“We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts transform the world.”

My dear family & friends-

I spent the first twenty years of my life berating myself over whether I should keep quiet about my sexual orientation.  What would people think?  Would I be ridiculed?  Who would joke about me when I wasn’t around?  Who would be disappointed?  Would my life be worse?

Guess what happened?  A lot changed.  And I’ve never been happier.

The people that matter most in my life didn’t just support me: You became my biggest defenders.  There is nothing so sweet as having others standing at your side, ready to challenge those trying to bring you down or treat you unfairly.  Every day I am humbled by those who stand up for love, fairness, and equality–even when it isn’t popular.  I know you don’t have to do it.  But you do.   And it means the world to me.

No good deed goes unpunished.  If you have any gas left in the tank, I would be so grateful if you could take one last step to finally end this battle in Illinois and ensure our state treats everyone the same, including people like me.  As you might have heard, in early January legislators in Springfield will vote on a bill that would allow same sex couples to solidify their loving relationship by way of a marriage. 

The chief sponsor of the bill explains: “It’s very straightforward.  We treat all couples with the same respect and dignity in the eyes of the law and we protect the rights of religious institutions to either consecrate or not consecrate marriages within their faith as they see fit. It’s very important that government not involve itself in religion on either side of the issue.”

Here’s the reality: Right now, internal counts of those legislators show that we may not have the votes.  It is very close, but some representatives are unsure.  They will make up their mind based on how their constituents voice their opinion.

That is why I am urging you to take 5 minutes to draft a very simple email and send it to your State Representative and State Senator, asking them to treat all Illinois residents fairly by supporting marriage equality.

It does not have to be long or time-consuming.  But by typing out a few sentences and hitting the send button, you may be the tipping point.  All you need to include is this:

1) Share you name, that you are a voter in Illinois, and indicate where you live.  It makes a big difference if the lawmaker knows that you are a constituent in their own district.  Say if there are multiple voters in your household (or, better yet, have each one send an email).

2) Urge them to vote in favor of marriage equality.  You can say this in one sentence or fifty.

That’s it.  More than at any other time, that simple act can make a real difference.  This is not like casting a vote for President when you know what the outcome will be in Illinois.  It is VERY close, and every single email counts tremendously. 

It would be great if you could do this right now…as you are reading this.  Because if you don’t do it now, you might forget.  Life is hectic.  Below you will find a list of legislators and email addresses.

Please send a message now explaining where you stand.

Forever grateful-

Paul

——————————————————————————————————

Not sure who your legislators are?  Go to this site, type in your address, and get their names, then come back here to get their email from the list below….

1) Step #1: FIND YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS: HERE (Remember to look for your STATE Representative and STATE Senator)

2) Step #2: Find their names below (alphabetical) and send them a quick email.  You should send one to your State Rep. AND one to your State Senator.  If two email addresses are listed for that person, send them to both addresses.

NAME                          EMAIL #1                                            EMAIL #2

Edward J. Acevedo	eacevedoed@ilga.gov	Sylvia_idrovo@sbcglobal.net
Pamela Althoff	pamela@pamelaalthoff.net	palthoff@mc.net
Luis Arroyo	RepDistrict3@gmail.com
Jason Barickman	jason@jasonbarickman.org
Mark H. Beaubien, Jr.	strepmbeaubien@sbcglobal.net
Daniel V. Beiser	dvbeiser@sbcglobal.net
Patricia R. “Patti” Bellock	rep@pbellock.com
Maria Antonia (Toni) Berrios	repberrios39@gmail.com	rep_berrios@yahoo.com
Daniel K. Biss	repbiss@gmail.com
Tim Bivins	senatorbivins@grics.net
Larry K. Bomke	senatorbomke@yahoo.com
Mike Bost	rep.bost@hotmail.com	mikebost@midwestmail.com
John E. Bradley	repjohnbradley@mychoice.net
Bill Brady	billbrady@senatorbillbrady.com
Dan Brady	dan@rep-danbrady.com
Rich Brauer	Brauerr@housegopmail.state.il.us
Adam M. Brown	abrown@decaturil.gov
Daniel J. Burke	burkedj2@ilga.gov	illhouse@aol.com
Kelly M. Burke	kelly@kellyburke2010.com
William D. ‘Will” Burns	repwillburns@att.net
J. Bradley Burzynski	senatorbrad@frontier.com	senatorbrad@verizon.net
John Cavaletto	john@johncavaletto.com
Linda Chapa-LaVia	chapa-laviali@ilga.gov	lindachapalavia@aol.com
James F. Clayborne, Jr.	jfc87@norcom2000.com
Franco Coladipietro	franco@il45.com
Sandy Cole	representativesandycole@comcast.net
Jacqueline “Jacqui” Y. Collins	jcollins@senatedem.ilga.gov
Annazette R. Collins	collinsar@ilga.gov	annazettec@sbcglobal.net
Marlow H. Colvin	repcolvin@sbcglobal.net
Michael G. Connelly	Repconnelly48@gmail.com
Fred Crespo	fred@fredcrespo.com
Tom Cross	tom@tomcross.com
M. Maggie Crotty	jdowis@senatedem.ilga.gov
John J. Cullerton	john@senatorcullerton.com
Shane Cultra	Shanecultra105@yahoo.com
Bill Cunningham	staterepbillcunningham@gmail.com
Barbara Flynn Currie	repcurrie@sbcglobal.net	bfc15@aol.com
John D’Amico	johnd@ilga.gov
Monique D. Davis	davismd@ilga.gov	Mdavis2147@yahoo.com
William “Will” Davis	williamd@ilga.gov	repwilldavis@sbcglobal.net
Anthony DeLuca	repdeluca@sbcglobal.net
William Delgado	repdelgado@aol.com
Kirk W. Dillard	senator@kdillard.com
Dan Duffy	Dan@SenatorDuffy.com
Lisa M. Dugan	lisadugan@sbcglobal.net
Kenneth Dunkin	kendunkin@msn.com
Jim Durkin	jimd@ilga.gov	kanadyF@housegopmail.state.il.us
Roger L. Eddy	roger@peopleforeddy.com	Reddyunit1@aol.com
Keith Farnham	krfarnham@gmail.com
Sara Feigenholtz	sara@staterepsara.com	staterep12@aol.com
Mary E. Flowers	flowersme@ilga.gov	mflowers@hds.ilga.gov
Gary Forby	senatorforby@yahoo.com
LaShawn Ford	lkf@ilga.gov	repford@lashawnford.com
Mike Fortner	Mike.fortner@sbcglobal.net
Jack D. Franks	jack@jackfranks.org
Michael W. Frerichs	mfrerichs@senatedem.ilga.gov
Robyn Gabel	robyn@robyngabel.com
Susan Garrett	ilsenate29@sbcglobal.net
Esther Golar	esthergolar@sbcglobal.net
Careen Gordon	staterepgordon@sbcglobal.net
Jehan Gordon	repjehangordon@gmail.com
William R. “Bill” Haine	whaine@cbnstl.com
Norine K. Hammond	rephammond@macomb.com
Don Harmon	dharmon@senatedem.ilga.gov
Greg Harris	greg@gregharris.org
David Harris	harrisforstaterep@yahoo.com
Kay Hatcher	info@kayhatcher.us	vote4kay@att.net
Chad D Hays	chad@chaddhays.com
Rickey R. Hendon	hendon@senatedem.ilga.gov
Elizabeth Hernandez	repehernandez@yahoo.com	hernandezl@ilga.gov
Thomas “Tom” Holbrook	holbrookta@ilga.gov	Thomas.holbrook@att.net
Linda Holmes	senatorholmes42@sbcglobal.net
Constance A.”Connie” Howard	howardca@ilga.gov	staterep-constance-a-howard@comcast.net
Mattie Hunter	senatorhunter03@sbcglobal.net
Toi W Hutchinson	thutchinson@senatedem.ilga.gov
Eddie Lee Jackson Sr.	bbsty2010@gmail.com
Mike Jacobs	senatorjacobs@sbcglobal.net
Naomi D. Jakobsson	naomi@naomijakobsson.com
Charles E. “Chuck” Jefferson	staterepchuck67@aol.com
Thomas Johnson	SenatorTomJohnson@gmail.com
Emil Jones, III	ejones3@senatedem.ilga.gov
John O Jones	johnojones@sbcglobal.net
Thaddeus Jones	tjones@calumetcity.org
Dwight Kay	info@dwightkay.com
David Koehler	senatorkoehler@grics.net
Renee Kosel	rkosel@ilga.gov
Dan Kotowski	dan@senatorkotowski.com
Louis I. Lang	langli@ilga.gov	reploulang@aol.com
Chris Lauzen	admin@lauzen.com
David R. Leitch	davidleitch@ameritech.net
Kimberly A. Lightford	statesenatorlightford@comcast.net
Camille Lilly	statereplilly@yahoo.com
Terry Link	senator@link30.org
David Luechtefeld	sendavel@midwest.net
Joseph M. Lyons	lyonsjm@ilga.gov	jsmith@hds.ilga.gov
Michael J. Madigan	mmadigan@hds.ilga.gov
Edward D. Maloney	ed@edmaloney.com
Iris Y. Martinez	ilsenate20@sbcglobal.net
Sidney H. Mathias	repmathias@hotmail.com	SIDNEYMATH@msn.com
Frank J. Mautino	patti76th@ivnet.com
Karen May	karen@repkarenmay.org	karenmay58@aol.com
Rita Mayfield	ritamayfield60@gmail.com
Emily McAsey	RepEmily@gmail.com
Michael P. McAuliffe	mmcauliffe20@yahoo.com
William “Sam” McCann	SenatorSam@frontier.com
Kyle McCarter	mccarter51@att.net	senatormccarter51@att.net
Kevin A. McCarthy	kevmac37@sbcglobal.net
Jack McGuire	jmcguire86@sbcglobal.net	Jmcguire86@sbcglobal.com
James T. Meeks	senmeeks@sbcglobal.net
Deborah L. Mell	deb@debmell.org	dmel@hds.ilga.gov
Susana Mendoza	staterepmendoza@gmail.com
John Millner	johnjmillner@aol.com
Jerry L. Mitchell	repjmitchell@comcast.net
Bill Mitchell	repmitchell@earthlink.net
Thomas R. “Tom” Morrison	Repmorrison54@gmail.com
Richard Morthland	rich@richmorthland.com
Rosemary Mulligan	repmulligan@usa.net
John G. Mulroe	info@mulroeforsenate.com
Matt Murphy	senatormattmurphy@gmail.com
Michelle Mussman	michelle@votemichelle.org
Antonio “Tony” Mu√±oz	amunoz@senatedem.ilga.gov
Elaine Nekritz	enekritz@repnekritz.org
Michael Noland	richj@noland.org
Chris Nybo	chris@chrisnybo.com
Jo Ann Osmond	reposmond@aol.com	osmondjoann@aol.com
Harry Osterman	hjo17@aol.com
Carole Pankau	carole@pankau.org
Brandon W. Phelps	bphelps@yourclearwave.com
Sandra M. Pihos	sandrapihos42@gmail.com	community@sandrapihos.com
Raymond Poe	poe@ilga.gov	poer@housegopmail.state.il.us
Robert Pritchard	bob@pritchardstaterep.com
Christine Radogno	cradogno@sbcglobal.net
Harry R. Ramey,Jr.	staterepramey55@aol.com
Kwame Raoul	raoulstaff@gmail.com
Dennis Reboletti	dennisreboletti@sbcglobal.net	dennisreboletti@aol.com
David B. Reis	david@davidreis.org
Dan Reitz	repreitz@egyptian.net
Sue Rezin	suerezin@gmail.com
Dale A. Righter	drighter@consolidated.net
Al Riley	rep.riley38@sbcglobal.net	rep.riley@sbcglobal.net
Dale E. Risinger	senatorrisinger@yahoo.com
Robert “Bob” Rita	robertbobrita@aol.com
Chapin Rose	ls@chapinrose.net	chapin@chapinrose.com
Wayne Arthur Rosenthal	waynerosenthal@consolidated.net
Pam Roth	moffitt@grics.net
Jim Sacia	JimSacia@aeroinc.net
Ronald L. Sandack	rsandack@downers.us
Martin A. Sandoval	msandoval@senatedem.ilga.gov
Angelo “Skip” Saviano	skip@skipsaviano.com
Suzi Schmidt	suzi@suzischmidt.com
Timothy L. Schmitz	info@timschmitz.org	ilrep49@sbcglobal.net
Jeffrey M. Schoenberg	senator@jschoenberg.org
Darlene J. Senger	sengerstaterep@gmail.com
Carol Sente	repsente@gmail.com
Ira I. Silverstein	isilverstein@senatedem.ilga.gov
Keith P. Sommer	sommer@mtco.com
Joe Sosnowski	joesosnowski@gmail.com	Joe.Sosnowski@rockfordil.gov
Cynthia Soto	csoto@ilga.gov	maria.zarate08@gmail.com
Heather Steans	hsteans@senatedem.ilga.gov
Ron Stephens	ron@repstephens.com
John M. Sullivan	senjohn@adams.net
Ed Sullivan, Jr.	ILhouse51@sbcglobal.net
Dave Syverson	info@senatordavesyverson.com
Andre Thapedi	rep32district@gmail.com	thapedi@sbcglobal.net
Jil Tracy	jiltracy@jiltracy.com
Donne E. Trotter	senatortrotter@yahoo.com
Michael W. Tryon	Mike@miketryon.com
Arthur L. Turner	turneral@ilga.gov	inezc@reparthurturner.com
Michael D. Unes	repunes@gmail.com
Patrick Verschoore	pverschoore@qconline.com
Louis S. Viverito	lviverito@senatedem.ilga.gov
Jim Watson	jimwatson@localnetco.com
Arthur J. ( A.J.) Wilhelmi	senatorajwilhelmi@sbcglobal.net
Ann M. Williams	ann@repanwilliams.com
Dave Winters	repwinters@aol.com
Karen A. Yarbrough	kyarbrough@ilga.gov	karenyarbrough@ameritech.net
Michael Zalewski	michaelz@ilga.gov