Judge Rules That Same-Sex Marriages Can Start Happening Immediately In Chicago! Windy City For The Win!

It’s official! Start popping that champagne, Chicagoans!
A federal judge just ruled that same-sex couples can start getting married immediately in the Chicago area, pushing it forward from the June 1st date mandated in the Illinois bill that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.
Because the bill passed by only one vote in November, it didn’t have the requisite yeas to put it into effect before June 1st.
However, after the ACLU and Lambda Legal won a lawsuit in December, which granted same-sex couples where one of the partners had a terminal illness the right to marry, they sought to have all gay couples the right to marry ASAP in Cook County, which they just won!
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman had this to say about the momentous decision:

├óΓé¼┼ôSince the parties agree that marriage is a fundamental right available to all individuals and should not be denied, the focus in this case shifts from the ‘we can├óΓé¼Γäót wait’ for terminally ill individuals to ‘why should we wait’ for all gay and lesbian couples that want to marry. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: the time is always ripe to do right.├óΓé¼┬¥

And the icing on the cake is that the Cook County Clerk David Orr is keeping Chicago’s downtown marriage bureau open late until 7 p.m. for those who want to get a license tonight.
Congrats to everyone who can start getting married in the Windy City area!