1,600+ Couples In Illinois Apply for Civil Unions In First Month

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Jul 10, 2011 4:00PM

It's been a little over a month since the civil unions law went into effect state-wide, and Illinois is seeing a lot of love. According to an estimate issued by the LGBT advocacy group, Equality Illinois, about 1,618 civil union licenses were issued just within the month of June.

Although Equality Illinois estimated the number of civil unions in Illinois by contacting each of the state's county clerks for information, some think the group's estimate is too low because the study has not taken into account the number of couples who applied for civil unions elsewhere but are now considered unionized in Illinois:

While there is no accurate way to estimate this number, Randy Hannig, the group's director of public policy, said he was certain the total number of Illinois residents now in civil unions is "drastically higher" than the 1,618 figure they arrived at.

Governor Pat Quinn signed the civil unions bill into law back in late January, and he was on deck with a handful of other public officials at Millennium Park in June to celebrate the new law by holding a mass civil unions ceremony.