Ill. Gov Will Sign Marriage Equality Bill November 20

Illinois governor Pat Quinn plans to give LGBT residents a little something extra to be grateful for this Thanksgiving -- he's set November 20, eight days before the holiday, as the date he'll sign the state's marriage equality bill, which the legislature passed this week.

Quinn announced today that he'll sign the bill into law at the UIC Forum, a large meeting hall on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Windy City Times reports. "I look forward to signing this landmark legislation on November 20 and celebrating a big step forward with the people of Illinois," he said in a prepared statement. The signing ceremony will be at 3:30 p.m.

However, some activists would like for there to be at least one other signing ceremony in another part of the state, emphasizing that the effort to pass the bill was a statewide one. "I really urge those planning the marriage bill signing ceremony not to make it just in Chicago," Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times and founder and cochair of last month's March on Springfield for Marriage Equality, said in the paper's story. "We worked so very hard on the March on Springfield to make this a statewide effort. Let's make the signing one too."

To register to attend the November 20 ceremony, click here. The event is free and open to the public.

The law will go into effect June 1.