Edith Windsor was a computer programmer who became a gay rights pioneer.
Back in 2013 she helped overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that kept same-sex couples from being recognized as spouses (and receiving federal marriage benefits) -- and DMCAit all started because she wanted a tax refund.
She died today at the age of 88, according to the New York Times.
SEE ALSO: Being afraid to come out in a country that just elected a lesbian prime ministerWindsor, who often went by her nickname, Edie, first met her future wife, Thea Spyer, at a Greenwich Village New York restaurant in 1963. But it wasn't until two years later that Windsor started dating Spyer more seriously.
In 1967, Spyer proposed engagement. The two remained in legal limbo for 40 years, until the couple wed in Canada in 2007. When Spyer passed away in 2009, Windsor inherited her estate -- but was forced to pay $363,053 because she didn't qualify for a spousal exemption. Her marriage wasn't legally recognized by the U.S. government.
She sued for a tax refund. Her case ended up all the way at the U.S. Supreme Court and resulted in the end of DOMA.
Her death elicited a huge response from LGBTQ activists and organizations, and politicians.
Barack Obama released a statement praising Windsor's monumental steps toward equality over the years. He said he was reflecting on "all the millions of quiet heroes across the decades whose countless small acts of courage slowly made an entire country realize that love is love – and who, in the process, made us all more free."
Other people posted messages on social media.
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Major LGBTQ organizations remembered Windsor as a champion of equality.
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An ACLU video from 2013 summarizes Windsor's decades-long relationship with Spyer.
Like Windsor said, "Don't postpone joy."
Heather Dockray contributed reporting.
Topics Activism Social Good
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