Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund Mourns the Loss of LGBTQ Rights Icon Edie Windsor

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund today joins millions of LGBTQ Americans and our allies in voicing our sorrow that LGBTQ Rights champion Edie Windsor has passed away. Edie's landmark case, United States v. Windsor, overturned the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, bringing federal rights to LGBTQ married couples in 13 states and the District of Columbia, and paving the way for subsequent cases that brought marriage protections to same-sex couples nationwide.

The U.S. Supreme Court opinion in U.S. v. Windsor is one of those paving the way for transgender rights to be viewed as constitutional rights.

Statement from TLDEF Executive Director JillIan Weiss

"Today we have lost a giant in the LGBTQ rights movement. Edie Windsor's fight for justice helped bring marriage equality to thousands of loving and committed same-sex couples, including transgender couples, who just wanted the same opportunity to take care of and be responsible for one another. Edie's decades-long devotion to her late wife, Thea Spyer, moved and inspired us all.

Her fight to overturn DOMA transformed her from an everyday hero to one of the most visible and admired LGBTQ rights figures in history. In 2014, TLDEF honored Ms. Windsor at our 9th Anniversary Benefit for her tireless activism on behalf of us all. Today we mourn her loss and we thank her for making a monumental contribution to LGBTQ equality. We also send our deepest condolences to Edie's wife, Judith Kasen-Windsor, whom she married in 2016."