gay marriage won’t ruin Illinois

For well over 30 years, whenever the subject of gay rights came up in the Illinois General Assembly, legislators ran away in droves. The excuses were always the same. Homosexuality is immoral, so religious businesses owners shouldn’t have to hire a gay person, or serve a lesbian in his restaurant, or sell one of “those people” a home. The state shouldn’t “condone” this immoral act by passing such a law. Besides, they said, Illinois just wasn’t ready to provide the same protection for gays as everybody else. It’s been a long road. Way back in 1819, a year after Illinois …