New York: DOMA plaintiff Edith Windsor honoured as grand marshal of pride
Edith Windsor, whose lawsuit against the United States government resulted in this week’s historic ruling by the Supreme Court has led New York’s pride parade.
Ms Windsor who was married to her partner, sued the government in order to get the federal estate tax deduction previously only available to straight people when their spouses die and who is now eligible for a $363,000 (£236,000) tax refund.
Signs along the route read ‘Thank you, Edie’.
She told reporters: “If somebody had told me 50 years ago that I would be the marshal of New York City’s gay pride parade in 2013, at the age of 84, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
LGBT activist Cathy Renna said that Ms Windsor’s fight and victory meant this year’s was a very special pride. “It is an especially thrilling year to march this year,” she said. “I have seen more real progress in the past three years than the nearly two decades of activism before it.”
She aded: “we must remain vigilant; hate crimes, discrimination and family rejection loom in our lives still.”
The Mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg also participated in the celebrations.
