Under a bright summer sun on June 2, Paul Dombrowski and Joe Serio joined more than two dozen same-sex couples in Millennium Park for a mass civil union ceremony.
That was the first day Illinois allowed civil unions, marking a milestone for gay and lesbian couples and giving them many of the same state-level rights as married couples.
Serio and Dombrowski had been together 15 years. They were excited about the opportunity to be part of Illinois history and to obtain the rights that came with the union, but they weren’t expecting the event to make them feel different as a couple.
They were wrong.
“I think both of us, we didn’t realize what an impact it would have,” Dombrowski said. “When we decided to do it, we thought, ‘OK, we’re going to do it, we should do it for legal reasons and whatnot.’ But after we did it, there really was a difference. It sort of legitimized our past 15 years.”
Dombrowski is an elementary school teacher in Palatine.
“I didn’t know what to expect from the parents of the kids that I teach,” he said. “But I didn’t get any negative phone calls. In fact, I got several positive supportive phone calls.”
The legal protections have also brought the couple a level of comfort they never had.
“If one of us would lose our job, both of our current employers would cover the insurance for the other partner,” Dombrowski said. “Before, it wouldn’t have happened. It’s really encouraging.”
