Dawn Clark Netsch—a former Illinois comptroller and state senator, the first woman to win the Democratic nomination for governor and a longtime LGBT ally—died March 5 at 86, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Netsch had disclosed in January that she had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease.

In 2011, she talked with Windy City Times (www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Dawn-Clark-Netsch-Gay-ally-looks-back/34161.html&. She said that she became an advocate for LGBT rights because she and husband Walter (who died in 2008) had gay friends and because she was a civil libertarian.

Regarding same-sex marriage, she said, "We will reach a point where I think marriage is not prohibited anywhere. That's not going to happen quite in my lifetime. I think we'll add a few more states in my life, but it's going to take a while."

In 1995, Netsch was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame as a friend of the community.

This past January, Planned Parenthood honored Netsch when it marked the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Netsch was also a professor emeritus at Northwestern University School of Law.