Chicago's Pride Parade wasn't until Sunday, but crowds turned out before then to celebrate the Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel got emotional while addressing a crowd and thanking them for speaking up and speaking out over the years. Emanuel calls the decision a "victory for America's true values of treating everyone equally under the law.''
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois says the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage is "another step in the march toward equal rights.''
The Equality Illinois group says the ruling sends a powerful message that LGBTQ Americans "should be treated equally and justly in all facets of life.''
Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov says those couples can now travel throughout the country without fear that their marriages won't be recognized elsewhere.
At the same time, he says the fight is not over and opponents will try to create legal loopholes to marginalize LGBTQ individuals.
Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki calls the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage a "misfortune." Paprocki said in a statement Friday morning that the government "has no moral authority to change what god has created."
Illinois has allowed gay marriages since last year after state lawmakers approved them in 2013.
The Roman Catholic bishop says just because the government legalizes gay marriage ``does not make it morally valid.''