Edith Windsor: Give a Little Respect

Thought I'd share this statement I saw on the wire from Edith Windsor -- the 80-something gay rights activist whose hefty tax bill she received when her wife died persuaded President Obama to stop defending DOMA (Obama's LGBT muse?) -- about the reintroduction today of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the anti-equality "Defense" of Marriage Act. (Jerry Nadler is MY congressman, too!)

"My late spouse, Thea Spyer, and I lived together and loved each other for more than four decades. When Thea passed away two years ago, I was overcome with grief. In the midst of my heartache, I had to spend countless hours defending our marriage to the federal government. Because of DOMA, I was forced to pay $363,000 in federal estate tax that I would not have had to pay had I been married to a man."

"Because of my overwhelming sense of the unfairness and injustice of this, I decided to bring a lawsuit in federal court in New York challenging DOMA as unconstitutional and seeking the return of the tax I was forced to pay. The legislation introduced today by my congressman, Jerry Nadler, and others would accomplish the same result as my lawsuit by repealing DOMA. Since I am not young and may not have enough time left to fight, any and all roads that lead to the end of DOMA as soon as possible have my full and unequivocal support. All marriages should be treated equally in the eyes of the law."

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Windsor added: "No one should have to go through what Edie went through after her spouse died -- when Edie had to pay a $363,000 tax bill as if she had never been married at all. Whether it happens as a result of the case that we and the ACLU filed on behalf of Edie in federal court in New York or it happens as a result of the legislation being introduced in Congress today, DOMA needs to end and it needs to end as soon as possible."

Read the couple's adorable New York Times wedding announcement from when they tied the knot in Toronto back in 2007 HERE.