Gay-marriage advocates rally outside Cook County building
March 11, 2004 — Pro-gay marriage activists rallied outside the Cook County administrative building this afternoon and again demanded the county issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
And again Cook County Clerk David Orr said he wont' break the law.
The Illinois Legislature in 1996 banned gay marriage. Orr has called that law unconstitutional and discriminatory but has said he won't go against it.
Orr met with about 150 protesters in front of the county building and told them he will work to change the law. He told the protesters that as long as the law is on the books, performing same-sex marriages won't achieve anything.
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The Myth of American Polarization
After 10 Years Abroad, a Reporter finds we are more United, Culturally and Politically, than the Shouting Suggests
by Eric Weiner
Conventional wisdom tells us that the United States is more polarized than ever. In the sports jargon that passes for political analysis these days, we are supposedly witnessing a knockdown fight that pits conservatives against liberals, gay-bashers against gay- embracers, hawks against doves, Atkins aficionados against low-fat devotees. We are, the pundits proclaim, at war with ourselves. Or are we?