Bill Text: IL SB0110 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. Contains provisions regarding legislative purpose, rules of construction, and severability. Provides that: all laws of this State applicable to marriage apply equally to marriages of same-sex and different-sex couples and their children; parties to a marriage and their children, regardless of whether the marriage is of a same-sex or different-sex couple, have the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law; parties to a marriage are included in any definition or use of terms such as "spouse", "family", "immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin", "wife", "husband", "bride", "groom", "wedlock", and other terms that refer to or denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are used throughout the law, regardless of whether the parties to a marriage are of the same sex or different sexes; and, to the extent that laws of this State adopt, refer to, or rely upon provisions of federal law as applicable to this State, parties to a marriage of the same sex and their children shall be treated under the laws of this State as if federal law recognized the marriages of same-sex couples in the same manner as the laws of this State. Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Makes changes concerning: parties who may marry; solemnization; use of a parish hall or other religious facility for solemnization or celebration of a marriage; prohibited marriages; and jurisdiction. Amends the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act to make changes and additions regarding recognition of marriages and to authorize the voluntary conversion of a civil union to a marriage under specified circumstances. Contains severability provisions. Effective 30 days after becoming law.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2015-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB0110 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-SB0110-Introduced.html

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98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2013 and 2014 SB0110 Introduced 1/23/2013, by Sen. Heather A. Steans SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
See Index
Creates the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. Contains provisions regarding legislative purpose, rules of construction, and severability. Provides that: all laws of this State applicable to marriage apply equally to marriages of same-sex and different-sex couples and their children; parties to a marriage and their children, regardless of whether the marriage is of a same-sex or different-sex couple, have the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law; parties to a marriage are included in any definition or use of terms such as "spouse", "family", "immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin", "wife", "husband", "bride", "groom", "wedlock", and other terms that refer to or denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are used throughout the law, regardless of whether the parties to a marriage are of the same sex or different sexes; and, to the extent that laws of this State adopt, refer to, or rely upon provisions of federal law as applicable to this State, parties to a marriage of the same sex and their children shall be treated under the laws of this State as if federal law recognized the marriages of same-sex couples in the same manner as the laws of this State. Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Makes changes concerning: parties who may marry; solemnization; use of a parish hall or other religious facility for solemnization or celebration of a marriage; prohibited marriages; and jurisdiction. Amends the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act to make changes and additions regarding recognition of marriages and to authorize the voluntary conversion of a civil union to a marriage under specified circumstances. Contains severability provisions. Effective 30 days after becoming law.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.
Section 5. Purposes; rules of construction. This Act shall
be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying
purpose, which is to provide same-sex and different-sex couples
and their children equal access to the status, benefits,
protections, rights, and responsibilities of civil marriage.
Section 10. Equal access to marriage.
(a) All laws of this State applicable to marriage, whether
they derive from statute, administrative or court rule, policy,
common law, or any other source of civil or criminal law, shall
apply equally to marriages of same-sex and different-sex
couples and their children.
(b) Parties to a marriage and their children, regardless
of whether the marriage consists of a same-sex or different-sex
couple, shall have all the same benefits, protections, and
responsibilities under law, whether they derive from statute,
administrative or court rule, policy, common law, or any other
source of civil or criminal law.

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(c) Parties to a marriage shall be included in any
definition or use of terms such as "spouse", "family",
"immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin", "wife",
"husband", "bride", "groom", "wedlock", and other terms that
refer to or denote the spousal relationship, as those terms are
used throughout the law, regardless of whether the parties to a
marriage are of the same sex or different sexes.
(d) To the extent the law of this State adopts, refers to,
or relies upon provisions of federal law as applicable to this
State, parties to a marriage of the same sex and their children
shall be treated under the law of this State as if federal law
recognizes the marriages of same-sex couples in the same manner
as the law of this State.
Section 15. Severability. If any part of this Act or its
application to any person or circumstance is adjudged invalid,
such adjudication or application shall not affect the validity
of this Act as a whole or of any other part.
Section 905. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
Marriage Act is amended by changing Sections 201, 209, and 212
and by adding Section 220 as follows:
(750 ILCS 5/201) (from Ch. 40, par. 201)
Sec. 201. Formalities.) A marriage between 2 persons a man
and a woman licensed, solemnized and registered as provided in

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this Act is valid in this State.
(Source: P.A. 80-923.)
(750 ILCS 5/209) (from Ch. 40, par. 209)
Sec. 209. Solemnization and Registration.)
(a) A marriage may be solemnized by a judge of a court of
record, by a retired judge of a court of record, unless the
retired judge was removed from office by the Judicial Inquiry
Board, except that a retired judge shall not receive any
compensation from the State, a county or any unit of local
government in return for the solemnization of a marriage and
there shall be no effect upon any pension benefits conferred by
the Judges Retirement System of Illinois, by a judge of the
Court of Claims, by a county clerk in counties having 2,000,000
or more inhabitants, by a public official whose powers include
solemnization of marriages, or in accordance with the
prescriptions of any religious denomination, Indian Nation or
Tribe or Native Group, provided that when such prescriptions
require an officiant, the officiant be in good standing with
his or her religious denomination, Indian Nation or Tribe or
Native Group. Either the person solemnizing the marriage, or,
if no individual acting alone solemnized the marriage, both
parties to the marriage, shall complete the marriage
certificate form and forward it to the county clerk within 10
days after such marriage is solemnized.
(a-5) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require any

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religious denomination or Indian Nation or Tribe or Native
Group, or any minister, clergy, or officiant acting as a
representative of a religious denomination or Indian Nation or
Tribe or Native Group, to solemnize any marriage. Instead, any
religious denomination or Indian Nation or Tribe or Native
Group, or any minister, clergy, or officiant acting as a
representative of a religious denomination or Indian Nation or
Tribe or Native Group is free to choose which marriages it will
solemnize. No refusal by a religious denomination or Indian
Nation or Tribe or Native Group, or any minister, clergy, or
officiant acting as a representative of a religious
denomination or Indian Nation or Tribe or Native Group to
solemnize any marriage under this Act shall create or be the
basis for any civil, administrative, or criminal penalty,
claim, or cause of action.
(a-10)(1) For purposes of this subsection (a-10),
"religious organization" is limited to churches, mosques,
synagogues, temples, nondenominational ministries,
interdenominational and ecumenical organizations, mission
organizations, and other faith-based associations and
societies whose principal purpose is the study, practice, or
advancement of religion.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require a
religious organization as defined in paragraph (1) of this
subsection (a-10) to make available a parish hall or other
religious facility on the premises of a church, mosque,

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synagogue, temple, or other house of worship for solemnization
or celebration of a marriage that is in violation of the
religious organization's religious beliefs, provided that:
(A) the religious facility is primarily used by members
of the parish or congregation for worship and other
religious purposes;
(B) for solemnization and celebration of marriages,
the religious organization generally restricts use of the
religious facility to its members and opens the facility
only occasionally to non-members on an unpaid basis; and
(C) the religious organization does not make the
religious facility available to the general public for
rental or use for which a rental fee or other compensation
is required or for which public funding or other public
benefit is received.
(3) Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted to exempt
the owner or operator of any religious facility from the
requirements of the Illinois Human Rights Act if the religious
facility is a place of public accommodation as defined in
Section 5-101 of the Illinois Human Rights Act.
(4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a
religious organization as defined in paragraph (1) of this
subsection (a-10) from limiting employment to individuals of
the same religious faith or from making internal personnel
decisions concerning the terms and conditions of employment for
positions (A) that require a significant degree of religious

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training and (B) whose primary duties are ministerial in
nature, such as conducting worship services or providing
religious instruction.
(b) The solemnization of the marriage is not invalidated by
the fact that the person solemnizing the marriage was not
legally qualified to solemnize it, if either party to the
marriage believed him or her to be so qualified or by the fact
that the marriage was inadvertently solemnized in a county in
Illinois other than the county where the license was issued.
(Source: P.A. 95-775, eff. 1-1-09.)
(750 ILCS 5/212) (from Ch. 40, par. 212)
Sec. 212. Prohibited Marriages.
(a) The following marriages are prohibited:
(1) a marriage entered into prior to the dissolution of
an earlier marriage of one of the parties;
(2) a marriage between an ancestor and a descendant or
between siblings a brother and a sister, whether the
relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by
adoption;
(3) a marriage between an uncle and a niece, between an
uncle and a nephew, or between an aunt and a nephew, or
between an aunt and a niece, whether the relationship is by
the half or the whole blood;
(4) a marriage between cousins of the first degree;
however, a marriage between first cousins is not prohibited

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if:
(i) both parties are 50 years of age or older; or
(ii) either party, at the time of application for a
marriage license, presents for filing with the county
clerk of the county in which the marriage is to be
solemnized, a certificate signed by a licensed
physician stating that the party to the proposed
marriage is permanently and irreversibly sterile;
(5) (blank). a marriage between 2 individuals of the
same sex.
(b) Parties to a marriage prohibited under subsection (a)
of this Section who cohabit after removal of the impediment are
lawfully married as of the date of the removal of the
impediment.
(c) Children born or adopted of a prohibited or common law
marriage are the lawful children of the parties.
(Source: P.A. 94-229, eff. 1-1-06.)
(750 ILCS 5/220 new)
Sec. 220. Consent to jurisdiction. Members of a same-sex
couple who enter into a marriage in this State consent to the
jurisdiction of the courts of this State for the purpose of any
action relating to the marriage, even if one or both parties
cease to reside in this State. A court shall enter a judgment
of dissolution of marriage if at the time the action is
commenced, it meets the grounds for dissolution of marriage set

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forth in this Act.
(750 ILCS 5/213.1 rep.)
Section 910. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
Marriage Act is amended by repealing Section 213.1.
Section 915. The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and
Civil Union Act is amended by changing Section 60 and by adding
Section 65 as follows:
(750 ILCS 75/60)
Sec. 60. Respect for marriages and civil unions entered
into in other jurisdictions Reciprocity. A marriage between
persons of the same sex, a civil union, or a substantially
similar legal relationship other than common law marriage,
legally entered into in another jurisdiction, shall be
recognized in Illinois as a civil union. A marriage, whether of
the same sex or different sexes and providing that it is not a
common law marriage, legally entered into in another
jurisdiction, shall be recognized in this State as a marriage
in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act, except that Section 216 of the
Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act shall not
apply to marriages of same-sex couples validly entered into in
another jurisdiction.
(Source: P.A. 96-1513, eff. 6-1-11.)

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(750 ILCS 75/65 new)
Sec. 65. Voluntary conversion of civil union to marriage.
(a) Parties to a civil union may apply for and receive a
marriage license and have the marriage solemnized and
registered under Section 209 of the Illinois Marriage and
Dissolution of Marriage Act, provided the parties are otherwise
eligible to marry and the parties to the marriage are the same
as the parties to the civil union. The fee for application for
a marriage license shall be waived in such circumstances.
(b) For a period of one year following the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, parties to
a civil union may have their civil union legally designated and
recorded as a marriage, deemed effective on the date of
solemnization of the civil union, without payment of any fee,
provided the parties' civil union has not been dissolved and
there is no pending proceeding to dissolve the civil union.
Upon application to a county clerk, the parties shall be issued
a marriage certificate. The parties' signatures on the marriage
certificate and return of the signed certificate for recording
shall be sufficient to convert the civil union into a marriage.
The county clerk shall notify the Department of Public Health
within 45 days by furnishing a copy of the certificate to the
Department of Public Health.
(c) When parties to a civil union have married, or when
their civil union has been converted to a marriage under this

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Section, the parties, as of the date stated on the marriage
certificate, shall no longer be considered in a civil union,
but rather shall be in a legal marriage.
Section 997. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect 30 days
after becoming law.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance