Edith Windsor remembered as ‘great’ pioneer for gay rights

Love made Edith Windsor a married woman. Widowhood made her a gay rights pioneer.

Facing a big tax bill after the death of her first spouse, Windsor took on the federal law that prevented her from enjoying the same inheritance tax break she would have gotten if she was married to a man.

She took the fight to the Supreme Court, which struck down critical parts of a U.S. marriage law in a ruling that helped pave a path toward legalizing same-sex nuptials nationwide.

Windsor, who marvelled at the arc of gay rights in her lifetime, died Tuesday in New York at age 88, said her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan. The cause of her death wasn’t given, but she had struggled with heart issues.

“I grew up knowing that society thought I was inferior,” she said in 2012. “Did I ever think we would be discussing equality in marriage? Never. It was just so far away.”

Windsor was 81 when she brought a lawsuit that proved to be a turning point for gay rights. The impetus was the 2009 death of her spouse, Thea Spyer, a psychologist. The women had married legally in Canada in 2007 after spending more than 40 years together, but under the U.S. Defence of Marriage Act she was barred from getting the usual exemption from federal taxes on Spyer’s estate. That meant Windsor faced a $360,000 tax bill that heterosexual couples would not have.

Outraged, she went to court, knowing that the case was about more than taxes or even marriage.

“It’s a very important case. It’s bigger than marriage, and I think marriage is major. I think if we win, the effect will be the beginning of the end of stigma,” she said in 2012.