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Same-sex marriage was legalized in Illinois on November 5; Illinois is the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which legalized same-sex marriage, will be put into action on June 1, 2014.

This law changes the definition of marriage from an act between a man and woman to an act between two people. The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act makes sure people in a marriage are addressed with the same terms. Whether someone is in a same-sex or different-sex marriage, they can be addressed with titles like “spouse,” “wife” and “husband.” In addition, terms like “family” and “immediate family” apply to both types of marriages, according to the Illinois General Assembly website.

If a same-sex couple has been in a civil union for a year, they are able to convert their civil union into a marriage within a year of the new law the being passed.

“I know a lot of my friends are homo- or bisexuals and they deserve every right to be married,” said sophomore Anthony Milunas, a member of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA).

Civil unions give couples some of the same protections as marriage, but not all of them. For example, employers might  not offer health insurance for people in a civil union, while they might for a married couple, according to the website Illinois Civil Unions. A domestic partnership is a legal recognition of a couple.

Marriage has over 1,049 legal protections and responsibilities from the federal government alone, according to a 1997 General Accounting Office report. Civil unions don’t give couples any of these critical legal protections; an unmarried same-sex couple with a civil union does not, for example, receive things such as the guarantee of insurance for families. The Religious Freedom and Civil Unions Act started civil unions; civil unions are also offered to different-sex couples.  This law was passed February 1, 2011, by the Illinois legislature. The federal government does not view civil unions as marriage; therefore, even if a same-sex couple has a civil union, they are not given as many privileges as a married couple, according to the Illinois General Assembly website

The Federal Defense of Marriage Act gives states the right to prohibit same-sex marriages, which is why states can prohibit same-sex marriage.