President Barack Obama meets with Edie Windsor during a drop by in the Oval Office, Feb. 12, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
NEW YORK — Edith Windsor, one of the plaintiffs in the legal battle that helped overturn DOMA and bring about marriage equality, has passed away at age 88.
From the New York Times:
Her wife, Judith Kasen-Windsor, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. They were married in 2016.
Four decades after the Stonewall Inn uprising fueled the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in America, Ms. Windsor, the widow of a woman with whom she had lived much of her life, became the lead plaintiff in what is widely regarded as the second most important Supreme Court ruling in the national battle over same-sex marriage rights.
The Windsor decision was limited to 13 states and the District of Columbia. But in 2015, the Supreme Court held that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry anywhere in the nation, with all the protections and privileges of heterosexual couples. Its historic significance was likened to that of Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, which decriminalized gay sex in the United States.
Ms. Windsor had just wanted a tax refund. But for thousands struggling for gender equality, the stakes went far beyond tax advantages available to married heterosexuals, including Social Security, health care and veterans’ benefits; protection in immigration and bankruptcy cases; and keeping a home after a spouse had died, as well as food stamps, green cards and federal aid to the poor, the elderly and children.
