As Vote Looms, Obama Gives Boost to Ill. Marriage Equality Bill

With a vote on marriage equality in Illinois expected by week's end, President Obama gave a boost to the effort during a visit to his adopted home state.

"Here in Illinois, we've got a vote on same-sex marriage that's going to be coming up in the legislature," Obama told the crowd at a fund-raiser for congressional Democrats last night in Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. " I just want to say for the record it's something that I deeply support."

An Illinois House vote on the marriage bill will likely take place today or early tomorrow, according to Windy City Times. The state Senate has already passed it, and Gov. Pat Quinn says he will sign it. The legislative session ends tomorrow, meaning the bill must go through by then or wait for the next session. Pro-LGBT activists have begun gathering in the state capitol in Springfield in anticipation of the vote; opponents do not appear to have a presence, Windy City Times notes.