Edith Windsor was an American LGBT+ rights activist whose landmark case caused the Supreme Court to federally recognize same-sex married couples and grant rights to a variety of federal benefits that, at the time, only heterosexuals had.
Windsor met Thea Spyer in 1963 at a Greenwich Village restaurant that catered to lesbians on Friday nights. They danced all night together and saw each other at parties for the next two years. It wasn't until 1965 that they began dating. In 1967, Spyer proposed marriage and from then they began their 40-year engagement, sealed with an inconspicuous diamond brooch so as to not raise attention.
They shared an apartment in Greenwich Village and their careers flourished. After returning from a trip to Italy in 1969 the couple learned that the Stonewall Inn uprising had occurred the night before. From then on they decided to live their lives more openly, marching in pride parades and joining LGBT+ organizations.
In 1977, Spyer discovered she had multiple sclerosis and with time running out along with the hope that marriage could be in their future, they, along with six friends, flew to Toronto and were married by Canada's first openly gay judge.
They lived the rest of their lives together and when Spyer died in 2009 Windsor found herself denied the unlimited spousal exemption from estate taxes available to married straight couples. A law known as DOMA, passed in 1996, kept her from full tax benefits. She would have to pay $363,053 in taxes. She sued and claimed that the law, in only recognizing marriages between a man and a woman, unconstitutionally gave same-sex married couples "differential treatment."
In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned the law in a 5-4 ruling, citing the Fifth Amendment guarantee that no one shall be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." For the first time, same-sex marriages were given the same recognition and benefits always enjoyed by straight couples.
Edith Windsor died on September 12, 2017, at the age of 88.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/us/edith-windsor-dead-same-sex-marriage-doma.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/12/550502373/edith-windsor-lgbtq-advocate-who-fought-the-defense-of-marriage-act-dies-at-88
https://youtu.be/IgfsJXlxo9E
This was an interesting post Cathy. I did not know about DOMA or the privileges that were denied to couples that were not legally married. It is also interesting to see what pushes individuals to take action.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. It is very tragic that Spyer died before she was able to be legally married to the women she loved. I also did not know about DOMA and found that part of the article very interesting. It is very impressive that she kept up the fight for over 40 years.
ReplyDeleteThis post was really interesting as it showed just how hard same sex couples had to fight to get equal rights. It's amazing how Windsor was able to get parts of DOMA repealed. I looked and found that in 2015, the rest of DOMA was also repealed as same sex marriages were allowed in every state, and every state must recognize lawful same-sex marriages performed in other states. It's amazing to think that Spyer and Windsors relationship allowed for these rights to be recognized.
ReplyDeleteSource:https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/294/support-repeal-of-the-defense-of-marriage-act/
Thank you for sharing Edith's story! I didn't know about her and I always want to learn more about queer history and everyone's story, especially those who are less recognized, like many in the lesbian community. Awesome post!
ReplyDeleteI find it crazy that, although the Supreme Court case happened only a few years ago, it was still such a close ruling. Even though Windsor began fighting for LGBT+ rights in the 1960s, she was still working towards getting rights 50 years later. And, even then, it was still such a close decision.
ReplyDelete