Behind every good woman is, well, another woman.
Illinois State Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago) announced on the state house floor Wednesday that she plans to marry her longtime girlfriend.
According to Chicago Pride, in the hopes that her announcement will lead to groundbreaking new legislation allowing gays and lesbians to marry in Illinois, Mell will wed her girlfriend of six years, Christin Baker.
As of right now, the happy couple plan to get married in Iowa next year.
"I want to talk about how we have built this life together," Mell said on WTTW. "Just being with her has made me a better person. I want to spend the rest of my life with her and I want to get married in Illinois."
Mell asked Baker to marry her during a dinner at the John Hancock Center in Chicago on April 10th. She had the engagement ring on the crème brulee.
"When I am able to introduce Deb as my fiancée or my wife, there's a weight there that I think people in society recognize, a level of commitment that they understand," Baker told WTTW. "I think if I call her my partner or my girlfriend, it's taken a little bit lightly."
Mell is the sister-in-law of former Governor Rod Blagojevich-think Celebrity Apprentice-and she and Baker would like to have a fall wedding. However, they won't be getting married this fall because that when Blagojevich goes on trial.
Baker argued that homosexuals have had better marriages than the heterosexual community.
"The gay community is lifting up the sanctity of marriage more than the straight community. More than Elizabeth Taylor, who's been married eight times, or Rush Limbaugh and all his wives," said Baker.
