Edith Windsor

Edith Windsor
Born	Edith Schlain (1929-06-20) 20 June 1929 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	12 September 2017(2017-09-12) (aged 88)
Occupation(s)	LGBT rights advocate, technology executive
Years active	1950s–2017
Known for	Principal plaintiff in United States v. Windsor (2013)

Edith Windsor (born Schlain; June 20, 1929 – September 12, 2017) was a prominent American advocate for LGBT rights and a technology executive at IBM. She served as the principal plaintiff in the pivotal 2013 Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor, which invalidated Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. This ruling represented a significant milestone for the same-sex marriage movement, prompting the Obama administration and federal institutions to extend legal protections and benefits to married same-sex couples.

Early life and education

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1929, Windsor was the youngest among three siblings in a financially struggling Russian Jewish immigrant household. During the Great Depression, her family lost both their candy-and-ice-cream shop and their residence. Throughout her schooling, she encountered anti-Semitic attitudes and later reflected on having romantic feelings for girls despite dating boys at the time.

Windsor completed her undergraduate studies at Temple University in 1950 and obtained a master's degree in mathematics from New York University in 1957. Subsequently, she joined IBM, dedicating sixteen years there, including two semesters of applied mathematics study at Harvard University supported by an IBM fellowship.

Career

While pursuing her master's degree at New York University, Windsor contributed to the university’s mathematics department by inputting data into its UNIVAC computer. She also gained programming experience at Combustion Engineering, Inc., where she worked alongside physicists utilizing the UNIVAC system.

After receiving her master's in mathematics from NYU in 1957, Windsor embarked on senior technical and managerial positions at IBM starting in 1958. Her responsibilities encompassed systems architecture and the deployment of operating systems and natural language processing technologies. Beginning as a mainframe programmer, she rose to achieve IBM’s top technical rank, senior systems programmer, by 1968. Renowned for her exceptional debugging expertise, Windsor remained with IBM for sixteen years and was among the first recipients of an IBM PC in New York City. Despite this, IBM denied her insurance claim that named her partner, Thea Spyer, as beneficiary. Additionally, she provided support to the Atomic Energy Commission and was subjected to an FBI inquiry; initially worried this was related to her concealed homosexuality during the post-Lavender Scare period, it was later found to be connected to her sister’s involvement with labor unions.

In 1975, Windsor departed from IBM to establish PC Classics, a consulting business focused on software development. Through this venture, she aided numerous LGBTQ organizations in gaining technological proficiency by helping them automate their mailing operations.

Personal life

During college, Saul Windsor—her older brother’s close friend—proposed to Edith; they married in May 1951 but divorced within a year. Following their separation, she relocated to New York City.

In 1963, Windsor encountered Thea Spyer, a psychologist originally from Amsterdam, at a restaurant in Greenwich Village. Their romantic relationship began in 1965; to maintain privacy at work, they fabricated a fictional brother to explain Spyer’s phone calls. In 1967, Spyer offered a circular diamond pin as a proposal token instead of a conventional ring due to concerns about revealing their relationship. The couple settled in Greenwich Village and purchased a home on Long Island in 1968 where they spent many summers hosting friends.

Spyer received a diagnosis of progressive multiple sclerosis in 1977. Windsor chose early retirement to provide full-time care for her partner. They officially registered as domestic partners in New York City in 1993.

Because same-sex marriage was not yet recognized in New York State, they wed legally in Toronto on May 22, 2007, with Canada’s first openly gay judge officiating. After Spyer passed away from heart-related issues in 2009, Windsor suffered from stress-induced cardiomyopathy.

On September 26, 2016, Windsor married Judith Kasen at New York City Hall; at that time Windsor was aged 87 while Kasen was 51.

Windsor participated actively in the non-denominational Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, noted as the world’s largest synagogue serving the LGBTQ community.

In October 2019, Windsor’s memoir A Wild and Precious Life was published by St. Martin's Press, completed posthumously with co-author Joshua Lyon. The memoir was also made available as an audiobook narrated by Donna Postel and Lyon.

Activism

Upon returning from Italy in June 1969, Windsor and Spyer discovered the onset of the Stonewall Riots. The couple engaged actively in LGBT demonstrations and events, even offering their Cadillac convertible to support organizations advocating for LGBT rights.

After departing from IBM in 1975, Windsor deepened her commitment to LGBT causes. She dedicated time to Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the East End Gay Organization, the LGBT Community Center, and the 1994 Gay Games in New York. Additionally, she co-established Old Queers Acting Up, an improvisational troupe focused on social justice themes. Her service extended to the board of Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) during two separate terms: 1986–1988 and 2005–2007.

Following the landmark United States v. Windsor case, she became a vocal proponent of marriage equality, collaborating with Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Jerrold Nadler to help introduce the Respect for Marriage Act in 2011. Windsor also lent her support to the Israeli LGBT advocacy organization A Wider Bridge. In 2013, Time recognized her as a finalist for Person of the Year, placing second only to Pope Francis. Later on, she championed New York City's prominent LGBTQ+ musical ensemble, the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps, which honored her with a tribute concert in April 2018.

United States v. Windsor

After Spyer passed away in 2009, Windsor assumed the role of executor and sole inheritor of Spyer's estate through a revocable trust. Due to federal law’s refusal to acknowledge their same-sex marriage, she faced a $363,053 federal estate tax bill that would have been exempt under an unlimited spousal deduction.

Windsor sought exemption from the federal estate tax as a surviving spouse; however, Section 3 of the DOMA prevented this by defining "spouse" exclusively as someone married between a man and a woman. Consequently, the Internal Revenue Service denied her claim and demanded payment.

In 2010, Windsor initiated legal action against the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, contending that DOMA’s unequal treatment of legally married same-sex couples constituted unconstitutional discrimination. Two years later, Judge Barbara S. Jones declared Section 3 unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment and ordered a refund including interest. This ruling was affirmed by the Second Circuit later that year.

The matter reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in March 2013 before issuing a narrow 5–4 decision on June 26. The Court ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional for infringing upon liberty protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.

Recognition

In 1987, the National Computing Conference honored Windsor as a "pioneer in operating systems."

To mark her 70th birthday in 1999, the Edie Windsor Fund for Old Lesbians was created and is administered by the Open Meadows Foundation, offering grants to initiatives that support older lesbians.

The 2009 film Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement documents the lives and marriage of Windsor and Spyer, featuring an interview with Justice Harvey Brownstone, who officiated their wedding.

Windsor was chosen as grand marshal for the 2013 New York City LGBT Pride March and was the runner-up to Pope Francis for Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2013.

In 2014, she received recognition at The New Jewish Home’s Eight Over Eighty Gala and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Johns Hopkins University.

During June 2014, Windsor returned to Toronto to accept an accolade at WorldPride and appeared alongside Judge Brownstone on CTV's Canada AM. That same month, she was also spotlighted on Logo TV's 2014 LOGO Trailblazers.

The Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund was established in 2016 by Lesbians Who Tech to assist LGBTQ women pursuing careers in technology.

In 2017, Manhattan’s Midtown SAGE Center for LGBT seniors was renamed The Edie Windsor SAGE Center. The following year, Philadelphia honored her by naming a section of South 13th Street Edie Windsor Way.

June 2019 saw Windsor among the first group of fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted into the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at New York City’s Stonewall National Monument—the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ history and rights—unveiled during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Stonewall riots.

Awards

Windsor earned a wide array of awards acknowledging her impact in both technology and LGBT advocacy.

American Spirit Award for Citizen Activism Common Good Award

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Award	Presented by	Date	Notes
Joyce Warshaw Lifetime Achievement Award	Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Trailblazer in Law Award	Marriage Equality New York	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty	American Civil Liberties Union	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
New York City Council Award	New York City Council	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	Awarded during the council's Gay Pride festivities
Edie Windsor & Thea Spyer Equality Award	The LOFT	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Susan B. Anthony Award	National Organization for Women New York City	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Visionary Award	NewFest	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Trailblazer Award	New York City LGBT Community Center	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service at New York University	New York University	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Presidential Medal	New York University	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Keeping Faith Award	American Constitution Society for Law & Policy	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Lifetime Leadership Award	National Gay & Lesbian Task Force	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Trailblazer of Democracy Award	The Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Award	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Individual Leadership Award	PFLAG	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting
Alumni Achievement Award	New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting

Out 100 – Lifetime Achievement Award 'Out' magazine '

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November 13, 2013' The Imperial Diamond Award for Vision – Support – Activism Imperial Court System New York '

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March 29, 2014' Ovation Award Olivia Cruises '

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2014' Laurel Hester Award Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) New York '

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April 25, 2014' Women's Rights Award American Federation of Teachers (AFT) '

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July 14, 2014' Named one of the 31 Icons of the 2015 LGBT History Month Equality Forum '

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2015'

Death

Judith Kasen-Windsor, the spouse of Windsor, announced her passing on September 12, 2017, in Manhattan, though she did not disclose the specific cause. Tributes were offered publicly by notable figures such as former US President Bill Clinton, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and California Senator Dianne Feinstein. At Windsor's funeral, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a eulogy.

See also

• LGBT rights in the United States

External links

• To A More Perfect Union: United States v. Windsor (2017 documentary film)
• Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Papers, Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University Special Collections