Vernita Gray, One-Half Of First Same-Sex Couple To Marry In Illinois, Has Died

Gray and her wife, Patricia Ewert, became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Illinois on Nov. 27, 2013, the result of a court victory allowing them to marry months ahead of the state’s new marriage equality law due to Gray’s critical illness, brain and bone cancer.

The ruling in Gray’s case ultimately paved the way for many other same-sex couples to marry ahead of the law’s start date, June 1. Days before the suit was filed, Gray and Ewert watched Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn sign the bill into law at a celebratory ceremony.

“Love never fails,” Gov. Quinn said at the ceremony while Gray and Ewert looked on. About a month before that, she gave a rousing speech before thousands prior to a march for marriage equality outside the state’s capitol.

Ewert was at Gray’s side until the end, according to Windy City Times, which first reported her passing. The paper offers an extensive obituary chronicling Gray’s activist work over the last four decades, such as when she started the city’s first gay and lesbian helpline from her one-bedroom apartment, and described gray as “a ubiquitous activist”:

Gray was one of those people you might run into at any kind of event and among any sort of crowd—at every Chicago Pride Parade since the first in 1970, at a community gala or fundraiser, at a women’s music festival, at a poetry slam reading her own words, or even at the White House—which she visited four times during President Barack Obama’s administrations.

In a statement on Facebook, Illinois Rep. Greg Harris, who sponsored the marriage bill in the state’s House, said Gray is a “legend” and a “hero” and inspired many to fight for equality.

A memorial service is being arranged.

Article Appeared @http://www.buzzfeed.com/tonymerevick/vernita-gray-one-half-of-first-same-sex-couple-to-marry-in-i

 

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