Healthy Families and Gay Rights: A Multiple Streams Analysis of Civil Union Legislation in Illinois

Abstract

Using Kingdon's (1995) multiple streams framework, this article analyzes the processes of problem definition, policy proposal, and political decision-making in the passage of civil union legislation in Illinois in 2009–2011. Prominent problem definitions emphasized family vulnerability in the health care system, eclipsing the concerns of religious organizations that the existence of civil unions violated their religious liberty. Political factors which permitted both civil unions and same-sex adoption protection included disorganized and detached opponents; a state attorney general who served as a policy entrepreneur for family rights; and postelection, strategic bipartisan negotiation which opened a narrow window for policy change. Implications for family policy issues are discussed.