Marriage Equality Trailblazer Edith Windsor Named Grand Marshal of Capital Pride Parade Presented By Marriott International
Supreme Court Plaintiff Responsible for Overturning DOMA
Washington, D.C., April 11, 2017 – Edith Windsor is confirmed as a Grand Marshal of the 2017 Capital Pride Parade presented by Marriott International. The Parade is set for Saturday, June 10, beginning at 4:30 PM in the Dupont and Logan Circle neighborhoods. Windsor is also scheduled to attend the “Crack of Noon” Pride Brunch at 12:00 noon earlier that day.
Windsor’s desire to legally wed her fiancé, Thea Spyer, led to an over 40-year journey culminating with her as the lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor. The Windsor decision in 2013 successfully overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and became the most significant ruling in favor of LGBT marriage rights to date.
Windsor and Spyer first became engaged in 1967. Windsor’s history of LGBT activism began soon after in the 1970s, including volunteer and leadership work with East End Gay Organizations (EEOG), the LGBT Community Center in NYC, and SAGE. After 25 years of waiting to wed, Windsor and Spyer were only able to enter into domestic Partnership in NYC by 1993. Marriage equality was legal in Canada and recognized by the State of New York. They headed north and married there in 2007. The 2009 documentary, “Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement,” recounts Windsor and Spyer’s life together, until Spyer’s death in 2009. Windsor’s LGBT activism continues today. During these most recent years, she met and married another activist, Judith Kasen-Windsor, in September 2016.
“Commitment and marriage are great joys that deserve to be shared by everyone! For me, being a Grand Marshal at the Pride Parade in the nation’s capital, where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, moves me greatly,” said Windsor. “But there’s no time to slow down. We must forge ahead.”
“We are honored to have activist Edie Windsor serve as a Capital Pride Parade Grand Marshal,” said Ryan Bos, Executive Director of the Capital Pride Alliance. “Her contributions to the expansion of LGBT equality and marriage rights are virtually unparalleled.”
“This year’s Pride theme is ‘Unapologetically Proud.’ The accomplishments for which we have fought so hard and struggled so long may now be in peril, and the LGBT communities across the nation are joining together with one another and with other civil rights communities to proclaim very clearly that the rights we’ve secured are here to stay. We will never turn back,” said Bernie Delia, President of the Capital Pride Alliance Board. “Edie Windsor represents the tenacity required to move forward, and her participation as a Parade Grand Marshal is uplifting and energizing.”
For the fourth year in a row, the Capital Pride Parade is being presented by Marriott International. “All of us at Marriott are inspired each year by Capital Pride, especially with the expressions of love and the power of community, family and friends. As a global hospitality leader, it gives us pride to see how much #LoveTravels through our lives not only here in our hometown, Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” said Apoorva Gandhi, Vice President, Multicultural Affairs “We are especially proud to join with civil rights pioneer Edie Windsor to make this year’s Parade our best yet.”