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