Patricia Ewert

CHICAGO — A gay rights activist, who was one half of the first same-sex couple to marry in Illinois, has died at age 65. Family friend Jim Bennett says Vernita Gray died late Tuesday of cancer at the same Chicago home where she married Patricia Ewert in late November.

CHICAGO — Two Chicago women on Wednesday became the first same-sex couple to say their vows in Illinois after a federal judge granted an expedited marriage license because of one woman’s ailing health.

CHICAGO — Even as they celebrated their home state becoming the 16th to legalize same-sex marriage, Chicago couple Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert couldn’t help but feel bitter disappointment: Marriages cannot legally start in Illinois until June 1, 2014, a day one of them might not live to see.