![Edie Windsor and Secretary Jewell 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Edie_Windsor_and_Secretary_Jewell_2016.jpg)
Edith "Edie" Windsor
(née Schlain; June 20, 1929 – September 12, 2017) was an American
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
activist and a technology manager at
IBM. She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case ''
United States v. Windsor
''United States v. Windsor'', 570 U.S. 744 (2013), is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case concerning same-sex marriage. The Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition o ...
'', which overturned Section 3 of the
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
and was considered a landmark legal victory for the
same-sex marriage movement in the United States. The
Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
and federal agencies extended rights, privileges and benefits to married same-sex couples because of the decision.
Early life and education
Windsor was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, to James and Celia Schlain, a
Russian Jew
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
ish immigrant family of modest means. She was the youngest of three children.
During her childhood, her family suffered as a result of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, and her father lost both his candy-and-ice-cream store and their home above it.
In school, she at times experienced
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
Throughout school, she dated boys her age, but said later she recalls having crushes on girls.
Windsor received her bachelor's degree from
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
in 1950.
In 1955, she began pursuing a master's degree in mathematics, which she obtained from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
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
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
on an IBM fellowship.
Career
While attending New York University, Windsor worked for the university's math department, entering data into its
UNIVAC
UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was a line of electronic digital stored-program computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company an ...
. She also worked as a programmer at
Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering (C-E) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm that developed nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States. Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connec ...
, Inc., where she worked with physicists and the UNIVAC.
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 A system architecture is the conceptual model that defines the structure, behavior, and more views of a system. An architecture description is a formal description and representation of a system, organized in a way that supports reasoning about the ...
and implementation of
operating systems
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also inc ...
and
natural language processors
Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence concerned with the interactions between computers and human language, in particular how to program computers to proc ...
. 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".
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
The "lavender scare" was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government which led to their mass dismissal from government service during the mid-20th century. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign wh ...
. She later found out it was because of her sister's ties to the Teacher's Union.
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.
Personal life
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.
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,
on March 3, 1952
and she confided in him that she longed to be with women.
Shortly after her divorce, Windsor left Philadelphia for
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Windsor met Thea Spyer, an Amsterdam-born
psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...
, in 1963 at Portofino, a restaurant in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. 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
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
in the late spring of 1965 that they began dating each other.
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
An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse when ...
might expose Windsor's
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
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
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend celebration of their anniversary.
In 1977, Spyer was diagnosed with progressive
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
. The disease caused a gradual, but ever-increasing
paralysis
Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...
. 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
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
in 2002 and was diagnosed with
aortic stenosis
Aortic stenosis (AS or AoS) is the narrowing of the exit of the left ventricle of the heart (where the aorta begins), such that problems result. It may occur at the aortic valve as well as above and below this level. It typically gets worse ove ...
. 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
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, on May 22, 2007,
with Canada's first openly gay judge, Justice
Harvey Brownstone
Harvey Brownstone (born July 24, 1956) is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also a bestselling author and host of a television and internet talk show.
Early life and education
Brownst ...
,
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
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
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.
Windsor was also a member of the non-denominational
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah ("CBST") is a synagogue located in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1973, and is the world's largest LGBT synagogue. CBST serves Jews of all sexual orientations and gender identities, their families, ...
synagogue,
which has been self-described as the world's largest
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
synagogue.
In October 2019, Windsor's memoir ''A Wild and Precious Life'' was published by
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
. The writing was begun before Windsor's death in 2017 and was completed by her co-author
Joshua Lyon. It was also released as an
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
, read by Donna Postel and Joshua Lyon.
Activism
![Congresswoman Carolyn B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Congresswoman_Carolyn_B._Maloney_and_Edith_Windsor_at_the_2016_Dedication_of_the_Stonewall_National_Monument.jpg)
In June 1969, Windsor and Spyer returned from a vacation in Italy to discover the
Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
had begun the night before. In the following years, the couple publicly participated in LGBT marches and events. They also lent their
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
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
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is a non-profit legal rights organization in the United States. The organization works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression. The organization p ...
, the East End Gay Organization,
the
LGBT Community Center
An LGBT community centre (American spelling: LGBT community center), or pride center (from gay pride), is a building which hosts services for non-heterosexual youth, seniors, adult men and women, and trans individuals, as well as an organization w ...
, 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
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
and Representative
Jerrold Nadler
Jerrold Lewis Nadler (; born June 13, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who since 2013 has served as the U.S. representative for , which includes Manhattan's west side and parts of Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, he is in ...
introduce the
Respect for Marriage Act
The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal governm ...
at a press conference in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in 2011.
She was also a prominent supporter of Israeli LGBT rights group
A Wider Bridge
A Wider Bridge is a United States based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which has a goal of connecting LGBT communities in the U.S. and Israel and advocating for LGBT rights in Israel. Their tagline is "Equality in Israel and Equality for Israel. ...
. In 2013, ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine named Windsor as a finalist for their
Person of the Year __NOTOC__
Person of the Year or Man of the Year is an award given to an individual by any type of organization. Most often, it is given by a newspaper or other news outlet to annually recognize a public person. Such awards have typically been awa ...
award, losing out only to Pope Francis. Later in life, she became an ardent supporter of New York City's largest LGBTQ+ band, the
Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps
The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps (LGBAC) is a community band based in New York City. Founded on September 24, 1979 as the New York Gay Community Marching Band, LGBAC is the third-oldest community band in the United States dedicated to serving th ...
, 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.
''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
A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...
. 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.
Windsor sought to claim the federal
estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
exemption for
surviving spouses. She was barred from doing so by Section 3 of the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) (codified at ), which provided that the term "spouse" only applied to marriages between a man and woman. The
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
found that the exemption did not apply to
same-sex marriages
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, 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
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New Y ...
, seeking a refund because DOMA singled out legally married same-sex couples for "differential treatment compared to other similarly situated couples without justification."
In 2012, Judge
Barbara S. Jones
Barbara Sue Jones (born 1947) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Education and career
Born in Inglewood, California, Jones received a Bachelor of Arts degree from ...
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.
The
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
heard oral arguments in the case in March 2013, and on 26 June 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'', . Retrieved June 26, 2013.]
Recognition
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
Grand marshal is a ceremonial, military rank, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "marshal" with the first usage of the term "grand marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders. ...
of the 2013
New York City LGBT Pride March
The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBT culture in New York City, LGBTQ community in New York City#Sexual orientation and gender identity, New York City. Among the List of largest LGBT events, largest Pride events in the ...
.
She was a runner-up, to
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, 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
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society.
The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
from
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
.
In June 2014 Windsor traveled back to Toronto, the city where she married Thea Spyer, to receive an award at
WorldPride
WorldPride, licensed by InterPride and organized by one of its member organizations, is an event that promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ pride) issues on an international level through parades, festivals and other cult ...
. While in Toronto she appeared on the
CTV Television Network
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...
's national morning show, ''Canada AM'', with Harvey Brownstone, the Toronto judge who officiated at her wedding.
On June 26, 2014, Windsor was featured on
Logo TV
Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...
's 2014 LOGO Trailblazers.
In 2016, Lesbians Who Tech initiated the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship Fund.
In 2018, a block of South 13th Street in Philadelphia was designated as Edie Windsor Way.
In June 2019, Windsor was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the
National LGBTQ Wall of Honor
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall in New York City dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes." The wall is located inside of the Stonewall Inn and is a part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U. ...
within the
Stonewall National Monument
Stonewall National Monument is a U.S. national monument in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The designated area includes the Stonewall Inn, the Christopher Park, and nearby streets including ...
(SNM) in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's
Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the s ...
.
The SNM is the first
U.S. national monument
In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments pr ...
dedicated to
LGBTQ rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishment for homosexualit ...
and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
, while the Wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the
50th anniversary of the
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
.
Awards
Windsor received numerous awards related to her work in technology and LGBT activism.
Death
On September 12, 2017, Windsor's wife Judith Kasen-Windsor confirmed that Windsor had died in Manhattan, but did not specify a cause.
Former US President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
, California US Senator
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
, and various politicians and celebrities posted words of tribute on their
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
accounts.
Former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
spoke at her funeral.
See also
*
LGBT rights in the United States
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States are among the most socially, culturally, and legally permissive and advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence on the issue changing significantly si ...
References
External links
*
*
''To A More Perfect Union: United States v. Windsor'' (2017 documentary film)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor, Edith
1929 births
2017 deaths
Lesbians
IBM employees
LGBT people from New York (state)
LGBT people from Pennsylvania
LGBT rights activists from the United States
New York University alumni
Activists from New York City
Activists from Philadelphia
Temple University alumni
LGBT Jews
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
20th-century American Jews
American LGBT scientists
American women computer scientists
American computer scientists
21st-century American Jews
20th-century American women
21st-century American women