Edith Windsor, a same-sex marriage activist who won a landmark ruling to give same-sex married couples the same rights as other married couples, died on Tuesday in Manhattan at age 88.
Windsor’s wife Judith Kasen-Windsor confirmed her death but did not give a cause, The New York Times reported. The two were married in 2016.
Windsor brought the case that resulted in the Windsor ruling in 2013 after she was required to pay taxes on a house she inherited from her first wife, whom she had married in Canada in 2007, the Times reported.
At the time of the ruling, same-sex marriage was not recognized at the federal level, but the Supreme Court agreed with Windsor that same-sex marriage partners were being treated differently regarding federal benefits and that it was unconstitutional to do so, the Times reported.
The 5-4 ruling overturning the Defense of Marriage Act cited the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees that no person should be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law," the Times reported.
Windsor’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said, "She will go down in the history books as a true American hero," CNN reported.
Executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Anthony Romero said, "The wheels of progress turn forward because of people like Edie, who are willing to stand up in the face of injustice," CNN reported.
Other government officials including former President Bill Clinton and organizations like GLAAD also tweeted about her death.
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