Human Rights Campaign 2013 Annual Report

COURAGE TO ACT Edie Windsor legally married her longtime partner Thea Spyer in 2007. But because the federal government did not recognize their marriage as valid, Edie was saddled with a $363,000 estate tax bill when Thea died — money she would not have paid if Thea had been a man. Her courageous challenge of the Defense of Marriage Act will forever change the lives of millions of LGBT Americans.