An Illinois Senate committee has approved legalizing gay marriage for the second time in a month. The Executive Committee voted 9-5 yesterday to move legislation giving marital rights to same sex couples to the Senate floor. The Democrats have a 40-member majority and say they have the votes needed. The same committee OK'd a similar measure just after the New Year in the final days of the last General Assembly. But a floor vote was scuttled because supporters feared they were short of the 30 necessary votes. Sponsoring Sen. Heather Steans reworded the legislation at insistence of Republicans. The Chicago Democrat says the new language makes clear that places of worship don't have to open their doors to gay-marriage ceremonies.
Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
