Senior Moment: 5 Trailblazing LGBT Elders

From: NewNowNext

Vernita Gray

65

Vernita Gray was at Woodstock when news of the Stonewall Riots hit in the summer of 1969. Within months she went home to Chicago, came out as a lesbian and established the city’s first gay helpline out of her apartment, which also served as an overnight shelter for homeless LGBT youth.

Gray was also integral in the Chicago chapter of the Gay Liberation Front and edited Lavender Woman, an early lesbian newspaper.

She worked for many years in the office of the Cook County State’s Attorney, where she served as a liaison to the LGBT community. Gray remained a presence at LGBT marches and events for decades, and was  inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1992.

President Obama invited her to the White House four times during his first six years in office.

A breast-cancer diagnosis in the 1990s did not deter Gray, who doggedly pursued marriage equality in her home state. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed marriage equality into law on November 20, 2013, but it would not take effect until  June 1, 2014.  Her health failing, Gray petitioned to be allowed to marry early and wed her partner, Pat Ewert, on November 22, 2013.

Gray lost her battle with cancer on March 18, 2014, at age 65.