Edie Windsor The Plaintiff Supreme Court Embraces Christine Quinn Mayor of NYC
Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the case that lead the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, formally endorsed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn tonight during a jubilant celebration rally in front of the historic Stonewall Inn.
“I wasn’t going to announce who I was going to endorse until a decision was made … and it’s Christine Quinn!” said Ms. Windsor of the woman who–if elected–would become the city’s first female and openly gay mayor.
Ms. Quinn was about to begin her remarks in front of the thousands of people now gathered on Christopher Street to celebrate the ruling, when Mr. Windsor jumped up–as much as an 84-year-old woman can–and grabbed the microphone to make the endorsement.
Ms. Quinn, apparently caught off-guard and overwhelmed by emotions, immediately embraced the 5-foot-tall Ms. Windsor, before singing her praise to the crowd.
“The federal government messed with the wrong New Yorker in Edie Windsor,” she said. “These great American victories always come from when an average American says ‘enough.’”
Ms. Windsor filed the lawsuit that sparked today’s decision after losing her wife Thea Spyer after more than 40 years of partnership. When Ms. Spyer passed away in 2009, Ms. Windsor was asked to pay over $363,000 in federal estate taxes. She decided to fight the system instead.
Christine Quinn had quite a day in the public eye Wednesday.
As New York City’s highest ranking openly gay and married elected official, she spent much of the day on local and national media cheering the Supreme Court’s rulings in favor of same-sex marriage.
And as Council Speaker, she presided over a late night session that saw the passage of an on-time budget, overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto to enact a bill giving paid sick leave benefits to more than a million New Yorkers, and set up yet another showdown with the mayor with the veto-proof passage of two bills aimed to strengthen oversight of the NYPD.
WNYC’s City Hall reporter Brigid Bergin spoke to host Soterios Johnson about the day when all the key elements that had so far defined Quinn’s mayoral candidacy came together.
Click on the audio above to listen to the interview.
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