Terminally Ill Gay Woman Granted Early Marriage License

An Illinois same-sex couple will be allowed to marry before the marriage equality law takes effect because one of the women is terminally ill.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin on Monday ordered the Cook County clerk to issue an expedited marriage license to Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert. Gray is terminally ill.

County Clerk David Orr said he’ll comply with the order.

Illinois’ gay marriage law takes effect June 1. But the gay rights group Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois filed a lawsuit seeking immediate action for Gray and Ewert. Gray has cancer in her brain and bones.

Camilla Taylor of Lambda Legal says Gray wants to marry the woman she loves before she dies.

By: Cheston Catalano

Cheston Catalano is a Kentucky-based journalist whose work has been featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle. He is a long-time contributor to Liberaland.