Illinois Senate Passes Historic Same Sex Marriage Bill

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage passed the Illinois Senate early Thursday afternoon, making a happier Valentine's Day for gay couples across the state.

The Senate passed the bill—SB 10—with 34 votes in favor, 21 votes against and two abstentions. The bill will now go to the House of Representatives, where it will need 60 votes to pass. 

The bill will now go over to the House of Representative where it will have to repeat the same process before going to Gov. Quinn, who already voiced his support of the bill in a Chicago Tribune report.

If passed, the state law defining marriage would be changed from an act between a man and a woman, to two people. 

"I've been told it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when it's going to be done," veteran marriage equality advocate Rick Garcia, senior policy advisor at The Civil Rights Agenda, told the Huffington Post last week. 

But not all were in favor of the bill. Bishop Thomas Paprocki, of Springfield issued a statement saying Catholics who, "propose or promote the legal establishment of marriage as something other than the union of one man and one woman harm the common good of society."

If passed, Illinois would be the 10th state to have a marriage equality law in the country.