Before he left the Illinois State Senate to take office as Illinois State Treasurer, Dan Rutherford made an simple but eloquent speech when in one of his last votes, he voted for the Civil Union bill here in Illinois…

No grandstanding.  No fluff.  Just that it’s the right thing to do.  It would be nice to know that we’ve progressed as a society enough to where something so right would no longer be controversial.

However, a recent Trib article now lists Rutherford as opposing full marriage equality in Illinois.  Why the about face?

If Civil Unions are the right thing, so is full marriage equality.  Dan recognized that we can now longer let a group of people stay second class citizens based on whom you love.  Having Civil Unions without marriage keeps that second class status for LGBT people.  We’ve moved past the Plessy v. Ferguson status of separate, but equal that civil unions currently provide.  It’s time for full marriage equality, and Dan Rutherford knows it.  It’s the right thing, in your words, Dan.