Illinois state representative Deborah Mell has become the state’s first high-profile elected official to legally marry a same-sex spouse.
Mell (pictured, right) and Christin Baker (left) were married last week by a judge in Davenport, Iowa, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. While Iowa has marriage equality, Illinois offers gay couples only civil unions — and the couple’s marriage will be recognized as a civil union in their home state.
“Our relationship deserves marriage,” Mell told the Sun-Times Tuesday. “That’s how I feel about it. I mean there was a time in our relationship where it just wasn’t right to call Christin my ‘partner’ or my ‘friend’ … or even my ‘civil-unionized partner.’ You know she’s my wife. … We deserve those titles, those rights.”
Click here for gay wedding resources in Illinois.
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