This video is a collaboration with Mr. Beat from...
Mr. Beat.
You should check out his video on Windsor v. United States after you watch this one.
Edith Windsor, or Edie as she used to go by, is one of the critical characters in America's
long struggle to legalise gay marriage.
Her story is one of love, loss, and an epic battle at the supreme court.
Let's Meet Edie.
I'm Tristan Johnson, and this is Step Back History.
Edith's story begins humbly enough.
She was a child of the depression, raised by Jewish Russian immigrants who ran a candy
store.
It was the thirties, so at school, she regularly experienced antisemitic bullying.
In 1950, she got herself a bachelor and a Masters degree in mathematics in 1957.
Right after that, she got herself a job working for IBM.
Kind of aside from the story, but she did a lot of exciting work in IBM that has to
do with operating systems.
At college, she met a man named Saul Windsor.
They had a relationship through college, with one minor break when Edith wanted to pursue
a relationship with another woman.
Nervous about the social implications; however, she turned back to Saul.
They married shortly after graduation, but it lasted less than a year.
She even told him at that time that she really was only interested in women.
In the late 50s, this was quite a hard thing to do!
In 1963, after moving to New York, Edith met Thea.
She was a Dutch psychologist.
They connected, and began to date about 2 years later.
They had to keep everything secret, to the point where they had to invent a fictional
brother to explain phone calls she'd get at the office.
When the couple got engaged, they had to use a pin with a diamond on it, rather than the
traditional ring.
While on vacation, the couple learned about the Stonewall Riots that happened in New York.
A brutal police crackdown on a gay nightclub in 1969.
From then on the couple joined in with the nascent Gay Rights movement, and Edith's
life as an activist began.
Things were pretty good for a while.
The couple travelled, entertained, partied, enjoyed all the domestic comforts of home,
but tragedy lurked close by.
In the late 70s, Thea was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis.
It's an incurable degenerative disease where the protective coating on the nerve cells
begin to break down.
It progressively wears down the patient for years.
Over time, she would become more and more paralysed.
Edith took an early retirement severance package when IBM moved out of her area, and she focused
on two things, taking care of Thea and Gay Rights.
She joined in some prominent LGBT organisations.
She was a warrior during some of the most tumultuous times for the gay rights movement,
such as the brutal AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s.
Thea's health continued to fail when she had a heart attack in 2002.
By 2007, doctors were giving her about a year left to live.
Gay marriage was still not legal in New York, and so the couple spirited away to where a
lot of American gay couples went for their nuptials, Canada.
Actually right here in Toronto.
Major papers like the New York Times published the bittersweet marriage.
And, just a few years later Thea passed away.
This is where Edith Windsor's story enters its most famous stage.
She was the plaintiff in the Supreme Court decision United States v. Windsor.
A supreme court case so big and complicated we'll need a well-written brief.
Luckily, Mr Beat over on his channel is releasing a supreme court brief on this case, which
you can see either on the card or the description.
He released it the same day as me… funny, it's almost like we planned it or something.
The decision forced the federal government to recognize gay marriages from the few states
that had legalised it.
Even after the supreme court decision, Edith fought to topple over the last dominos blocking
gay marriage.
In 2011, she lobbied several politicians to pass the Respect for Marriage Act.
It was a bill designed to kill the Defense of Marriage act and was supported by prominent
politicians like Bill Clinton (Who I might add signed DOMA INTO law, but liberals are
generous on social issues when and only when it's politically convenient).
The supreme court decision in 2015 rendered the bill useless, but it was the ongoing effort
in Congress to legalise gay marriage for at least a few years.
In 2016, Edith remarried.
A way to ring in the new legal marriage in America.
In her life, she earned a list of accolades, awards and recognitions a mile long for her
work in gay rights activism.
In the history of gay rights, she's a pretty crucial figure.
In his obituary of Edith, Robert Socarides said she was their Rosa Parks.
She did a lot of good, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out that some LGBTQ+ rights
activists wouldn't say she's a perfect icon.
I am not in the deification business after all.
She wasn't very intersectional, and there is disagreement in LGBTQ+ rights activism
if the fight for marriage was the ideal use of their resources.
Some argue that employment and housing discrimination, hate crimes, especially against trans women
of colour, title IX protections, mass incarceration, or homelessness are more pressing matters.
If you think about her fight with the supreme court, it is only one that someone of economic
privilege could do.
However, her battle with the supreme court, though it might have been about estate taxes,
also was a bold step forward for state recognition, and so her contribution there shouldn't
be undermined.
Almost unbefitting of such a hero, her lawyer announced just a couple months ago in September
of 2017 that Edith Windsor had passed away at the age of 88.
I was poking into this video idea just after Rowan Ellis talked about her as a leading
gay rights activist in this video, and I was shocked to find out she had died only a couple
days later.
Rest in Power Edith.
Thanks for watching folks!
This video was made as a collaboration with Mr Beat.
I wanted to make a video about Edith Windsor's life after I heard of her passing, and he
has a series where he discusses important supreme court decisions.
If you click on the card, wait till the end screen, or click on the description you'll
see his video on Edith's famous supreme court case.
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