CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Photography by Danielle Levitt
The love story that changed America began when Edie Windsor met Thea Spyer in a New York City restaurant called Portofino. "We made love all afternoon and went dancing at night -- and that was the beginning," Windsor would recall decades later in the documentary Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement. For Spyer, the attraction was no less spontaneous: "We immediately just fit -- our bodies fit," she says in the film. That was in 1965, four years before Stonewall and nearly 50 years before their relationship became the foundation for the federal government's recognition of same-sex marriages.
The couple married in Canada in 2007, but when Spyer died in 2009 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, Windsor was ordered to pay $363,000 in federal estate taxes that would have been avoided had their marriage been recognized by the United States. It took shrewd lawyers, clear-sighted judges, and one spry, platinum blond octogenarian to revoke that glaring iniquity.
SLIDESHOW: Out100 2013 Covers
When the 5-4 Supreme Court decision ruling the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional was announced on June 26 this year, Windsor was at the apartment of her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, to receive a congratulatory phone call from President Obama. And then she went to the Stonewall Inn to celebrate. This time, in contrast to 1969, the whole city was there to join the celebration -- a testament to the distance we've traveled. "The next generation is so far advanced over us," Windsor says. "I love that a lot of younger people now come out that would never have come out in the old days. Of course, they are born into a community already. They just have to discover it, whereas we were still building it."
Build it they certainly did. It's thanks to their efforts -- and to the power of love stories -- that we're at this long-awaited point in our history today. As for Windsor, she finally received that check from the government repaying the money it owed her. But she's been repaid in so many other ways impossible to count.
Photographed at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on September 12, 2013
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
38 Male Celebs Who Did Full Frontal Scenes
November 17 2023 5:18 PM
These are all the celebrities Who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
December 31 2023 12:19 PM
29 LGBTQ+ celebs you can follow on OnlyFans
April 18 2024 1:00 PM
26 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
February 28 2024 1:50 PM
16 times male celebrities had to say they weren't gay
April 17 2024 11:57 AM
21 LGBTQ+ reality dating shows & where to watch them
April 03 2024 4:01 PM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
14 queens who quit or retired from drag after 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
April 04 2024 12:56 PM
40 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
January 04 2024 10:54 AM
The 15 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2023
December 04 2023 10:32 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
April 22, 2024
23h
Indulge in luxury and sensuality with The Pride Store’s Taurus gift guide
April 22 2024 11:46 AM
Stop taking pictures of gay men hooking up in bars & shaming them online
April 22 2024 11:39 AM
Why loneliness is the biggest approaching threat to our community
April 22 2024 10:42 AM
Meet Ludmilla, the queer Black Latina singer who conquered Coachella
April 20 2024 9:34 PM
Watch the 'Drag Race' season 16 finalists react to the winning queen's crowning
April 20 2024 3:56 PM
Here's how 'Drag Race' fans can buy Sasha Colby's line of ponytail extensions
April 19 2024 10:23 PM
The 'Drag Race' season 16 finale just made Miss Congeniality herstory
April 19 2024 9:38 PM
Here's who won 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 16
April 19 2024 9:31 PM