Bernard leaving White House reception with Pres. Obama, June 2010

“My family fled anti-Semitic persecution when I was nearly 14 years old,” Bernard shares. “We journeyed through Russia, Austria, and Italy without a permanent home or a known destination until the United States gave us asylum. We settled in the Detroit area in 1989.”

Now, some 20 years later, Cherkasov is CEO of Equality Illinois (EQIL), one of the Midwest United States’ largest organizations advocating for LGBT civil rights. Their most recent accomplishment is the passage of a law legalizing civil unions in the state of Illinois for people in same-sex relationships. The bill was signed by Governor Pat Quinn on January 31, 2011, and becomes effective June 1.

By Heidi Mann, Associate Editor

Rev. Heidi Mann serves as Associate Editor, copy-editor, "Someone You MUST Know" feature author, and all around "God send" for 10,000 Couples. She is also a freelancer and owns Final Touch Proofreading and Editing, LLC. Heidi has been something of a wordsmith in various contexts throughout her life, from junior high, when she first started writing poetry; through high school, college, and graduate school, where writing skills came in very handy; and on through 13+ years of ministry as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a role in which she wrote regularly for sermons, newsletters, and correspondence. Heidi lives in the tiny and delightful town of Hendrum, Minn., with her husband, 2 young sons, and 4 mischievous cats.

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