SR0946 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0946 LRB102 27034 LAW 38344 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Elise Malary, who passed away in March of 2022 at the age of 31; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary was born on March 29, 1990 and lived in Chicago's Andersonville and Rogers Park neighborhoods and in Evanston; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary was a beloved sister, friend, advocate, and community leader and was known for her fierceness, kindness, and compassion; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary was passionate about advancing social justice for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, especially Trans people of color like herself, who experience hardships, rejection, stigmatization, violence, and disparities regarding access to affirming health care services, community resources, and opportunities for housing, workforce development, and employment; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary interned at the AIDS Foundation Chicago and worked at Equality Illinois, the Chicago Reader, and the Civil Rights Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's Office; she would regularly join advocates from across Illinois to lobby state legislators in support of LGBTQ+ affirming legislation during annual LGBTQ+ Advocacy Days; she also served for three years as a member of the Equality Illinois Community Advisory Group; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary traveled around the state to lift LGBTQ+ Illinoisans, including several trips to Carbondale where she met with LGBTQ+ youth at the Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center (the Center); additionally, on October 8, 2017, she was the keynote speaker at the Center's gala, and her remarks continue to inspire and offer hope to those who attended the event; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary was a founding member of the Chicago Therapy Collective (the Collective), the mission of which is to promote city-wide accountability and action to alleviate LGBTQ+ health disparities and advance collective LGBTQ+ health and well-being through education, therapy, advocacy, and the arts; she helped coordinate the Collective's annual Transgender Day of Resilience and Transgender Day of Visibility events and was a leader on the #HireTransNOW initiative to reduce anti-Trans hiring stigma and create pipelines to Trans-affirming jobs; and

WHEREAS, Elise Malary was known to many through her activism; in 2019, when anti-Trans stickers were placed at the Women and Children First Bookstore in Andersonville, she helped organize a community rally and chalking of the sidewalk outside the bookstore with messages of hope and affirmation for Trans people; and

WHEREAS, Iggy V. Ladden, founder of the Chicago Therapy Collective, said "Elise Malary faced hardness and chose kindness; Elise faced cruelty and chose softness, love, and joy; she chose giving people the benefit of the doubt; she looked for the good in them; she chose compassion and she chose time and time again to lift others up"; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Elise Malary, a fierce and compassionate advocate with a commitment to Black and Trans liberation, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and the community that knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the family of Elise Malary and to the Chicago Therapy Collective as an expression of our deepest sympathy.