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LOCAL News :: Civil & Human Rights

Equal Marriage Supporters Demand Licenses From County Clerk

Hundreds of equal marriage supporters gathered Thursday at the offices of Cook County Clerk David Orr to demand that his office issue them marriage licenses. One protester was arrested by police after the action spilled out of Orr's administrative offices into the street.
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Hundreds of equal marriage supporters gathered Thursday at the offices of Cook County Clerk David Orr to demand that his office issue them marriage licenses. One protester was arrested by police after the action spilled out of Orr's administrative offices into the street.

The lone arrestee was Deborah Mell, the daughter of Chicago alderman and machine powerhouse Richard Mell. Deborah Mell's sister is married to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has waffled on the issue, arguing he opposes discrimination but that state law -- which he will not press to change -- outlaws same-sex marriages. Alderman Mell, the governor's father-in-law, defended his daughter's actions today.

Equal marriage proponents initially gathered at noon in front of the County Building at 118 N. Clark St., which houses the County Clerk's offices that issues marriage licenses.

They were met across the street by a small but vocal crew of same-sex marriage opponents. City cops and County sheriffs kept the two groups separate, and equal marriage advocates shouted down the anti-gay group.

But gay rights proponents directed their greatest ire at Cook County Clerk David Orr, who has said he is 'with' the protesters but can't grant them licenses because state law ties his hands. Orr is the elected official who supervises the awarding of marriage licenses in Cook County.

"If you won't grant us marriage licenses, you're standing with the bigots and the homophobes," said equal marriage supporter Keeanga Taylor.

After the noon rally, protesters made their way to the basement of the County Building, where Orr's staff issues marriage licenses. County employees rebuffed several gay couples' request for licenses, and the group then headed across the street to Orr's administrative offices at 69 W. Washington to challenge him about the issue directly.

Orr refused to come out to meet with the protesters, instead issuing a written statement through his staff that cited state laws prohibiting gay marriage.

"We get some cheap letter [from Orr] instead of a license, and the guy won't even come out and talk to us," one protester told a CLTV reporter. "And what can the guy say to us except that he's discriminating against us?"

The protest then spilled out into Washinton Street, where Mell's daughter Deborah was arrested. Police dragged several other people from the street after they briefly obstructed traffic, but no other arrests were made.

Orr has long touted his reputation as a political independent and a progressive throughout his rise in electoral politics. He was an aldermanic ally of late Mayor Harold Washington during the 1980s' infamous 'Council Wars', which pitted Washington and an independent group of mostly Black and Latino politicians against mostly white machine aldermen.

Activists are demanding that, as an avowed liberal, Orr stand up for his ostensibly progressive ideals and follow the lead of elected officials in other states. Mayors in New York and California have begun granting marriage licenses to same sex couples in defiance of restrictions in state law.

According to Illinois state statute, it is a Class 4 felony for a minister to legally marry someone, punishable by up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a same-sex couple to present a marriage license as valid, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,500 fine. It is a petty offense for an elected official like Orr to issue a marriage license -- making Orr subject to a $500 fine.

Equal marriage proponents have offered to pay Orr's fine if it would encourage him to stand up for their rights with deeds, not just words. Andy Thayer of the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network has harsh words for Orr.

"By Orr's logic, African-Americans should never have broken Jim Crow laws," says Thayer, who also works with the newly-formed Equal Marriage NOW! coalition -- the group that organized Thursday's protest. "Instead, Blacks should have knuckled under to legalized racism until some future millenium when the laws were repealed. But Orr himself would be subject to only a $500 fine -- and we have a simple challenge for him: we'll pay that fine for you if you will step up to the plate and put your pro-equality words into action. Otherwise, saying you’re for us is just hot air."

Thayer and other equal marriage supporters argue that government offices are the ultimate ‘places of public accommodation,’ where access should not be discriminatory.

"We pay taxes for these buildings and these employees, and yet they have the chutzpah to say we have no right be married," says Thayer. "Some claim that denying equal marriage rights to Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgendered people is not about bigotry and discrimination. But in this day and age, only bigots claim that legal discrimination against African-Americans, Jewish people, Arabs or others is not discriminiatory. This is a straight-forward civil rights issue. Either you are for equality, or you support discrimination."

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has said he supports gay marriage, but he has dodged direct accountability by arguing that Cook County, rather than the City of Chicago, issues marriage licenses for the region.

Last week, President Bush issued a call for Congress to pass a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage, in the wake of a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry.

Bush's move provoked a firestorm of condemnation from gay rights advocates, and same-sex marriage supporters have vowed to step up their campaign for equal rights.

Photo by Chris Geovanis/Chicago Indymedia
 
 

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