Black lawmakers may hold key on marriage equality in Illinois

The Rev. James Meeks took to the pulpit of the enormous House of Hope at Salem Baptist Church of Chicago and exhorted his congregation to make its voice heard by lawmakers who will vote on whether to allow gay marriage in Illinois. "We're living in a time where, here in our own state … they are about to make the law of the land that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman. I think it's time for the church to wake up," Meeks, a former state senator, said on a recent Sunday.