Cindy Smallwood and Sue Klefstad have been together for more than 30 years. When Klefstad was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, the couple had already worked out many legal questions.

"We took care of things ourselves. We share powers of attorney, and everything we own is in both names," Smallwood said.

On June 1, they'll be able to join in a civil union in Illinois.

Smallwood's book, "Remarkable Journey: The Year The Burly Broads Did The Cancer Dance," available at amazon.com, is about how the couple made it through Klefstad's breast and colon cancer treatment in 2009.

She writes: "It would be nice if we could get married and have all the rights and protection, and maybe get a few presents. But it would be redundant."

There's no rush, Smallwood says; they'll probably sign up in July, when Klefstad, who is now free of cancer, can get a day off.

On Dec. 1, 2010, the Illinois Senate voted 32-24-1 to approve Senate Bill 1716, giving couples in civil unions most of the legal rights granted to married people of opposite genders.

Smallwood said she was "delighted" with the new law, but "this is not going to do a whole lot for us that we haven't already done for ourselves."

Former Champaign County Board member Matthew Gladney is also in a longtime relationship with partner Ashley Rodman.

After 11 years together, "we plan to take advantage of the new law," Gladney said. "There's a local group organizing a big event to go to the county clerk together."

Like Smallwood and Klefstad, Gladney and Rodman have been treated well during medical problems, but they will be glad to see their rights codified.

"In hospital stays, we've been fortunate to deal with good-hearted medical staff, but we've never had that legal status," Gladney said.

They'll have spousal benefits at Rodman's job soon, a right already given to Gladney as a University of Illinois employee.

"I worked at a job six years without medical benefits," Gladney said. "Hopefully, this will change a lot of things. Anyway, I'm basically of the opinion that you don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

An expert on civil rights law said the state is moving ahead of its peers.

UI law Professor Sara Benson calls the new law "a big change."

"Civil unions are treated the same as marriage for state law purposes, whether it is visiting a loved one and being treated as a spouse, or for community property issues," she said.

Married in everything but name, Smallwood and Klefstad have worked out a life together on their 10 Monticello acres — even when things go bad, as with the cancer Klefstad has recovered from. They say that health care workers did their best to make them as comfortable as possible.

Getting Social Security benefits together would be the icing on the cake, Smallwood said last week. But the Illinois law has no bearing on federal law or practice.

"I'm not holding my breath on Social Security," Smallwood said.

Illinois is unique, Benson says, in that both same-sex couples and heterosexual couples are allowed to receive a civil union.

"My thought is that this law isn't discriminatory. If heterosexual couples want a civil union they can get it," she said. "The proof is in the pudding. How many heterosexuals will be rushing to the courthouse? Probably zero."

At the courthouse and the county clerk's office, civil unions will be treated essentially the same as marriages.

Champaign County Court Administrator Roger W. Holland said there will be a $10 judge's fee that goes to the Circuit Court Marriage Fund, the same as with weddings.

"It will be handled in much the same way as marriage, the same judges performing the ceremonies at the same time," Holland said. "The language of the ceremony will be different; new language is in the works."

Holland's office schedules four ceremonies a day Monday through Friday.

Champaign County Clerk Gordy Hulten said the civil union fee will be the same as for marriage, $20, with $5 of that going to a state domestic violence fund.

Smallwood says she and Klefstad have been pleasantly surprised by the kindness they were met with.

"What I've found is, if you expect people to treat you badly, they will, and if you don't, they won't," Smallwood said.