Full Text of HR0955 98th General Assembly
HR0955 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Vernita | 4 | | Gray of Chicago; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray has dedicated most of her life to the | 6 | | struggle for LGBT equality and has served Chicago's gay, | 7 | | lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community with | 8 | | distinction since the late 1960s; she helped found Chicago's | 9 | | first lesbian newspaper, Lavender Women, helped organize the | 10 | | City's first Pride Parade, and set-up one of Chicago's first | 11 | | gay information hotlines, which she operated out of her | 12 | | apartment; she was instrumental in forming the first Lesbian | 13 | | Caucus of the nascent Gay Liberation organization in the early | 14 | | 1970s; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Since 1993, Vernita Gray has aided the LGBT | 16 | | community through her work at the Cook County State's Attorney | 17 | | office, where she was the LGBT victim-witness coordinator, | 18 | | working with victims of hate crimes, domestic violence, and the | 19 | | families of homicide victims; after 6 years she was promoted to | 20 | | LGBT liaison, where she was responsible for reaching out to | 21 | | communities in Cook County; her favorite task was speaking to | 22 | | high school students about hate crimes and issues of violence | 23 | | in the community, for which she was awarded the Stonewall |
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| 1 | | Award; she led the effort to see that gays and lesbians were | 2 | | included in the annual Bud Billiken parade when they had | 3 | | traditionally been excluded; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray worked beside President Barack Obama | 5 | | as a member of the LGBT advisory council when he was an | 6 | | Illinois State Senator, and she attended the Democratic | 7 | | National Convention in Denver and President Obama's | 8 | | inauguration in Washington, D.C.; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray was inducted into the Chicago Gay and | 10 | | Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1992 for her efforts as an early leader | 11 | | in the gay-liberation movement; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray married her wife, Pat Ewert, on | 13 | | November 27, 2013, becoming the first same-sex couple married | 14 | | in Illinois as a result of being plaintiffs in a federal court | 15 | | case that allowed the couple to wed early, despite the law not | 16 | | going into effect until June 1, 2014; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray was a Chicago business owner for 11 | 18 | | years, operating the "Sol Sands" restaurant and a second | 19 | | company that develops audio visual materials for children; she | 20 | | is a graduate of Columbia College with a degree in writing and | 21 | | communications and published "Sweet Sixteen", a volume of her | 22 | | own poetry; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Later in life, Vernita Gray devoted much of her | 2 | | time to bring attention to the issue of aging gays and | 3 | | lesbians, which she felt was often overlooked and that there | 4 | | was still much work to be done; she served on the Task Force of | 5 | | the Aging, the LGBT advisory committee to the AARP, and the | 6 | | National Gay and Lesbian Senior Task Force; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 | | we mourn the passing of Vernita Gray, and extend our sincere | 10 | | condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 11 | | her; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to the family of Vernita Gray as an expression of our | 14 | | deepest sympathy.
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