Her fight to get a tax refund became a landmark case on federal benefits for same-sex marriages.
Edith Windsor met Thea Spyer in Greenwich Village in 1963 and fell in love. In 1967, Spyer proposed to Windsor with a diamond broach instead of a ring so as not to raise suspicions about their relationship.
They remained engaged for 40 years.
In 1977, Spyer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In the ensuing years, Spyer’s health deteriorated. In 2007, they decided to get married but because they couldn’t get married in their home state of New York, they went to Canada to legally marry.
Two years later, Spyer died. Windsor inherited the estate but the IRS wanted to collect $363,000 in federal estate taxes since she was not eligible for the unlimited spousal exemption.
The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibited married same-sex couples from claiming hundreds of federal benefits that were afforded to married heterosexuals. So, at the age of 84, Windsor sued.
Windsor’s case challenged Section 3 of DOMA, which, according to GLAAD, “is the part that prevented the federal government from recognizing any marriages between gay or lesbian couples for the purpose of federal laws or programs, even if those couples are considered legally married by their home state.”
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Windsor’s favor. She won.
Windsor’s legacy
Windsor died in 2017 at the age of 88.