To the Editor:
Last year, I brought one of the lawsuits referred to in your Valentine’s Day editorial “In Defense of Marriage, for All” (Feb. 14).
For four decades, I shared my life with Thea Spyer. From our first meeting in the 1960s to our final days together before her death in 2009, we remained in love, just like any other happily married couple.
Except that we were not treated like any other married couple. In fact, we were treated more like complete strangers. That’s because under the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, a tax of $350,000 was imposed on Thea’s estate. That tax would have been zero had I been married to a man.
Although I’m now 81 years old, I hope to live to see the day when every marriage is treated equally. When I look at Thea in the photographs filling the apartment we shared, I smile, knowing that she would agree.
Edith S. Windsor
New York, Feb. 15, 2011
Last year, I brought one of the lawsuits referred to in your Valentine’s Day editorial “In Defense of Marriage, for All” (Feb. 14).
For four decades, I shared my life with Thea Spyer. From our first meeting in the 1960s to our final days together before her death in 2009, we remained in love, just like any other happily married couple.
Except that we were not treated like any other married couple. In fact, we were treated more like complete strangers. That’s because under the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, a tax of $350,000 was imposed on Thea’s estate. That tax would have been zero had I been married to a man.
Although I’m now 81 years old, I hope to live to see the day when every marriage is treated equally. When I look at Thea in the photographs filling the apartment we shared, I smile, knowing that she would agree.
Edith S. Windsor
New York, Feb. 15, 2011
