Edie Windsor has a harpsichord in her living room, which holds the many awards she’s received over the past three years for her role in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.
On March 14 in Washington, D.C., Windsor added another recognition to the collection, this one from the National Council for Jewish Women. At its 2016 Washington Institute, a triennial conference that brings together advocates for progressive social change, the organization honored Windsor and her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, with Social Action Awards.
“The fact of the case I feel like was a historical accident,” Windsor, a Philadelphia native and Temple University graduate, told PGN before accepting her award. “I love the fact that I made it possible for a lot of people to get married. That’s a very big deal, and I know it is. People stop me on the street to thank me.
“But if you’re going to quote anything, quote this: There is no such thing as same-sex marriage,” she said. “There is marriage in this country.”
To the roughly 400 people gathered at the awards dinner, Kaplan said it took the LGBT community rallying together behind marriage equality to effect such a sea change in the legal recognition of same-sex couples. She shared the story of the five daughters of Zelophehad.
According to the story, when Zelophehad died, his property could not pass to his children; only sons could inherit. Zelophehad had none, so his daughters went to Moses to address the unfairness of the law. Moses said he couldn’t do anything about it. But when he prayed, God told him the daughters should be able to inherit.
“It means that God changed the law,” Kaplan said. “It means that we are all capable of changing the law. The law needs to accommodate itself to fundamental justice and to changes in society as they occur.”
The audience broke into applause.
Susan C. Levine, NCJW treasurer, said the Social Action Award was made for Windsor and Kaplan because they are “two extraordinary leaders and activists in the fight for full equality.”
Other kind words for the honorees came from Deborah Waxman, president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Cheltenham Township and the first out lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary, and Matt Nosanchuk, associate director of public engagement at the White House and liaison to the American Jewish community.
Nosanchuk remembered decision day in Obergefell v. Hodges that affirmed marriage equality nationwide, which he said completely depended on Windsor’s case. He also read remarks prepared by President Barack Obama.
“Their courage in fighting this law reaffirmed our nation’s most basic belief that we are all created equal and helped safeguard the notion that the love we commit to one another is equal as well,” Obama remarked of Windsor and Kaplan.
Windsor told PGN she sees the effects of her case in Philadelphia. She remembered returning to the city last summer for its 50th-anniversary celebration of the Annual Reminders, an early gay-rights protest that took place at Independence Hall starting July 4, 1965. She spent time touring the Gayborhood during the trip, and noted its increasing prominence.
“The gay atmosphere in Philadelphia is incredible,” she said. “It was, for me, joyous. Everybody everywhere was gay and it was absolutely thrilling.”
Windsor takes her icon status in stride and said she tries to use it to draw attention to important issues in the LGBT community. Her big priorities for the future include anti-discrimination laws with protections for the LGBT community and strengthening resources for homeless LGBT youth. She’s striving to establish a coalition of people working in New York City, and later New York state, to help LGBT youth find stable housing.
In Philadelphia, 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT, according to the most recent count by Valley Youth House.
NCJW marched on Capitol Hill during the Washington Institute to lobby, among other things, for the addition of a nondiscrimination clause protecting LGBT youth in the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act.
“We have a lot of work to do still,” Windsor said. “It’s not, wow, we won everything. What we won was marriage.”
She said she has faith in the next generation to continue the work for equality. For her part, Windsor said she’s looking forward to settling back a little more into her own life.
“For a while, I was traveling three days a week, which meant, really, in a sense, avoiding my own life,” she said. “I have a couple of demanding things coming up. Then I have a stack of books waiting. All kinds of fiction. I would’ve been reading five a week before all this, and they’re all ready for me.
After a moment, Windsor added, “I continue to dance,” referring to her favorite activity with her late spouse, Thea Spyer.