heather stains. great to have you with me. let s dive in and talk about this. we have seen marriage equality measures pass throughout the country, most vividly and historically by popular vote in november. so explain to all of us how your bill may differ from laws that already exist on the books in your home state. well, currently we have civil unions. we passed civil unions about two years ago in illinois. so what we re now going to be looking at in the senate executive committee tomorrow and then tomorrow and then next week hopefully to the full senate floor for a vote is providing freedom to marry for gays and lesbians chshgs will give them access to the full benefits of marriage. if the federal supreme court overturns doma, the defense of marriage act, which the supreme court is hearing that in march and april later this year. you know, we ve been hearing a lot from people on the right. you know, national elected leaders from your state talking about this issue. while this is s
infrastructure? what s that? roads, bridges, green energy, efficient buildings. you know, after a decade of bloodshed and combat abroad, americans re-elected a president who ended one war and is going to end another one. america voted for social change, for the first time in the nation s history, voters approved marriage equality measures. they did it in not just one state, but three states. and in minnesota, voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. voters across the country are in line with the president of the united states when it comes to these equal rights. these equal rights. for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. so in the end, voters chose to move forward, not to go back to the failures of the past. on a number of different issues. it was a message that president obama understood very well last night.
obstruction. instead, americans picked a president who wants to spend money on what?! infrastructure? what s that? roads, bridges, green energy, efficient buildings. you know, after a decade of bloodshed and combat abroad, americans re-elected a president who ended one war and is going to end another one. america voted for social change, for the first time in the nation s history, voters approved marriage equality measures. they did it in not just one state, but three states. and in minnesota, voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. voters across the country are in line with the president of the united states when it comes to these equal rights. these equal rights. for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. so in the end, voters chose to move forward, not to go back to the failures of the past. on a number of different issues.
states and to make my country equal. really, i feel like we have the wind at our back. and you know what, the quest for full rights is never easy. if it was easy, you know, it would have happened already but it s important and you need to keep going. every setback just like when we lost in new york in 2009, you need to understand them, you need to learn from them and you need to recommit. that s what we did here. that s what we ll do in north carolina. that s what we re doing in california. we will keep the march moving forward. and we ll get it done. i have no doubt in my mind. we know there are marriage equality measures on ballots in maine, maryland, minnesota and washington. are you bullish or bearish? i think, look, that s a lot of states, so do i think we re going to win all of them? i hope we do but that s a tough, tough field with all of those states. but i am very optimistic that we will be victorious. we have actually never been victorious before on a state ballot so i th
instead, americans picked a president who wants to spend money on what?! infrastructure? what s that? roads, bridges, green energy, efficient buildings. you know, after a decade of bloodshed and combat abroad, americans re-elected a president who ended one war and is going to end another one. america voted for social change, for the first time in the nation s history, voters approved marriage equality measures. they did it in not just one state, but three states. and in minnesota, voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. voters across the country are in line with the president of the united states when it comes to these equal rights. these equal rights. for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. so in the end, voters chose to move forward, not to go back to the failures of the past. on a number of different issues. it was a message that president obama understood very wel