Full Text of HR0442 101st General Assembly
HR0442 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to commend Equality Illinois and its | 4 | | mission to build a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment | 5 | | and full acceptance of the LGBTQ community; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois was founded as the Illinois | 7 | | Federation for Human Rights by Arthur Johnston, Rick Garcia, | 8 | | and the late Jon Henri Damski and Lana Hostetler in 1991; its | 9 | | mission was to secure, protect, and defend the basic civil | 10 | | rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and questioning | 11 | | transgender (LGBTQ) Illinoisans; the organization's name was | 12 | | changed to Equality Illinois in 2000; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois envisions a fair and unified | 14 | | State where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and | 15 | | where all people live freely regardless of sexual orientation | 16 | | or gender identity or gender expression; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois achieved a benchmark victory | 18 | | with the passage of an amendment adding sexual orientation and | 19 | | gender identity to the Illinois Human Rights Act in 2005; that | 20 | | same year, the organization was inducted into the Chicago Gay | 21 | | and Lesbian Hall of Fame; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois was instrumental in securing | 2 | | passage of the civil union law in Illinois in 2010; members of | 3 | | the organization traveled across the State to collect over | 4 | | 30,000 postcards from supporters urging their legislators to | 5 | | support the marriage bill in all 118 legislative districts; the | 6 | | organization made history by passing the Religious Freedom and | 7 | | Marriage Fairness Act out of the General Assembly and onto then | 8 | | Governor Pat Quinn's desk, making Illinois the 16th state to | 9 | | secure freedom to marry; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois engaged hundreds of new voters | 11 | | and ensured accurate voter registration during election | 12 | | cycles; the organization created the innovative Vote Naked | 13 | | campaign and distributed over 550,000 mail-in ballot requests | 14 | | and helped voters take advantage of a new law that allows | 15 | | voting by mail for any reason; following Vote Naked, Equality | 16 | | Illinois created the Get Your V Card campaign to encourage | 17 | | voter registration and participation; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois built a successful campaign to | 19 | | protect LGBTQ youth by supporting the Youth Mental Health | 20 | | Protection Act; the organization led a winning effort to update | 21 | | the Illinois Hate Crimes Act, including the first explicit | 22 | | inclusion of crimes against transgender people and protections | 23 | | for LGBTQ community centers, and worked with Illinois' | 24 | | Congressional delegation to fortify support for federal |
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| 1 | | pro-LGBTQ equality measures, including the Equality Act, the | 2 | | first comprehensive LGBTQ civil rights bill introduced in | 3 | | Congress; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Equality Illinois worked with local communities | 5 | | throughout the State to pass local nondiscrimination | 6 | | ordinances and unveiled a comprehensive Know Your Rights | 7 | | educational program to educate the LGBTQ community about its | 8 | | rights and responsibilities under State and federal laws; | 9 | | therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 11 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we commend Equality Illinois, the State's oldest, largest, and | 13 | | most effective LGBTQ equality organization, on its work to | 14 | | reach individuals and organizations, both within the LGBTQ | 15 | | community and throughout the general public, across the | 16 | | private, public, and nonprofit sectors and to build a better | 17 | | Illinois; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to Equality Illinois as an expression of our esteem | 20 | | and respect.
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