A federal judge will allow one Illinois same-sex couple to marry seven months before official legislation legalizing gay unions is put into place.
Cook County Clerk David Orr said he was relieved and satisfied "at long last" to be granted the right to issue a marriage license for 64-year-old Vernita Gray and partner of five years, Patricia Ewert, 65.
"While we celebrate this historic milestone and wish them much happiness, the event is bittersweet and demonstrates that gay and lesbian couples have already waited too long for marriage equality," he wrote in a statement to ABC News.
Gray has been diagnosed with breast cancer, which recently metastasized to her bones and brain. As a final request, she asked to marry Ewert, her attorney said.
"The medical situation they're facing makes it unlikely they will have the freedom to marry if they have to wait," senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal Christopher Clark told ABC News.
Ewert and Gray decided to pursue the lawsuit on Friday, when they lodged a formal request to receive an emergency marriage license from the Cook County Clerk's office, even though Illinois' same-sex marriage legislation won't be put in place until June 1, 2014. According to the lawsuit, Gray's condition was dire enough to warrant a marriage license.
"She may have only days or weeks left to live as of the date of filing this complaint," the suit read.
The office granted clearance for the couple to be wed, Monday.
"I am so happy to get this news," Gray wrote in a statement on the same day that she went to a nearby medical facility for chemotherapy. "I'm excited to be able to marry and take care of Pat, my partner and my family, should I pass."
Gray and Ewert met in 2008, and have been inseparable since then, ABC reported. The two plan on having a small celebration after the ceremony, when Gray recovers from her latest round of treatment.
"It could not have come at a better time, Thanksgiving week," Clark said. "It's really something to be thankful for."
