Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared on Wednesday that June 20 would be known as Edie Windsor Day, named for the LGBTQ activist and plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court case that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act.
Windsor, who died in September, would have turned 89 years old on Wednesday.
“Edie was an iconic New Yorker who shaped history and taught us that love always wins,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Proclaiming her birthday as Edie Windsor Day is a fitting way to salute a true New York hero whose strength, perseverance and conviction in the face of adversity continues to inspire all of us.”
Windsor challenged the Defense of Marriage Act after her first wife, Thea Spyer, died in 2009.
Cuomo’s proclamation called Windsor’s victory “a watershed in the movement to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples and paved the way for nationwide marriage equality.”
The announcement comes just a few days before the city’s Pride March.
Windsor’s widow Judith Kasen-Windsor has endorsed Cuomo in his re-election bid, the Daily News reported earlier this week.
