Even the harsh November cold couldn’t dull the proud colors of the rainbow flags billowing in the 7-11 parking lot of Boystown last Thursday night. Equal marriage and gay rights activists huddled together to celebrate their home state, Illinois, becoming the 15th U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act that legalized “gay marriage” was passed by Illinois legislators last Tuesday, Nov. 5. The act, different from the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act signed in 2011, permits samesex couples and their children access to the same marriage benefits as heterosexual couples.

The bill also highlights that no religious organization or facility is required to recognize or perform a religious ceremony if it violates the organization’s beliefs.

“Today, the Illinois House put our state on the right side of history,” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said.

The bill takes effect June 1, 2014, and Quinn has announced that he will sign the bill before the end of November.

Quinn recognized Heather Steans, the 7th District Democratic Senator, and Greg Harris, the 13th District Democratic House Representative, who were the two major spokespeople for the bill.

“Illinois is a place that embraces all people and today, we are an example for the nation,” Quinn said.

DePaul senior Nathaniel Iovinelli was at work at the American Institute for Research and watched the live stream of the debates for almost three-and-a-half hours before he saw the bill pass.

“I actually started crying in the office. I was elated that this happened. I don’t want to say that I didn’t expect it because I really did trust that Illinois was going to make the right decision, but I didn’t know. Words couldn’t describe how I felt right at that moment. I needed to watch the screen and be proud of our country,” Iovinelli said.

Senior Matthew von Nida, president of Act Out, the LGBTQA activist organization at DePaul, said, “I was so excited. I saw (the bill passed) on Twitter because I was trying to keep up with it. I wanted to jump up, but I couldn’t because I was in class.”

Junior Connor Lillis also heard the bill passed while he was in class.

“It was an exciting moment for me, being a gay man, knowing that I was supported by so many people. And I went on Facebook and it was status after status about how it had passed and it really made me feel supported as a human being,” Lillis said.

Lillis had been following the bill since early this year when it was being passed between the House and the Senate.

“It was kind of upsetting that we had to wait until now for it to pass,” Lillis said.

The bill has traveled between the Illinois House and Senate since January 2013, when it was first introduced to the Senate. There, it passed Feb. 14, but was not passed in time by the House by May 31. House legislators settled on an amendment to the bill Nov. 5 and passed it back to the Senate where it was finally approved.

The bill barely passed through the House with a 61-54 majority, and it passed through the Senate 32-21. The House, where the bill had the most difficulty getting through, saw 58 of its 71 Democrats vote for the bill, as well as 3 of its 47 Republicans. “It was a lot of fun watching the debate because it was so close,” Iovinelli said.

Iovinelli said the opposition to same-sex marriage often stemmed from religious beliefs and concerns about the “traditional family structure.”

Tom Morrison, a Republican House representative from the 54th District, argued against the bill because it would have “far reaching implications” on society.

“Real marriage is the building block for human civilization. Up until the year 2000, marriage has been recognized as one man and one woman as husband and wife to be father and mother to any children their union produces,” Morrison said during the debate. “A ‘no vote’ today simply preserves the current social order, which has served us well for thousands of years.”

Iovinelli recalled that someone for samesex marriage stood up and said, “Yes, there are civil unions here, but people aren’t equal. And if anybody needs to jump through hoops for equality then that’s not equal. That’s legally allowing discrimination.”

“It was a really interesting House debate because I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so personal happen in the House,” Iovinelli said. “It made the arguments personal, and I think that really hit the opposition.”

Freshman Carina Adra said she was ecstatic when she saw on Facebook that the bill had passed.

“It’s one step in the revolution of the gay movement,” Adra said. “This is diminishing segregation.”

Von Nida said the bill is only a starting point for the larger gay rights movement.

“It’s something I think provides a great base for LGBTQA activism,” von Nida said. “But I don’t think it really focuses on the issues I think are most prominent for this community I interact with.”

Through Act Out and other LGBTQA organizations, von Nida raises awareness and fundraises for homeless and transgender youth in the LGBTQA community. Von Nida said these groups don’t often make it into the mainstream conversation about gay rights and samesex marriage.

However, passing the bill for marriage equality is the next step towards drawing attention to these issues, von Nida said.

“I’m so excited (same-sex marriage was legalized) in Illinois because now we have this opportunity to make this more prominent dialogue,” von Nida said.

Iovinelli, who is a frequent LGBTQA activist and helped organize the “March on Springfield” for same-sex marriage, said marriage equality is one of many issues. Like von Nida, Iovinelli hopes that LGBTQA homelessness, bullying, HIV/AIDS treatment and other forms of inequality will be addressed.

“Change is happening, and we’re slowly getting there,” freshman Spencer Olson said after an Act Out meeting Nov. 6. “I just moved here, but I feel proud being here.”

While legalizing same-sex marriage may have an effect on gay rights at some schools, many students found the DePaul community to be supportive of the LGBTQA community regardless of the legalization of same-sex marriage.

“I feel like the DePaul community has always been a very, very accepting community, and I don’t think anything going into law would change that,” Lillis said.

“We have such an open, accepting campus already, and I don’t think marriage equality means anything in terms of how DePaul will run because we’re the same community through and through,” Iovinelli said. “(Legalizing same-sex marriage in Illinois) definitely enforced that we’re doing the right thing. It’s enforcing our Vincentian values that just supports everybody because everybody deserves to be happy, right?” Iovinelli said.

“There’s a lot of celebration. So, I think there’s a lot more pride,” von Nida said. “(Legalizing same-sex marriage in Illinois) makes the conversation more and more prominent because it’s almost normalizing marriage to people that anybody can marry anybody regardless of sexual orientation … it engages us to say like, ‘what’s next?'”

Sophomore Bryan Nolte said, compared to President Obama’s re-election and legalizing same-sex marriage in other states, his reaction to his home state, Illinois, passing of same-sex marriage was more extreme. “This is a very affirming sense, a very proud moment,” Nolte said.

“This is just one victory. There is still discrimination in employment, but we really have to savor it, there’s a bigger fight to be won.”