Minneapolis Mayor to Gay Chicagoans: We'll Marry You

Gay marriage still isn't legal in Illinois, and Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak is making a boldfaced attempt to take advantage of that. Rybak is headed to Chicago today to announce a new ad campaign urging gay Windy City residents to cross the border and get hitched. Rybak will hold the event in Lakeview, the city's most prominent gay neighborhood, the Chicago Tribune reports. In other gay rights news:

• The Department of Veteran Affairs has announced that it will begin providing benefits to same-sex couples, ignoring a federal law limiting benefits to spouses "of the opposite sex," the New York Times reports. In a letter to Congress, Eric Holder explained that the Obama administration would no longer enforce the law, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling marking such discrimination as unconstitutional.
• Top Texas Republicans are battling a proposed San Antonio law that would make it illegal to discriminate against gay people in housing and hiring decisions, the Dallas Morning News reports. As "good primary politics in Texas, this is kind of a no-brainer," one GOP consultant said. Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott, for instance, says the ordinance would "trample" religious freedom.
• For more on battle over gay rights in Texas, Mississippi, and New Mexico, click here.

(More gay rights stories.)