A longtime LGBTQ+ rights activist from Chicago is celebrating Pride Month by reflecting and looking back on a monumental moment that changed the course of history in Illinois- her marriage.

Pat Ewert and her late wife Vernita Gray became the first gay couple to legally marry in the state in 2013.

Speaking to NBC Chicago from her home in Colorado, Ewert said she is remembering and honoring Gray's legacy.

“She was a force of nature,” Ewert said. “I still feel her presence to this day.”

Ewert said Gray was an advocate and a champion who dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of people in the LGBTQ+ community.

"Vernita had spent her adulthood fighting for equality for same sex couple,” Ewert said. “She started the first suicide hotline for gay people back what would have been the 7

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