Bill Text: IL SR1042 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of Vernita Gray.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-03-27 - Resolution Adopted [SR1042 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2013-SR1042-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
3 | learn of the death of Vernita Gray on March 19, 2014; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray, a native Chicagoan who attended St. | ||||||
5 | Mary High School and Columbia College, came out as a lesbian in | ||||||
6 | 1969 and spent the rest of her life advocating for the rights | ||||||
7 | of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, mentoring | ||||||
8 | gay and questioning youth, opposing violence in all its forms, | ||||||
9 | and working tirelessly for a more just Illinois; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited | ||||||
11 | Chicago when Vernita Gray was a young girl and inspired her to | ||||||
12 | a lifetime of activism through his campaign to end de facto | ||||||
13 | segregation in Chicago neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools; | ||||||
14 | and
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15 | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray's career was varied, including | ||||||
16 | ownership of the Uptown restaurant Sol Sands and 18 years at | ||||||
17 | the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, where she assisted | ||||||
18 | LGBT victims of crime and coordinated the office's outreach to | ||||||
19 | the LGBT community; and
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20 | WHEREAS, In the early 1970s, Vernita Gray started the first | ||||||
21 | LGBT helpline out of her one-bedroom apartment; over the years, |
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1 | she sheltered many teenagers forced to leave their homes | ||||||
2 | because of their sexual orientation; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray, who described herself as a "gay | ||||||
4 | hippie", traveled the world; she was a friend of many social | ||||||
5 | justice pioneers, including James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, | ||||||
6 | and Barack Obama, and visited the White House 4 times during | ||||||
7 | the Obama administration, yet remained committed to the | ||||||
8 | struggle for equality and understanding in her hometown of | ||||||
9 | Chicago; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray was a gifted poet who knew how to | ||||||
11 | rally a crowd with the spoken word; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray received dozens of awards for her | ||||||
13 | work, including the Stonewall Award and the Horizons Community | ||||||
14 | Services Human First Award; she was also inducted into the | ||||||
15 | Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray met her wife, Pat Ewert, in 2009; she | ||||||
17 | subsequently entered into a civil union with her soon after | ||||||
18 | Illinois law created that option for same-sex couples in 2011; | ||||||
19 | and
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20 | WHEREAS, When Vernita Gray was diagnosed with terminal | ||||||
21 | cancer, she and Pat Ewert knew they wanted to be married under |
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1 | the laws of the State of Illinois, thereby publicly declaring | ||||||
2 | their love for one another, enjoying the fruits of a long labor | ||||||
3 | for one of the major goals of the LGBT justice movement, and | ||||||
4 | assuming the rights and responsibilities of marriage in the | ||||||
5 | eyes of family, friends, and the State; and
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6 | WHEREAS, On the basis of her doctor's opinion that her time | ||||||
7 | on this earth was coming to an end, Vernita Gray, along with | ||||||
8 | Pat Ewert, successfully filed suit for the right to marry | ||||||
9 | before the June 1 effective date of the Illinois Religious | ||||||
10 | Freedom and Marriage Equality Act; in doing so, she opened the | ||||||
11 | door for other similarly situated same-sex couples to obtain | ||||||
12 | marriage licenses in Illinois; and
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13 | WHEREAS, In the midst of her personal battle with cancer, | ||||||
14 | Vernita Gray served as a trailblazer and an inspiration, dying | ||||||
15 | as she lived - as a creative, committed and compassionate voice | ||||||
16 | for a more just society; therefore, be it
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17 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | ||||||
18 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with her | ||||||
19 | wife, family, and friends, mourn the passing of Vernita Gray; | ||||||
20 | and be it further
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21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
22 | presented to the family of Vernita Gray as an expression of our |
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1 | sympathy.
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