The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, which legalizes civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex partners, takes effect on June 1, 2011. The law entitles civil union partners to all of the legal rights and obligations that opposite-sex spouses have under Illinois state law by requiring that a party to a civil union be included in any use of the terms “spouse”, “family”, “immediate family”, “dependent”, “next of kin”, or other terms that denote a spousal relationship throughout Illinois law. Illinois will recognize as a civil union any same-sex marriage, civil union or substantially similar legal relationship entered into in other states.
