Fridae

Chicago may become the second US city to marry same-sex couples as Mayor Richard Daley said that he would have "no problem" with the county clerk issuing marriage licenses to gay couples but shopped short of saying he would follow San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom's footsteps.

At a city hall news conference on Wednesday to announce his appointments to two key administration posts, he replied to a question about San Francisco where thousands of gay and lesbians couples have queued overnight and in the rain for marriage licenses.

He dismissed a suggestion that marriage between gay couples would undermine the institution.

"A lot of people are opposed to it. So be it," Daley said. "But again, you have to point out the strength of that community - they're doctors, they're lawyers, they're journalists, they're politicians, they're someone's son or daughter, they're someone's mother or father.

"They're parents, and I have been with them. They've adopted children. They have wonderful children. To me, we have to understand this is part and parcel of our families and our extended families.

"They love each other, just as much as anyone else. They believe that the benefits they don't have, they should have."

When asked about protests from conservative groups that same-sex marriages undermine traditional families, Daley who is reportedly a devout Catholic, said that it was divorce, not gays at the root of the problem.

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"Marriage has been undermined by divorce," the mayor said. "So don't tell me about marriage. You're not going to lecture me about marriage, or anyone else. People should look at their own life and look in their own mirror. I think marriage has been undermined for a number of years, if you look at the facts and figures on it. So don't blame the gay, lesbian, transgender, transsexual community, please don't blame them for it."

County Clerk David Orr, who is in charge of issuing marriage licenses in Chicago, the third largest city in the US, said he was "game to looking at options" but only if a consensus could be built between Daley, city and county government and advocacy groups.

"I'm fed up with people being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation," Orr said. "(But) whatever you do when it comes to challenging laws, you want it to be effective and not knee-jerk."

He noted that what happened regarding gay marriage in San Francisco had been meticulously planned.

It wasn't just "the clerk waking up one day and deciding to marry someone," Orr told the media.

It had the support of the entire "city apparatus" in San Francisco - from the mayor, City Council and advocacy groups on down. That's the model that would have to be followed here."

Last fall the county board authorised Orr to issue certificates of domestic partnership that carry no legal rights.

Illinois, as well as California, are among the 38 states in the US that bar the recognition of same-sex marriage.

Meanwhile, some 2,800 gay and lesbian couples from across the US have flocked to San Francisco since city officials decided to begin marrying same-sex couples last week.