Greg Harris, who worked tirelessly on the legislation.
“We have a chance today to make Illinois a more fair state, a more just state, and a state which treats all of its citizens equally under the law,” Harris said on the House floor. “We have a chance here, as leaders have had in previous generations, to correct injustice and to move us down the path toward liberty.”
The vote was 61-52, and the legislation now moves to the state Senate, where it is expected to be passed quickly and signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn.
Read more here.