Illinois will begin offering civil unions to gay and straight couples next summer, after the state legislature approved a bill last week.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will hold a ceremony in January to sign the bill into law, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Dec. 5. The law will then take effect in June.
“The passage this week of the civil unions legislation was historic. It’s a landmark law, it’s headed my way and I think it will be the law of the land of Lincoln in the coming year,” Quinn told the Associated Press.