CHICAGO – Today the Illinois Unites for Marriage Coalition (IUM) released a summary of its work, demonstrating in raw the numbers the grassroots campaign that led to passage of SB 10, The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. Governor Pat Quinn is set to sign SB10 at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20, in front of an expected audience of 3,000 people from across the State of Illinois at the University of Illinois-Chicago campus.
The IUM Summary reflects the far and wide support for the freedom to marry for lesbian and gay couples and their families in Illinois, illustrating the hard work that was accomplished throughout Illinois:
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More than 75,000 voters contacted in less than three months
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More than 80,000 emails messages were sent to state legislators in support of SB10.
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Nearly 18,000 postcards supporting marriage equality were collected and later delivered to members during in-district meetings and in their Springfield offices.
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More than 31,000 phone calls were placed to targeted members offices in support of SB10.
“Looking at the data and reflecting on all the work we accomplished makes me immensely proud to have worked on this campaign. The numbers show the vigor and momentum that IUM brought to the field in support of the freedom to marry in Illinois,” said John Kohlhepp, Campaign Manager for Illinois Unites for Marriage. “Each of these numbers reflect an Illinois voter, an Illinois family or an Illinois parent who took their time to join the effort to win the freedom to marry in our state.”
“Today’s signing is a victory for all these supporters,” added Kohlhepp.
The complete summary is available here. The Illinois Unites for Marriage Coalition is a statewide, broad-based campaign comprised of over 60 organizations that raised more than $1.4 million to pass SB10.
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