Full Text of SR1042 98th General Assembly
SR1042 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Vernita Gray on March 19, 2014; and
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Vernita Gray was a gifted poet who knew how to | 11 | | rally a crowd with the spoken word; and
| 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
| 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 | 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
| 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 | 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
| 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
| 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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