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While favoring move, clerk won't issuesame sex marriage licensesNewsday.com from the Web, March 3, 2004 CHICAGO -- The clerk of Cook County says he supports gay marriage but will not follow the lead of San Francisco and issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. David Orr, in a written statement, said state laws bar gay couples from getting married. "After careful discussion with same-sex marriage advocates and like-minded elected officials, we have agreed that without widespread political and legal support, we need to explore alternative ways to secure these rights," Orr said Tuesday. His decision immediately drew fire from gay activists who say they will increase pressure on elected officials who say they support gay marriage but are not taking steps to make it legal. Keeanga Taylor of Chicago's Equal Marriage Now said those who don't follow their words with actions are "on the side of homophobes and bigots." The county clerk became a focus of the gay marriage debate after Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said he supported the idea but had no authority to issue marriage licenses. A law passed by the Illinois Legislature in 1996 bans gay marriage. Orr calls the law unconstitutional and discriminatory but says he won't break it. The debate over gay marriage was prompted by a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry. Thousands of gay weddings have been performed in San Francisco since Feb. 12, when the city began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Jason West, the mayor of New Paltz, N.Y., is vowing to go ahead with up to two dozen same-sex weddings this weekend, despite being charged with 19 criminal counts and possibly facing jail time for marrying gay couples. Last week, President Bush called on Congress to quickly pass an amendment prohibiting gay marriages. |
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