Edie Windsor Awaits DOMA Verdict

Edith “Edie” Windsor, the 83-year-old woman at the center of the Supreme Court of the United States case to abolish the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), is a longtime resident of Southampton. Even though she and her partner of 44 years, Thea Spyer, had legally married in 2007, when Spyer died in 2009 Windsor had to pay over $360,000 in federal estate taxes.

Her attorney Roberta Kaplan argues that the Federal government had it all wrong when they hit Windsor for the estate taxes that a spouse would never have had to pay. Friends and neighbors in the area who know the quiet woman were not surprised that she has taken this battle to the Supreme Court. She’s been called “the Rosa Parks of the GLBT community.”

Both Windsor and Kaplan were honored along with Nancy Pelosi at Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth‘s (LIGALY) 20th Anniversary Gala this month.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on March 27. Let’s hope Windsor gets some time to relax in the Hamptons after the court rules on her case (and the constitutionality of DOMA). So far, Windsor has won in every court, so it’s likely this decision will go in her favor.

Fingers crossed.