Illinois students April 1 launched the website www.CivilUnionsIllinois.org, a grassroots effort of students who came together through social networking sites like facebook.com to support Illinois House Bill 1826, civil unions legislation introduced last year by Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago). 

DePaul University sophomore Chris Jessup, Lake Forest College sophomore Phil Miatkowski and youth organizer Nick Rutan helped launch the website after inviting friends to an online group on the social networking site www.facebook.com. More than 8,000 people joined their group. The students then worked with Harris to launch www.CivilUnionsIllinois.org which enables Illinois residents to send free instant messages to legislators in support of HB 1826. 

“Students sometimes think their voices can’t make a difference. But our experience supporting civil unions shows that young people are having a tremendous impact,” said Miatkowski.  “Over 1,000 letters have been sent to legislators from their young constituents as a result of our launching www.CivilUnionsIllinois.org.”

Harris said, “Many people do not know that opposite-sex, same-sex and senior couples in Illinois can be denied the basic rights to make emergency health care decisions for their partners, to visit their partners in hospitals, share nursing home rooms or even make funeral arrangements after partners pass away. This is wrong. And I commend Chris, Phil, Nick and other young people of this state for bringing so many new voices to the movement for change.”

­—Matt Simonette