The ACLU of Illinois is saddened to learn of the death of Challis Gibbs just weeks after marrying her partner of 21 years, Elvie Jordan. The Gibbs-Jordan marriage was expedited last December by Federal Judge Sharon Coleman’s order granting early marriage licenses to same-sex couples, who because of a terminal illness, could not wait until June to wed when the state’s new marriage equality law to goes into effect. The case, represented by the ACLU of Illinois and Lambda, established a simple process for LGBT partners to obtain a marriage license in Cook County and wed immediately if one of the couple was suffering from a life threatening disease. That breakthrough was followed in February by a subsequent decision by Judge Coleman which nullified the state’s old but still enforced marriage discrimination laws, thereby immediately extending marriage equality to all same sex couples obtaining marriage licenses in Cook County.
Read more in The Windy City Times.
