The Most Powerful Picture of 2013 For Me
Reflecting upon “equal justice under law”
Pictured above: Edith Windsor reflecting in a studio adorned with pictures of her and her deceased partner Thea Spyer. When Thea died, Edith Windsor suffered from broken heart syndrome, compounded by the federal government charging about $400,000 in estate taxes that would not have applied had Thea been a man, as the couple had been legally married in Canada. This was a direct result of the Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3, which was an act of Congress that previously (!) barred same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits accorded to opposite-sex couples regardless of state laws, even though marriage laws were traditionally the domain of the state.
Mrs. Windsor sued the federal government, arguing that her right to equal treatment under the law was being violated by federal government agencies that insisted on treating same-sex couples differently. As a direct result of this lawsuit, President Obama ordered the Department of Justice to stop defending DOMA in court.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Mrs.Windsor, and also, for the first time in a federal court of appeals ruling, classified homosexuals as a group that deserved increased legal scrutiny and protection. The case was forwarded to the Supreme Court and became United States v. Windsor.
Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan crafted a majority opinion that declared DOMA Section 3 to be unconstitutional under the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment. The clause reads as follows: “ [N]or shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. There was no real defensible reason for why the due process of law would not be accorded to homosexuals. Edith Windsor’s tragic turn in her fairy tale love had now turned into liberation for same-sex couples around the nation.
Love is stronger than hate.
Ideals are meant to be lived.
Justice does prevail.
I look at her eyes, and think that all three of those thoughts must have crossed her mind as she is reflecting.
Above the Supreme Court lies the words “Equal justice under law”, which is inscribed directly into the stone of the building itself. Etched years ago, for one brief shining moment, those words lived in Edith Windsor’s face.
This is why it is the most powerful picture of 2013 for me.
