CHICAGO – Wednesday, Oct. 27 - At the close of tonight’s annual Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame celebration at the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley signed a petition that calls for “immediately repealing the discrimnatory ban on same-sex marriage” and “demand[ing] that Cook County immediately issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.”

As the mayor was making his way through the crowd following the close of the program, an activist from the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network and the Equal Marriage NOW! coalition called out, “Mayor Daley, would you like to sign a petition for equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians?” The mayor briefly glanced at the petition and then signed it in the presence of several witnesses, including the mayor’s official liason to Chicago’s gay and lesbian community, Bill Greaves.

“Especially considering presumptive Senator Barak Obama’s cowardly opposition to equal marriage rights for lesbian and gay people, the mayor’s endorsement is certainly welcome,” said Andy Thayer of the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network and Equal Marriage NOW! coalition. “One would hope that Mayor Daley takes to heart the petition’s call for the immediate issuance of marriage licenses here in Cook County, and publicly calls on his ally, Cook County Clerk David Orr, to stop discriminating against lesbian and gay couples forthwith.”

###

Note: Contact information for other signatories on this page of the petition has been shielded so as to protect their privacy.