From the newswire: "Seven activists with the Gay Liberation Network (GLN) and the Chicago chapter of the Join The Impact [campaign] were arrested today when they refused to leave the Cook County Marriage License Bureau in Chicago after clerks said they would not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Meanwhile, about 400 protesters rallied outside the Bureau and then marched to the Bureau's doors.

"While the Chicago protesters saw their action as a way to help sway the California Supreme Court to throw out Proposition 8, local issues played a role as well. Despite having a state government completely dominated by the supposedly gay-friendly Democratic Party, Illinois doesn't even have civil unions, let alone marriage equality. Moreover, like dozens of states, Illinois has its own "Defense of Marriage Act"; yet the state Democratic Party leadership won't even offer a promise to junk the anti-gay legislation."

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