Deaths

Edith Windsor, Victor In A Landmark Marriage Equality Case, R.I.P.

All LGBT Americans -- and all Americans, period -- owe this crusader for justice a debt of gratitude.

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Edie Windsor and her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty)

As a married gay American, I owe a debt of gratitude to Edith Windsor, the famous litigant whose crusade for a tax refund became the landmark case of United States v. Windsor. If not for her case, which led the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, it’s likely that marriage equality would not be a nationwide reality today.

But all Americans, gay and straight, owe Edie Windsor a debt of gratitude. All Americans should be grateful to live in a nation where people are more equal.

And all of us should be saddened by Windsor’s passing. From the New York Times:

Edith Windsor, the gay-rights activist whose landmark Supreme Court case struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 and granted same-sex married couples federal recognition for the first time and rights to myriad federal benefits, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 88.

Her wife, Judith Kasen-Windsor, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. They were married in 2016.

“I lost my beloved spouse Edie, and the world lost a tiny but tough as nails fighter for freedom, justice and equality,” Kasen-Windsor said. “Edie was the light of my life. She will always be the light for the LGBTQ community which she loved so much and which loved her right back.”

Windsor lived with her first wife, Thea Spyer, for more than 40 years. When Spyer passed away, Windsor inherited her property — and wound up with a $363,053 tax bill, because their marriage was not recognized under federal tax law (or, as Windsor used to say, because “Thea was not Theo”).

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Windsor, represented by Roberta Kaplan and Paul, Weiss, sued the federal government — and won. In June 2013, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued his landmark opinion in the Windsor case, striking down Section 3 of DOMA.

When numerous lower courts ruled in favor of marriage equality after June 2013, they cited Windsor’s case as precedent. Two years later, in June 2015, SCOTUS put the final nail in the coffin for marriage inequality, ruling in favor of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges.

We reached out to Roberta Kaplan, Windsor’s longtime lawyer and close friend, for comment. Here’s what Kaplan had to say:

Representing Edie Windsor was and will always be the greatest honor of my life. She will go down in the history books as a true American hero. With Edie’s passing, I lost not only a treasured client, but a member of my family. I know that Edie’s memory will always be a blessing to [my wife] Rachel, myself, and [our son] Jacob. I also know that her memory will be a blessing not only to every LGBT person on this planet, but to all who believe in the concept of b’tzelem elohim, or equal dignity for all.

Condolences to Judith Kasen-Windsor, Roberta Kaplan, and the many people who knew and loved Edie Windsor.

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And thank you, Edie.

Edith Windsor, Whose Same-Sex Marriage Fight Led to Landmark Ruling, Dies at 88 [New York Times]

DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.

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