Same-sex marriage came to Illinois by way of the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which took effect June 1, Chicago lawyer Richard Wilson wrote in the August Illinois Bar Journal. "Promising full marriage equality in Illinois as a matter of state law, the Act legalizes same-sex marriage, leaves in place the Civil Union Act, and provides for voluntary conversion of civil unions to marriages," he said. "Also - and remarkably - it grants the continuing jurisdiction of the Illinois courts to a same-sex marriage," he said.

"The Act mandates absolute protection for freedom of religious practice and certain protections and immunity from suit on grounds consistent with religious belief. Finally, it repeals the same-sex marriage prohibitions enacted in 1996, which lingered in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act and went untouched by the passage of the Illinois Civil Union Act three years ago," Wilson said.

But the Marriage Fairness Act left some unanswered questions as well, which Wilson explores in his excellent review of the new law. Read it and find out more.