Video: Bud Billiken Parade Attendees Proclaim Support For Marriage Equality

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 28, 2013 4:40PM

The battle for marriage equality in Illinois is beginning to heat up once again. Former Illinois GOP chair Pat Brady was hired by the ACLU Tuesday to lobby Springfield Republicans to support the stalled same-sex marriage legislation.

On Wednesday, Illinois Unites for Marriage released a new campaign video shot during the Bud Billiken Parade earlier this month where attendees of the nation's oldest African American parade voiced their support for marriage equality. Check it out below.

The video is obviously aimed at rallying support for SB 10 within the African American community. Black state representatives were hesitant during the spring legislative session to back the bill, fearing a backlash among their constituencies and their support may have been the difference between tabling the legislation and passage.

Chicago Cardinal Francis George also restated his opposition to SB 10 in an interview with Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown. “If they had the votes, they would have passed it already,” George replied to Brown's assertion that passage of the legislation was only a matter of time.