Edith Windsor

Windsor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1929, the youngest of three children of James and Celia Schlain, a Russian Jewish immigrant family of modest means.{{cite web |last1=Tiven |first1=Rachel |title=Edie Windsor |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/windsor-edie |website=Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Jewish Women's Archive |language=en |date=June 23, 2021}}{{cite web | title = Affidavit of Edith Schlain Windsor | publisher = United States District Court Southern District of New York | work = nyclu.org | date = June 23, 2011 | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=http://www.nyclu.org/files/windsor_edie%20affidavit.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233654/http://www.nyclu.org/files/windsor_edie%20affidavit.pdf | archive-date = March 3, 2016 | url-status = dead }}{{cite magazine |url=https://poy.time.com/2013/12/11/runner-up-edith-windsor-the-unlikely-activist/ |title=Edith Windsor, The Unlikely Activist |author=Eliza Gray |magazine=Time |date=December 11, 2013 | access-date = June 25, 2015 }}{{cite news |url=http://forward.com/specials/forward-50-2013/edith-windsor/ |title=Forward 50 (2013): Edith Windsor |author=Naomi Zeveloff |publisher=The Forward |access-date=October 23, 2014 }} During her childhood, her family suffered as a result of the Great Depression, and her father lost both his candy-and-ice-cream store and their home above it.{{cite web|url=https://stanford.app.box.com/s/qpihsz3m4giioisu3uv0|title=Windsor Amended Complaint|work=box.com}} In school, she at times experienced anti-Semitism.{{Cite journal | title = When a Woman Loves a Woman | author = Jill Hamburg Coplan | journal = NYU Alumni Magazine | access-date = June 25, 2015 | issue=17 | date =Fall 2011 |url=https://www.nyu.edu/alumni.magazine/issue17/17_FEA_DOMA.html}} Throughout school, she dated boys her age, but said later she recalls having crushes on girls.{{cite web | title = Meet The 83-Year-Old Taking On The U.S. Over Same-Sex Marriage | author = Totenberg, Nina | work = All Things Considered | publisher = NPR | date = March 21, 2013 | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/03/21/174944430/meet-the-83-year-old-taking-on-the-u-s-over-same-sex-marriage }}

Windsor received her bachelor's degree from Temple University in 1950.{{cite news|last1=Graham|first1=Kristen A.|title=At Temple, an alumna once closeted gets a hero's welcome back|url=http://articles.philly.com/2014-04-28/news/49440082_1_thea-spyer-edith-windsor-temple-university|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923045734/http://articles.philly.com/2014-04-28/news/49440082_1_thea-spyer-edith-windsor-temple-university|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 23, 2014|access-date=October 12, 2015|work=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=April 28, 2014}} In 1955, she began pursuing a master's degree in mathematics, which she obtained from New York University in 1957. She then joined IBM, where she worked for the next sixteen years. During this time, she spent two semesters studying applied mathematics at Harvard University on an IBM fellowship.

While attending New York University, Windsor worked for the university's math department, entering data into its UNIVAC. She also worked as a programmer at Combustion Engineering, Inc., where she worked with physicists and the UNIVAC.{{cite web | title = Edie Windsor Profile | work = ediewindsor.com | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=http://ediewindsor.com/edieprofile.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618180718/http://ediewindsor.com/edieprofile.html | archive-date = June 18, 2017 | url-status = dead }}

After receiving her master's degree in mathematics in 1957 from New York University, Windsor began work in senior technical and management positions at IBM in 1958. Her work at IBM was primarily related to systems architecture and implementation of operating systems and natural language processors. Windsor began her career at IBM as a mainframe programmer. In May 1968, she attained the title designating the highest level technical position at IBM, senior systems programmer. Windsor worked at IBM for 16 years and was well known around IBM for her "top-notch debugging skills".{{Cite news|url=https://anitab.org/profiles/remembering-edie-windsor-tech-pioneer-equality-advocate/|title=Remembering Edie Windsor: Tech Pioneer, Equality Advocate - AnitaB.org|date=September 24, 2017|work=AnitaB.org|access-date=December 12, 2017|language=en-US}} She received the first IBM PC delivered in New York City. However, the company rejected her insurance form naming her partner Thea Spyer as a beneficiary. Windsor also assisted the Atomic Energy Commission, and was at one point even investigated by the FBI. Windsor feared that it was because of her closeted homosexuality. This was during the time right after the Lavender Scare. She later found out it was because of her sister's ties to the Teachers' Union.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/30/the-perfect-wife|title=The Perfect Wife|last=Levy|first=Ariel |author-link=Ariel Levy (writer)|date=September 23, 2013|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=September 11, 2019}}

In 1975, Windsor left IBM and became the founding president of PC Classics, a consulting firm specializing in software development projects. During this time consulting, Windsor helped many LGBTQ groups become "tech literate". She helped many LGBTQ organizations computerize their mail systems.

Saul Windsor was Edie's older brother's best friend, whom she had known for many years and respected. They went to college together and during their third year, Saul proposed marriage and Edie accepted.{{cite book |last1=Kaplan|first1=Roberta|author-link1=Roberta A. Kaplan|last2=Dickey|first2=Lisa|year=2015|title=Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA|edition=1st|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|pages=152–154|isbn=9780393248678|oclc=902661501}} Their relationship ended at one time during the engagement when Edie fell in love with a female classmate. However, after Windsor decided she did not want to live life as a lesbian, they reconciled and got married after graduation, in May 1951. They divorced less than one year afterward,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/nyregion/edith-windsor-gay-widow-revels-in-supreme-court-fight.html?pagewanted=all |title=Reveling in Her Supreme Court Moment |author=Peter Applebome |work=The New York Times |date=December 10, 2012 }} on March 3, 1952, and she confided in him that she longed to be with women.{{cite web | title = Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer: 'A love affair that just kept on and on and on' | last = Gabbatt | first = Adam | work = the Guardian | date = June 26, 2013 | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/26/edith-windsor-thea-spyer-doma }} Shortly after her divorce, Windsor left Philadelphia for New York City.{{Cite news | title = Who is Edith Windsor? How One Woman Plans to Change the Face of DOMA | author = Stanberry, Charlyn | work = politic365.com | date = March 30, 2013 | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=http://politic365.com/2013/03/30/who-is-edith-windsor-how-one-woman-plans-to-change-the-face-of-doma/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626115232/http://politic365.com/2013/03/30/who-is-edith-windsor-how-one-woman-plans-to-change-the-face-of-doma/ | archive-date = June 26, 2015 | url-status = dead }}

Windsor met Thea Spyer, an Amsterdam-born psychologist,{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/series/forward-50/2013/edith-windsor/|title=Edith Windsor|website=The Forward|date=November 7, 2013 }}{{cite web|url=http://ediewindsor.com/theaprofile.html|title=Thea Spyer profile|website=ediewindsor.com|access-date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916082951/http://www.ediewindsor.com/theaprofile.html|archive-date=September 16, 2017|url-status=dead}} in 1963 at Portofino, a restaurant in Greenwich Village. When they initially met, each was already in a relationship. They occasionally saw each other at events over the next two years, but it was not until a trip to the East End of Long Island in the late spring of 1965 that they began dating each other.{{cite web | title = Edith "Edie" Windsor | work = The Reconstructionists | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=http://thereconstructionists.org/post/54311191522/one-evening-in-1965-edith-edie-windsor-b }} To help keep the relationship a secret from her co-workers, Windsor invented a relationship with Spyer's fictional brother Willy – who was actually a childhood doll belonging to Windsor – to explain Spyer's phone calls to the office. In 1967, Spyer asked Windsor to marry, although it was not yet legal anywhere in the United States. Fearing that a traditional engagement ring might expose Windsor's sexual orientation to her coworkers, Spyer instead proposed with a circular diamond pin.

Six months after getting engaged, Windsor and Spyer moved into an apartment in Greenwich Village. In 1968, they purchased a small house on Long Island together, where they went on vacation for the following forty summers. The couple often took trips both in the United States and internationally. They also entertained at their home frequently, with Spyer preparing meals, including an annual Memorial Day weekend celebration of their anniversary.

In 1977, Spyer was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis. The disease caused a gradual, but ever-increasing paralysis. Windsor used her early retirement to become a full-time caregiver for Spyer, and the couple continued to adjust their daily behavior to accommodate.

Windsor and Spyer entered a domestic partnership in New York City in 1993. Registering on the first available day, they were issued certificate number eighty.

Spyer suffered a heart attack in 2002 and was diagnosed with aortic stenosis. In 2007, her doctors told her she had less than a year to live. New York had not yet legalized same-sex marriage, so the couple opted to marry in Toronto, Canada, on May 22, 2007, with Canada's first openly gay judge, Justice Harvey Brownstone, presiding, and with the assistance of a filmmaker and same-sex marriage activist familiar with the laws in both countries. An announcement of their wedding was published in The New York Times. Spyer died from complications related to her heart condition on February 5, 2009. After Spyer's death, Windsor was hospitalized with stress cardiomyopathy.

On September 26, 2016, Windsor married Judith Kasen at New York City Hall. At the time of the wedding, Windsor was age 87 and Kasen was age 51.{{cite web|last=Ring |first=Trudy |url=http://www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2016/10/01/doma-plaintiff-edie-windsor-remarries |title=DOMA Plaintiff Edie Windsor Remarries |date=October 2016 |publisher=Advocate.com |access-date=October 1, 2016}}{{cite news|last=Bernstein |first=Jacob |date=September 30, 2016 |title=The Remarriage of Edie Windsor, Gay Marriage Pioneer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/fashion/weddings/edie-windsor-lgbt-activist-marriage.html?_r=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 1, 2016}}

Windsor was also a member of the non-denominational Congregation Beit Simchat Torah synagogue,{{cite web|last=Hoffman|first=Allison|title=Jewish Organizations Join DOMA Appeal: The case of Edie Windsor finds allies in the Jewish community|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/113151/jewish-organizations-join-doma-appeal|work=Tablet |access-date=September 12, 2017|department=The Scroll|date=September 28, 2012}}{{cite web|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|title=Edie Windsor's lawyer and the daughters of Zelophehad (includes drash)|url=http://www.jta.org/2013/06/28/news-opinion/politics/edie-windsors-lawyer-and-the-daughters-of-zelophehad|work=Telegraph: Blogging Jewish News and Culture|publisher=JTA: The Global Jewish News Service|access-date=September 12, 2017|date=June 28, 2013}} which has been self-described as the world's largest LGBTQ synagogue.{{cite web|last=Lemberger|first=Michal|title=Gay Synagogues' Uncertain Future: As mainstream acceptance grows—along with membership—gay congregations face unexpected questions|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/126512/gay-synagogues-uncertain-future|work=Tablet |access-date=September 12, 2017|date=March 11, 2013}}

In October 2019, Windsor's memoir A Wild and Precious Life was published by St. Martin's Press. The writing was begun before Windsor's death in 2017 and was completed by her co-author Joshua Lyon.{{cite book |last1=Windsor |first1=Edie |last2=Lyon |first2=Joshua|date=2019 |title=A Wild and Precious Life: A Memoir|location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press|edition=First|isbn=9781250195135|oclc=1110805870|author-link2=Joshua Lyon}} It was also released as an audiobook, read by Donna Postel and Joshua Lyon.{{cite AV media |last1=Windsor |first1=Edie |last2=Lyon |first2=Joshua|date=2019 |title=A Wild and Precious Life: A Memoir |medium=audiobook on CD|language=en |location=Grand Haven, MI |publisher=Brilliance Audio |edition=Unabridged |isbn=9781978684584 |oclc=1121597985}}

File:Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney and Edith Windsor at the 2016 Dedication of the Stonewall National Monument.jpg in 2016]]

In June 1969, Windsor and Spyer returned from a vacation in Italy to discover the Stonewall Riots had begun the night before. In the following years, the couple publicly participated in LGBT marches and events. They also lent their Cadillac convertible to LGBT rights organizations.

Following her departure from IBM in 1975, she increased her involvement with LGBT organizations. She volunteered for the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the East End Gay Organization, the LGBT Community Center, 1994 Gay Games New York, and helped found Old Queers Acting Up, an improv group utilizing skits to address social justice issues. She served on the board of Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) from 1986 to 1988 and again from 2005 to 2007.

Windsor continued to be a public advocate for same-sex marriage in the years following United States v. Windsor. She helped Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Jerrold Nadler introduce the Respect for Marriage Act at a press conference in Washington, D.C., in 2011. She was also a prominent supporter of Israeli LGBT rights group A Wider Bridge.{{cite web|url=http://awiderbridge.org/a-wider-bridge-meets-edie-windsor|title=A Wider Bridge Meets Edie Windsor – AWiderBridge|website=awiderbridge.org|date=September 21, 2016|access-date=September 14, 2017|archive-date=September 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914172737/http://awiderbridge.org/a-wider-bridge-meets-edie-windsor/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4146&v=L_bnMXPC5RM|title=A Wider Brunch 2016|website=youtube.com|date=December 13, 2016 }} In 2013, Time magazine named Windsor as a finalist for their Person of the Year award, losing out only to Pope Francis.{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4938601/edith-windsor-death-obituary/|title=How Edith Windsor Became a 'Matriarch of the Gay-Rights Movement'|magazine=Time|access-date=December 12, 2017}} Later in life, she became an ardent supporter of New York City's largest LGBTQ+ band, the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps, calling them "her band". They performed a concert called The Roaring Music of Women: A Tribute to the Iconic Edie Windsor in her honor on Saturday, April 7, 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lgbac.org/news/|title=In the News|date=April 2, 2015|website=The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps|language=en-US|access-date=October 22, 2019|archive-date=November 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102122014/http://www.lgbac.org/news/|url-status=dead}}

{{main|United States v. Windsor}}

Upon Spyer's death on February 5, 2009, Windsor became the executor and sole beneficiary of Spyer's estate, via a revocable trust. Windsor was required to pay $363,053 in federal estate taxes on her inheritance of her wife's estate. Had federal law recognized the validity of their marriage, Windsor would have qualified for an unlimited spousal deduction and paid no federal estate taxes.{{cite news|last=Schwartz|first=John|title=Gay Couple to Sue over U.S. Marriage Law|date=November 8, 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/us/09marriage.html|access-date=July 16, 2012}}{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Chris|title=Two New Lawsuits Target DOMA|url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/11/09/two-new-lawsuits-target-doma|access-date=July 16, 2012|newspaper=Washington Blade|date=November 9, 2010}}

Windsor sought to claim the federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses. She was barred from doing so by Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) (codified at {{usc|1|7}}), which provided that the term "spouse" only applied to marriages between a man and woman. The Internal Revenue Service found that the exemption did not apply to same-sex marriages, denied Windsor's claim, and compelled her to pay $363,053 in estate taxes.

In 2010 Windsor filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking a refund because DOMA singled out legally married same-sex couples for "differential treatment compared to other similarly situated couples without justification."{{cite web|title=Complaint: United States v. Windsor |url=https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/2010-11-9-WindsorvUS-Complaint.pdf| publisher=aclu.org |access-date=June 27, 2013|page=21}} In 2012, Judge Barbara S. Jones ruled that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional under the due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and ordered the federal government to issue the tax refund, including interest. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in a 2–1 decision later in 2012.{{cite news|last=Baynes|first=Terry|title=Appeals court rules against Defense of Marriage Act|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-gaymarriage-appeal-idUSBRE89H12L20121018|access-date=October 18, 2012|work=Reuters|date=October 18, 2012}}{{cite court|url=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/436f323b-5e40-411a-9026-98fa59ffb645/1/doc/12-2335_complete_opn.pdf|format=PDF|litigants=United States v. Windsor|volume=699|reporter=F.3d|opinion=169|court=2d Cir.|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108041134/http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/436f323b-5e40-411a-9026-98fa59ffb645/1/doc/12-2335_complete_opn.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Schwartz|first=John|title=U.S. Marriage Act Is Unfair to Gays, Court Panel Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/us/appeals-court-rules-against-defense-of-marriage-act.html|access-date=December 13, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 18, 2012}}

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in March 2013, and on June 26 of that year issued a 5–4 decision affirming that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional "as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment."United States v. Windsor, {{ussc|570||June 26, 2013|docket=12-307}}. Retrieved June 26, 2013.{{rp|25}}

File:Marriage equality support sign thanking Edith Windsor (9144992760).jpg

Windsor was honored by the National Computing Conference in 1987 as a "pioneer in operating systems".

On Windsor's 70th birthday in 1999, the Edie Windsor Fund for Old Lesbians was gifted to Windsor by Spyer and their friends. It is maintained and administered by Open Meadows Foundation, and provides grants to projects for and by older lesbians.

A 2009 documentary, Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, by Susan Muska and Greta Olfsdottir, documents Windsor and Spyer's life and wedding. The DVD of the film contains a full-length interview with Justice Harvey Brownstone, the Canadian judge who officiated at the Windsor/Spyer wedding.

She was the grand marshal of the 2013 New York City LGBT Pride March.{{Cite news| title = Grand Marshall Edith Windsor leads jubilant crowd at NYC pride | author = Verena Dobnik | agency = Associated Press | work = LGBTQ Nation | date = June 30, 2013 | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/06/new-york-city-gay-pride-march-to-celebrate-supreme-court-win/ }}

She was a runner-up, to Pope Francis, for 2013 Time Person of the Year.

Windsor was honored as The New Jewish Home's Eight Over Eighty Gala 2014 honoree.

On May 22, 2014, she received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Johns Hopkins University.{{cite web| title = Awards | work = ediewindsor.com | access-date = June 25, 2015 |url=http://ediewindsor.com/awards.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120194143/http://ediewindsor.com/awards.html | archive-date = November 20, 2017 | url-status = dead}}{{cite news|title = DOMA plaintiff, attorney receive honorary degrees, applause at Hopkins commencement|url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/2014/05/22/doma-plaintiff-attorney-receive-honorary-degrees-applause-at-hopkins-commencement/|access-date = June 26, 2015|date = May 22, 2014|newspaper = The Baltimore Sun|last = Rector|first = Kevin|archive-date = September 13, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170913044120/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-05-22/features/bs-gm-doma-plaintiff-attorney-applause-at-jhu-commencement-20140522_1_edith-windsor-thea-spyer-roberta-kaplan|url-status = live}}

In June 2014 Windsor traveled back to Toronto, the city where she married Thea Spyer, to receive an award at WorldPride. While in Toronto she appeared on the CTV Television Network's national morning show, Canada AM, with Harvey Brownstone, the Toronto judge who officiated at her wedding.{{cite web|url=http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=387382&playlistId=1.1885046&binId=1.815911&playlistPageNum=1 |title=Canada AM: Windsor's epic win | CTV News |publisher=Canadaam.ctvnews.ca |date=September 9, 2014 |access-date=October 1, 2016}}

On June 26, 2014, Windsor was featured on Logo TV's 2014 LOGO Trailblazers.{{cite web | title = 2014 Logo Trailblazers — Edie Windsor's Extended Acceptance Speech | work = LOGOTV | date = June 26, 2014 | access-date = June 25, 2015 | url = http://www.logotv.com/events/trailblazer-honors/videos/2014-logo-trailblazers-edie-windsors-extended-acceptance-speech/1055450/ | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053315/http://www.logotv.com/events/trailblazer-honors/videos/2014-logo-trailblazers-edie-windsors-extended-acceptance-speech/1055450/ | url-status = dead }}

In 2016, Lesbians Who Tech initiated the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund.{{cite web|last1=Dickey|first1=Megan Rose|title=Edie Windsor coding scholarship selects 40 LGBTQ women to learn how to code|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/26/edie-windsor-coding-scholarship-lgbtq/|website=TechCrunch|access-date=September 12, 2017|date=September 26, 2016}}

In 2018, a block of South 13th Street in Philadelphia was designated as Edie Windsor Way.{{cite web|last=Ring |first=Trudy |url=https://www.advocate.com/women/2018/10/09/philadelphia-honors-marriage-equality-pioneer-edie-windsor-way |title=Philadelphia Honors Marriage Equality Pioneer With Edie Windsor Way |publisher=Advocate.com |date=2018 |access-date=October 10, 2018}}

In June 2019, Windsor was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn.{{Cite web|url=https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/stonewall-inn-lgbtq-wall-honor|title=National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn|last=Glasses-Baker|first=Becca|date=June 27, 2019|website=www.metro.us|access-date=June 28, 2019}}{{Cite web |last=Rawles |first=Timothy |date=June 19, 2019 |title=National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn |url=https://sdgln.com/news/2019/06/19/national-lgbtq-wall-honor-be-unveiled-historic-stonewall-inn |access-date=June 21, 2019 |website=San Diego Gay and Lesbian News |language=en}} The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebar.com/news/news//272833|title=Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall|website=The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc.|language=en|access-date=May 24, 2019}} while the Wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.{{Cite web|url=http://sfbaytimes.com/stonewall-50/|title=Stonewall 50|date=April 3, 2019|website=San Francisco Bay Times|access-date=May 25, 2019}}

Windsor received numerous awards related to her work in technology and LGBT activism.

On September 12, 2017, Windsor's wife Judith Kasen-Windsor confirmed that Windsor had died in Manhattan, but did not specify a cause.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/us/edith-windsor-dead-same-sex-marriage-doma.html?mcubz=3|title=Edith Windsor, Whose Same-Sex Marriage Fight Led to Landmark Ruling, Dies at 88|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden|date=September 12, 2017|access-date=September 12, 2017|work=The New York Times}} Former US President Bill Clinton, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, California US Senator Dianne Feinstein, and various politicians and celebrities posted words of tribute on their Twitter accounts. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at her funeral.{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/09/15/hillary-clinton-makes-surprise-appearance-edith-windsors-funeral/|title=Hillary Clinton makes surprise appearance at Edith Windsor's funeral|first=Chris|last=Johnson|date=September 15, 2017|access-date=November 10, 2017|work=Washington Blade}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180513145031/https://perfectunionfilm.com/ To A More Perfect Union: United States v. Windsor (2017 documentary film)]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor, Edith}}

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