Gay Plainfield Couple to Make Their 35-Year Union Legal on Saturday

Russ Lipari and Ron Steinacher threw themselves a big bash five years ago to commemorate their 30th anniversary. They were certain there would never be a day when they'd be able make their relationship legal, so why wait to celebrate?

“We had a big reception with 200 people, a band, the whole thing,” Lipari said. “Had we known (civil unions were) coming, we would have waited to have the party. But this wasn’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eye.”

Lipari and Steinacher, who live in Plainfield and met as students at Eastern Illinois University, were among the first couples to obtain a civil union license on Wednesday, the first day they were available under state law.

They’ll return to the Will County Courthouse in Joliet on Saturday morning to make it official. Just like a regular marriage license, they had to wait a minimum of 24 hours before using it and they will have to make their commitment publicly in front of a judge, Lipari said.

“Will we feel validated? Maybe a little bit,” Lipari, 55, said. “Our families and friends have been so supportive, so accepting, so approving, that that’s never been an issue.”

What has been, however, are the rights that come with a license that recognizes a couple’s legal commitment, he said. Like the ability to make medical decisions on behalf of each other and to guarantee that, should one of them die, one partner’s pension money will help support the other, he said.

“People who are married take so much for granted,” said Lipari, a band teacher at Lincoln Junior High School in Naperville. “This (civil union) grants us rights that we didn’t have previously, like taking care of your spouse.”

Lipari and Steinacher, 56, a music and band teacher in Reed-Custer School District 255U in Braidwood, also “jumped at the chance” to make their relationship legal, Lipari said, because they’ve seen how often legislation allowing same-sex unions has been taken away later by the courts or by voters in elections.

The process of getting the license was more legally involved than Lipari had expected, including a section “where you had to raise your hand and say, ‘I do,’” he said.

“(Everyone in the clerk’s office) was so incredibly cordial and welcoming,” Lipari said. “The staff was wonderful.”

While the couple won't be throwing a big party Saturday, they will be celebrating, he said. It’s a big year, he said, not only because they are they making their partnership legal, but they’re both retiring from their jobs this month, he said.

They’ll remain in Plainfield, but have no long-term plans beyond that, Lipari said.

“We’re going to relax and see what happens,” he said.