A senior citizen`s 46-year wait for gay marriage acceptance

“Only five years ago, I wasn’t able to say openly that I was a gay. Someone had to step up to let people know that a gay is an ordinary American. This is why I filed this lawsuit,” said Edith Windsor, 83, Wednesday to hundreds of supporters while wearing a pink scarf and gray hair.

She filed a lawsuit against the Defense of the Marriage Act, and The Washington Post described the 46-year love story of the gay couple behind the lawsuit.

As the plaintiff in Windsor against the United States, she appeared in court with her engagement pin from same-sex spouse, Thea Spyer. Despite her age, Windsor sued to challenge a federal estate tax bill of 360,000 U.S. dollars from an inheritance of Spyer’s estate after the latter`s death in 2009. She said she had to pay the tax because of the marriage law, which does not recognize welfare benefits to gay couples. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in her favor and got the tax refunded. But she asked for a Supreme Court hearing with civic groups to raise awareness of gay marriage.

The former IBM programmer lived with Spyer, whom she met in New York in 1963, until Spyer`s death. She asked for an engagement pin instead of a ring because of social prejudice. Spyer was later unable to move due to multiple sclerosis and paralysis, but Windsor did not leave her spouse. In 2007, she went to Canada with Spyer to hold a wedding ceremony with a minister at a hotel near the airport because U.S. law banned gay marriage. Windsor, who had a heart attack because of lawsuits, said after the hearing, “The justices asked me many favorable questions. She (Spyer) will welcome me in heaven only if I win the suit.”

If the Supreme Court strikes down the marriage law, gay couples will benefit in nine states that allow gay marriage and Washington D.C. The New York Times said this will be a meaningful year for gay marriage supporters given that California’s Proposition 8, which was also handled by the Supreme Court the previous day, is likely to be struck down.

Politicians and the U.S. public are leaning toward allowing gay marriage. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, that he signed should be abolished, and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is likely to run for the 2016 presidential election for the Democrats, has publicly endorsed gay marriage. More Republicans as well as Democrats are endorsing gay marriage.

A CBS poll released Wednesday said 60 percent of Americans want the federal government to accept gay marriage and provide the same welfare benefits to gay couples.

mickey@donga.com