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Dawn Clark Netsch was an American professor of law at Northwestern University and an Illinois politician. A member of the Democratic Party in the United States, she served in the Illinois State Senate from 1972 to 1990, and as the Illinois Comptroller from 1991 through 1994. In 1994 she was the first woman to be nominated by a major political party to run for Governor of Illinois. She co-authored the legal textbook, State and Local Government in a Federal System.
Myra Colby Bradwell was an American publisher and political activist. She attempted in 1869 to become the first woman to be admitted to the Illinois bar to practice law, but was denied admission by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1870 and the United States Supreme Court in 1873, in rulings upholding a separate women's sphere. Bradwell had founded and published Chicago Legal News from 1868, reporting on the law and continued that work. Meanwhile, influenced by her case, in 1872 the Illinois legislature passed a state law prohibiting gender discrimination in admission to any occupation or profession.
Mary Ann McMorrow was an Illinois Supreme Court chief justice.
Pearl M. Hart was a Chicago attorney who defended oppressed minority groups. Hart was the first woman in Chicago to be appointed Public Defender in the Morals Court. She represented children, women, immigrants, lesbians, and gay men, often without fee or for a nominal fee. She attended the John Marshall Law School and was admitted to the Illinois State Bar in 1914.
Thomas R. Chiola served as a judge of the Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County from 1994 to 2009. He was the first openly gay person elected to public office in Illinois.
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Equality Illinois (EI) was founded in 1991 to work towards building a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment and social justice through education, advocacy, and protection of the rights of the LGBT community.
Nancy Coats-Ashley was the first female lawyer for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in the five state area consisting of Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. She also served as a District Court Judge for Oklahoma County beginning in 1995 and ending in 2004 with her retirement. During that time she started the Mental Health Court of Oklahoma County, one of the first courts of its kind in the Southwest. Coats-Ashley served as President of the Oklahoma Federal Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and the William J. Holloway Jr. American Inn of Court and was appointed by former Governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry to serve as a member of the Oklahoma Forensic Review Board. Coats-Ashley was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2005 for her work as a pioneer in her field.
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William B. Kelley was a gay activist and lawyer from Chicago, Illinois. Many laud him as an important figure in gaining rights for gay people in the United States, as he was actively involved in gay activism for 50 years.
Vernita Gray was an African-American lesbian and women's liberation activist from the beginning of those movements in Chicago. She began her writing career publishing in the newsletter Lavender Woman. After owning and operating her own restaurant for almost a decade, Gray became the LGBT liaison for the Cook County State's Attorney's office. In 2013, she and her partner became the first same-sex partners to wed in Illinois.
Renee C. Hanover was an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who practiced in Chicago. As a lawyer, she defended groups and individuals involved in civil rights cases dealing with gender, LGBT issues and race. She was part of the Women's Law Center and fought for intersectional equality. Hanover was one of the first openly gay lawyers to practice in the United States.
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References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Judge Nancy Katz reflects on career". Windy City Times . October 4, 2017.
- 1 2 "NANCY J. KATZ – Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame".