SR1042 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1042 LRB098 20711 GRL 57574 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Vernita Gray on March 19, 2014; and

WHEREAS, Vernita Gray, a native Chicagoan who attended St. Mary High School and Columbia College, came out as a lesbian in 1969 and spent the rest of her life advocating for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, mentoring gay and questioning youth, opposing violence in all its forms, and working tirelessly for a more just Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Chicago when Vernita Gray was a young girl and inspired her to a lifetime of activism through his campaign to end de facto segregation in Chicago neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools; and

WHEREAS, Vernita Gray's career was varied, including ownership of the Uptown restaurant Sol Sands and 18 years at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, where she assisted LGBT victims of crime and coordinated the office's outreach to the LGBT community; and

WHEREAS, In the early 1970s, Vernita Gray started the first LGBT helpline out of her one-bedroom apartment; over the years, she sheltered many teenagers forced to leave their homes because of their sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, Vernita Gray, who described herself as a "gay hippie", traveled the world; she was a friend of many social justice pioneers, including James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Barack Obama, and visited the White House 4 times during the Obama administration, yet remained committed to the struggle for equality and understanding in her hometown of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Vernita Gray was a gifted poet who knew how to rally a crowd with the spoken word; and

WHEREAS, Vernita Gray received dozens of awards for her work, including the Stonewall Award and the Horizons Community Services Human First Award; she was also inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, Vernita Gray met her wife, Pat Ewert, in 2009; she subsequently entered into a civil union with her soon after Illinois law created that option for same-sex couples in 2011; and

WHEREAS, When Vernita Gray was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she and Pat Ewert knew they wanted to be married under the laws of the State of Illinois, thereby publicly declaring their love for one another, enjoying the fruits of a long labor for one of the major goals of the LGBT justice movement, and assuming the rights and responsibilities of marriage in the eyes of family, friends, and the State; and

WHEREAS, On the basis of her doctor's opinion that her time on this earth was coming to an end, Vernita Gray, along with Pat Ewert, successfully filed suit for the right to marry before the June 1 effective date of the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Equality Act; in doing so, she opened the door for other similarly situated same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, In the midst of her personal battle with cancer, Vernita Gray served as a trailblazer and an inspiration, dying as she lived - as a creative, committed and compassionate voice for a more just society; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with her wife, family, and friends, mourn the passing of Vernita Gray; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Vernita Gray as an expression of our sympathy.