Woman of first Illinois gay marriage dies aged 65
Vernita Gray, 65, died on Tuesday evening after a long battle with breast cancer.
She and her wife Patricia were granted a marriage licence early because of Gray’s illness, allowing the couple to marry before the effective date of Illinois’ equal marriage law.
The act also allowed Cook County residents, followed by those in other counties, to marry earlier than the 1 June date, because there was no appeal made against the new law.
The pair married in November after being together for over five years. They had entered into a civil union in 2011.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/03/19/woman-first-illinois-gay-marriage-dies-aged-65/
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She died a married woman and now her spouse will gain all the benefits granted to a surviving spouse. Only one of many reasons why marriage is an important civil right.
